When did GC-Prevue stop being free?

[Mike Perkins]

Any recommended alternatives?

Any old versions that don't expire?

[Sjouke Burry]

On 9-3-2018 20:40, Mike Perkins wrote:
>
> Any recommended alternatives?
>
> Any old versions that don't expire?
>
>
>

Just downloaded GC-Prevue free, gcprevue.zip.
So, whats your problem?

[Mike Perkins]

It seems I have one!

At:
http://www.graphicode.com/GC-Prevue#download

I get:

Dear Customers,

"Thank you for your interest in GC-Prevue. GC-Prevue is no longer
offered free of charge. We understand this may be disappointing to our
customer but offering a free product has its costs. GraphiCode feels
GC-Prevue is an important tool that customers find value in using. As
such we have decided to charge a small fee of $50 a year (less than 14
cents a day) to cover the costs associated with the ongoing development
and support of GC-Prevue. To help offset the pain to our customers we
have enhanced the product to offer more functionality than was
previously offered in GC-Prevue including DXF import, Measure Mode and
the Dimensioning and Markup feature. Please feel free to contact us if
you have any questions or concerns."


The gcpreview I've got is time-limited saying I have to download a fresh
new version.

What version did you download? And from where?

[Frank Miles]

On Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:40:08 +0000, Mike Perkins wrote:

> Any recommended alternatives?
>
> Any old versions that don't expire?

I've not tried the Windows version, but am generally happy with:
http://gerbv.geda-project.org/

{the web page is pretty old}

[Frank Miles]

On Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:40:08 +0000, Mike Perkins wrote:

> Any recommended alternatives?
>
> Any old versions that don't expire?

[Mike Perkins]

Thanks, in my search I had come across this viewer.

I was hoping to find a viewer that could provide clearance info.

[John Larkin]

My people use Viewmate, but I don't know much about it myself.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc
picosecond timing precision measurement

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

[Sjouke Burry]

From their site.
Not the big green download button, but the
smaller free one.
Inside the msi:
[WinXP]
MajorVer=5
MinorVer=1
MinorVerMax=2
BuildNo=2600
PlatformId=2

and at the top:version 1.000.000

I did NOT install the pack, just checked the zip file.

[Mike Perkins]

You must have a cached version of that page.

I can only see an orange "Pay/download" button.

[boB]

On Fri, 9 Mar 2018 19:40:08 +0000, Mike Perkins <sp...@spam.com> wrote:

>
>Any recommended alternatives?
>
>Any old versions that don't expire?
>
>

Gerbv appears to work OK

http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/

[TTman]

On 09/03/2018 19:40, Mike Perkins wrote:
>
> Any recommended alternatives?
>
> Any old versions that don't expire?
>
>
>

There is also a web based viewer where you upload your gerber file
online. Very quick and easy for just taking a look....
http://www.gerber-viewer.com/


---
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[Mike Perkins]

On 09/03/2018 23:19, John Larkin wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Mar 2018 23:11:07 +0000, Mike Perkins <sp...@spam.com> wrote:
>
>> On 09/03/2018 22:35, Frank Miles wrote:
>>> On Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:40:08 +0000, Mike Perkins wrote:
>>>
>>>> Any recommended alternatives?
>>>>
>>>> Any old versions that don't expire?
>>>
>>> I've not tried the Windows version, but am generally happy with:
>>> http://gerbv.geda-project.org/
>>>
>>> {the web page is pretty old}
>>
>> Thanks, in my search I had come across this viewer.
>>
>> I was hoping to find a viewer that could provide clearance info.
>
> My people use Viewmate, but I don't know much about it myself.

Thanks, I'll take a look

[pmcm...@gmail.com]

On Friday, March 9, 2018 at 2:40:13 PM UTC-5, Mike Perkins wrote:
> Any recommended alternatives?
>

<snip>
I just discovered the same thing... after looking around for a while, I discovered this: https://www.zofzpcb.com

I read lots of positive comments, but haven't tried it yet. Sure looks interesting.

-Peter

[Robert Loos]

Kicad http://kicad-pcb.org/ is free and has a gerber viever.
Not as good as gcprevue (can't handle my drill files) but it works.

[Mike Perkins]

I'm not sure what to make of this package. It seems a viewer and sales
portal where you enter your PCB and you get back a supplier and a price.

I was hoping for a means of checking for minimum clearance and drawn
lines. None of the tools give this facility. The DFM rules simply simply
give a pass or fail on a design with little help.

--
Mike Perkins
Video Solutions Ltd
www.videosolutions.ltd.uk

[Mike Perkins]

Many thanks, this has a weird interface, I'm not sure the origin of this
GUI style.

However it doesn't seem to have any check for track clearances etc.

[George Herold]

On Friday, March 9, 2018 at 6:19:28 PM UTC-5, John Larkin wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Mar 2018 23:11:07 +0000, Mike Perkins <sp...@spam.com> wrote:
>
> >On 09/03/2018 22:35, Frank Miles wrote:
> >> On Fri, 09 Mar 2018 19:40:08 +0000, Mike Perkins wrote:
> >>
> >>> Any recommended alternatives?
> >>>
> >>> Any old versions that don't expire?
> >>
> >> I've not tried the Windows version, but am generally happy with:
> >> http://gerbv.geda-project.org/
> >>
> >> {the web page is pretty old}
> >
> >Thanks, in my search I had come across this viewer.
> >
> >I was hoping to find a viewer that could provide clearance info.
>
> My people use Viewmate, but I don't know much about it myself.

I use Viewmate. I may be using it wrong, but it doesn't work so well with
drill files. At least compared to GC-preview, which I used in the past.
Still the price is right.

George H.

[Mike Perkins]

On 12/03/2018 07:17, Robert Loos wrote:
> Kicad http://kicad-pcb.org/ is free and has a gerber viever.
> Not as good as gcprevue (can't handle my drill files) but it works.

Many thanks, as with others it doesn't do a DRC on the gerbers.

[gnuarm.del...@gmail.com]

On Monday, March 12, 2018 at 4:08:06 AM UTC-4, Robert Loos wrote:
> Kicad http://kicad-pcb.org/ is free and has a gerber viever.
> Not as good as gcprevue (can't handle my drill files) but it works.

I received a drill file for a panel of my boards which included a drill code of M70 which did not appear in the drill file I provided with the art work for the individual board. Gerbv refuses to read this file until I remove the M70 code. I haven't tried the M70 code with any other Gerber viewer. I also was never able to find out exactly what M70 means or what it does. Google doesn't provide much info and it is contradictory.

Rick C.

[gnuarm.del...@gmail.com]

On Monday, March 12, 2018 at 9:00:11 AM UTC-4, Mike Perkins wrote:
> On 11/03/2018 07:34, pmcm...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Friday, March 9, 2018 at 2:40:13 PM UTC-5, Mike Perkins wrote:
> >> Any recommended alternatives?
> >>
> > <snip>
> > I just discovered the same thing... after looking around for a while, I discovered this: https://www.zofzpcb.com
> >
> > I read lots of positive comments, but haven't tried it yet. Sure looks interesting.
>
> Many thanks, this has a weird interface, I'm not sure the origin of this
> GUI style.
>
> However it doesn't seem to have any check for track clearances etc.

Doesn't your layout package provide clearance checking? Or are you looking for a second opinion?

Rick C.

[Mike Perkins]

I was hoping for an independent opinion. Layout packages, for example,
don't check the width for a drawn line where two tracks join such they
leave a small neck.

[gnuarm.del...@gmail.com]

On Friday, March 16, 2018 at 5:38:45 PM UTC-4, Mike Perkins wrote:

> On 16/03/2018 20:53, gnuarm.deletethisbit @ gmail.com wrote:
> > On Monday, March 12, 2018 at 9:00:11 AM UTC-4, Mike Perkins wrote:

> >> On 11/03/2018 07:34, pmcmullin @ gmail.com wrote:
> >>> On Friday, March 9, 2018 at 2:40:13 PM UTC-5, Mike Perkins wrote:
> >>>> Any recommended alternatives?
> >>>>
> >>> <snip>
> >>> I just discovered the same thing... after looking around for a while, I discovered this: https://www.zofzpcb.com
> >>>
> >>> I read lots of positive comments, but haven't tried it yet. Sure looks interesting.
> >>
> >> Many thanks, this has a weird interface, I'm not sure the origin of this
> >> GUI style.
> >>
> >> However it doesn't seem to have any check for track clearances etc.
> >
> > Doesn't your layout package provide clearance checking? Or are you looking for a second opinion?
>
> I was hoping for an independent opinion. Layout packages, for example,
> don't check the width for a drawn line where two tracks join such they
> leave a small neck.

I don't remember any names, but PC fab houses often have web sites which can DRC your files. I recall submitting artwork for quote and getting violations which would appear to be due to something akin to round off errors, missing the rule by 0.000001 mm or something.

Or do you want something more traceable and repeatable? You never know when the web site will change their software or how good it is.

Rick C.

[Mike Perkins]

I used Eurocircuits and so in the process of submitting the job there is
quite a good DRC. It found a couple of minor thing the layout package
didn't see.

I was hoping to find a standalone application but haven't found one that
checks dimensions.

[k...@notreal.com]

I'd think their DRC would catch violations of _their_ design rules,
designed to optimize (cheapen) their process. There are reasons to
have tighter rules. That's probably good enough, if you're using them
and you don't care about anything tighter/better.

>Or do you want something more traceable and repeatable? You never know when the web site will change their software or how good it is.

There's that, too. IMO, the designer really needs control of such
things.