Gerber Files Viewer Free Download
Nevada Biernat
I am using File>import>artwork, then selecting my files. once I do this, it gives me errors because I don't have a art_param.txt file in the directory or a art_aper.txt. I tried to work-around by generating gerber files from an existing project in 4x00 format and hit AUTO in aperature settings. this created the two missing files. I copy-pasted these files into the directory with the Orcad Layout and then tried to import, but I think my aperatures are way off. all of the lines on the imported gerber files end up way too large. here is a picture of what I get after I do this process:
Allegro / Orcad PCB Editor are great at viewing artworks created by Allegro / Orcad PCB Editor. For other gerber data generated by different tools you can do it but there is lots of work to do with apertures etc to make it work and it's not worth the effort. If you just want to view gerber files then get something like GC-Prevue or viewmate from the web (free version's available). Much easier.....
Previously, I just printed the boards on paper and checked the alignment with a back light. (That does work with my current revision of the boards.) But, it occurred to me that I could check the alignment with the gerber viewer.
@qu1ck Thanks for the tip. I found that definitely one needs to check Use Auxiliary Origin when generating plot and drill files. Then the gerbers and drill files of both boards lined up in the viewer.
In the meantime, I opened a relatively recent set of gerber files, generated with Kicad a year ago
or so, using Kicad 6.
The problem persists and the drills are not shown.
So maybe I should have started here: is it possible to display the drills in GerbView? If yes, how?
I have an issue with the gerber viewer functionality.
Once the gerbers are produced, if I double-click one of them, it says Kicad is already running, I say yes, and it opens the directory where all the gerber files are stored.
Now I get this error:
A drawback with your method is that AFAICT there is no way to select all the layer and drill files from the tree view to send to Gerbview so you only see a layer at a time or have to do additional opens from Gerbview. I prefer to load all the files and toggle visibility.
They all do what their name suggest and should display only the files that are openable (!?), however, it is possible to open a Gerber Job File using the Open Gerber File(s) option and this cause parse errors.
I've tried several gerber viewers and each has features I like but all are quirky. Lately I've been using GerberLogix (primarily) and ViewPlot (for measuring features). Any other suggestions? Bonus points for "free for commercial use."
I am using the KiCad gerber viewer to review the gerber output from an Altium design. I have previously used Pentalogix Viewmate and I think that the KiCad viewer is pretty good by comparison. This is not a complaint!
I am not familiar with these extensions but you have provided me with an avenue to investigate. In my consulting work, I often need to review pcb layout produced by different EDA tools. If gerbers and the viewers can be more intelligent, that could greatly reduce the need to wrestle with the layout viewers from Altium, PADS, Driptrace , Cadence, etc. etc.
I encourage everbody to use the full X2 format: it gives more reliable Gerber files.
For instance inside the files, the purpose of this file is encoded, so no need to use the ridiculous Protel file extensions: only the .gbr file ext is enough.
You need to have generated X2 gerbers for this to work. There is a checkbox in KiCad for this, and if you are looking at Gerbers from other CAD software, they would have had to be generated in X2 format (if supported by the software). Altium for example supports this but requires you to specifically choose X2 format.
I once had an old Protel project (20 or so years old. Way before X2) that I reverse engineered for fun.
I could not read the Protel format, but it had a schematic in .pdf format and a set of Gerber files.
You can just snap the new footprints to the track ends imported from the Gerber files, and use the Ratsnest as a guide for recognizing footprints. For the first few footprints you have to guess, because there is no footprint info yet, but as soon as you put footprints on tracks, KiCad recognizes the connection and places the net names on the tracks.
But in an effort to answer my own questions, I took a pcb layout from a home project and produced gerbers in X2 format. I suppose I am being as dumb as my gerbers, but when I open up those gerbers with the KiCad viewer, I still do not see how to select or find components for example. This is all not a problem but I feel like I have some functionality and no clue how to use it. (mostly for gerbers which other people have developed with other EDA tools and sent to me.)
Aaah That is it!! My dialog box shown above is for a different design. When I went back to the one which I had plotted, the box to produce a gerber job file was unchecked. So I redid it and then opened the job file as you said. Now those pulldowns work. I have learned something useful here. Thanks a lot! Is this common knowledge that I am missing or ought it be documented somewhere?
I cannot reproduce this, actually I already ordered PCBs with such circles and it was correct. But I noticed that some Gerber viewer do not render such circles correctly. I recommend to check the Gerber files either at the Reference Gerber Viewer and/or at aisler.net.
Did you try both forms of export - Protel and default? I had a vendor say they could not read the default (I think this was their mistake, however) and I switched to Protel. That said, I looked at the default Gerber data and it had a D03 flash at with a donut style aperture. I have not looked again at the Protel version. Oh, by the way, I was using a few online Gerber viewers of vendors to see the error of filled-in LED silkscreens. At that time I was probably using Protel output. I will revert to Protel and check again. I have not changed my LED silkscreen layers since then, so if the problem is gone we have a very weird error.
Thank you, thank you for looking into this.
Dave
The content of the Gerber files is always the same, no matter if you choose Protel or default This feature only changes the naming of the files and whether drill files are merged or not. Unfortunately some PCB manufacturers are incredibly stupid and therefore not able to read Gerber files if they are not named the same way as Protel does
OK. So if I see the problem again, my plan is to text view the gerber file and check its aperture for an OD and ID as well as a D03 flash. If those things are correct is it safe to assume the viewers are incorrect?
After ordering some PCBs involving fairly complex milling patterns from a Chinese supplier, I was given the production files and asked to verify that they are correct. However, I'm not sure what software I might use for this purpose, or even what format the data is in. I was originally given a RAR archive containing several sub-archives, that when extracted, produced the below file tree.
After opening the files in the root ok folder I discovered that many of them seemed to be gcode, but the coordinates seemed to be really large and the units seemed to not be in either mm or inches. I've linked the bl gcode file at _9xC5eDlBLGwC/view?usp=sharing.
Hi David,
Thanks for your post, it seems like the Gerber viewer is having problems detecting or reading the outline layer properly. I suspect that the dot is from the drill layer (Eagle likes to overlay drill holes on milling slots).
The only way to really verify if the engineers will be able to see the milling is if we check the files for ourselves. The Gerber viewer is not the smartest and can trip over itself sometimes and Eagle updates keep messing with CAM files. Would you mind sharing the Gerber files here or via PM? Also, the design file and the CAM file used might help us determine if the configurations are correct.
Thank you very much,
With this viewer you can upload your Gerber files and have a 360 degree view of your PCB design. Launch the viewer to load your own design or view one of the example boards. You can get step-by-step instructions on this Instructable.
Hi Rick - thanks for providing this information! I'll review the files to make sure I understand the syntax. If I understood correctly the T04 object was defined in the Gerber file and was used for all the mounting holes. So, the hole "object" T04 was defined, and then instantiated (used) in 8 locations. Did the hole locations also come from the Gerber file DrillDrawing.gbr?
A Gerber, or Gerber Extended File, is a standard file format used in the electronics industry to store and communicate design blueprints. They're often used to convey information regarding manufacturing specifications of printed circuit boards. At their core, Gerber files are like PDFs for electronics manufacturing industry. Have you ever gone through an X-ray inspection in a hospital when you suffered from a fracture of bones? You can totally imagine a Gerber file as an X-ray image of a real PCB. An X-ray image just tells how your bones are organized while a Gerber file indicates how circuits are led in a PCB.
When it comes to opening the Gerber file or, GBR file extension, you will first need the file viewer tool for it. Luckily, you will see various Gerber file viewer out on the internet, and most of them are free too for usage.
You can open Gerber files with a number of programs, most of which are free. These free Gerber viewers include GraphiCode GC-Prevue, PentaLogix ViewMate, and Gerbv. A few of them support printing and viewing the measurements. You could also use Altium Designer to open the Gerber file but it isn't free.
You are hardly able to make sure the PCB design software you're using is the same as that is being used by your PCB manufacturer. If your PCB manufacturer uses different PCB design software, you have to generate Gerber files by yourself, further conversation and confirmation will definitely cause more time and delay the production process accordingly.
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