Suggested Naming Patterns

We do our best to anticipate the default naming schemes from many PCB design packages. However, if you have problems, this is a naming scheme that is known to work.

KiCAD

Our site understands KiCAD’s gerber naming patterns. We suggest checking the Use Protel Filenames option, but it’s not required.

Note, if the language is set to something other than English, you will need to check Use Protel Filenames and manually change the extension of Edge_Cuts.gbr to .GKO.

Eagle

Autodesk EAGLE includes a handy computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) processor that allows you to load a CAM file and quickly generate the specific files you need for your design.  Check out this guide on how to export Eagle PCB to gerber files.

The following issues may occur when submitting gerbers:

• Could not find drill file - For 4 layer boards, this generally means that blind/buried vias was enabled. As we don’t support blind/buried vias, you will need to do a DRC check to correct the stackup.
• Board Outline Not Found - Either the board outline was not on the Dimension layer, or the outline was placed on the wrong gerber layer.

Altium

Altium typically produces a naming pattern understood by our site. The issues we typically see are the following:

Altium often uses the .TXT extension for drill files, which our site will understand. If multiple .TXT files are included, then we may generate a “Drill files have been merged” warning, which can generally be ignored.

For 4 layer boards, our system will detect .G1 and .G2 files, which are generated for internal signal layers. Our site will not look for GP1 or GP2 files however, as those are typically generated as “negative” polarity gerbers which our system may not process correctly.

Proteus Ares

Ares typically produces all gerbers with the extension .TXT. Our site does not parse this effectively, so the files must be manually renamed to the pattern suggested above.

In some cases, the gerbers do not have a board outline. See our Board Outlines page for how to correct this.

Often, Ares will generate incorrect drill formats, which may result in an “Error” message. Modifying the drill setup to match our Drill File Format will usually resolve this.

A customer has provided a renaming utility to assist with this package. This utility is available at http://www.herdware.com/gerber-file-zip-utility/

ORCAD/Cadence Allegro

ORCAD usually produces all gerbers with a .PHO or .ART extension. Our site does not parse this effectively, so the files must be manually renamed to the pattern suggested above.

Some configurations produce various other extension patterns. Some of these patterns work except for the Board Outline layer which must be renamed. If you’re encountering errors renaming all gerbers will usually correct the issue, or help you identify a missing layer.

Often, ORCAD produces Drill Drawing files instead of NC Drill files, or produces incorrect NC Drill format. See this video tutorial for the correct format options to generate a usable drill file.

Older versions named the drill file thruhole.tap, which our site will recognize. However, other than thruhole.tap, our system will not look for the .tap extension, so using .XLN for the drill file is suggested.