Gerber Export Options dialog box

Gerber Translator - File => Export => Gerber

The Gerber Export Options dialog box is opened when you are using the File => Export command to save your geometry project as a set of Gerber files. The available options are explained below.

Technology Layers

These two options determine how Technology Layers are translated.

Separate By Technology Layers: This option creates output Gerber files based on the properties of the Technology Layers. All the polygons in the Technology Layers (even polygons whose properties control is set to "Local" with overridden materials) will go in the Technology Layer's defined Gerber file. Polygons not assigned to Technology Layers will be output to additional Gerber files based on the settings in the "Non-Tech Layer Polygons" section of this window.

Separate By Sonnet Levels Only: Select this option if you wish to ignore the Technology Layers in the project and create the Gerber files based only on the polygons in the project.

Non-Tech Layer Polygons/Additional Separation

These options are labeled as Non-Tech Layer Polygons when the Separate by Technology Layers option is selected above. In that case, these settings control how to handle polygons in your circuit which are not assigned to a Technology Layer. These options are labeled as Additional Separation  when the Separate by Sonnet Levels Only option is selected above. In that case, these settings control how to handle all the polygons in your circuit since Technology Layers are ignored.

Separate By Object Types: Select this checkbox to create a separate Gerber file for each object type in the Sonnet level, i.e., metal polygons, brick polygons and vias. For an example, if your Sonnet level has both metal polygons and via polygons, the planar polygons will be output to one file while the via polygons will be output to a different file.

Separate By Material Types: Select this checkbox to create a separate Gerber file for each type of material in the Sonnet level, i.e., two different types of metal. For an example, if your Sonnet level has both copper and lossless metal polygons, two files would be created, one containing the copper polygons and another containing the lossless polygons. This would also be true for dielectric brick materials.

Via Options

Divide Multi-layer Vias: A via in Sonnet which extends over two levels or more, is translated into separate vias for each Gerber metal layer. For instance, in the picture below, the original via, shown on the left, extends from level 0 down to level 3. In the translation, this via would be replaced with three single-layer vias as shown on the right.

Convert Vias to Circles: Selecting this checkbox converts the vias in your Sonnet project to circular vias in your Gerber output. If you select the Auto radio button, then the circle is the biggest that can fit in the bounding box of the via polygon, as shown below.

Select the Manual radio button if you wish to enter the desired radius of the circular via in the text entry box to the right.

NOTE: Please note that if you enter a manual radius, then ALL the vias in your circuit are converted to circular vias of that size.

Metal Polygons with Edge Vias: There are two options detailed below. If neither option is selected, then neither the metal polygon or the edge via is translated.

NOTE: Please note that the metal polygon is also translated as metal.

Output as Metal:  Selecting this checkbox causes a metal polygon with an edge via to be translated as a via of the same size and shape as the metal polygon. This option is only used if the Separate By Object Types option, described above, is selected.

Convert to Vias: Selecting this checkbox causes the whole metal polygon to which the edge via is attached to be translated as a via polygon.

Export: This section of the dialog box allows you to choose which objects in your Sonnet project file you wish to export to the Gerber output files. To export a specific object type, select the checkbox next to the item. The objects are Metal Polygons, Edge Vias with their attached polygon, via polygons, Edge Vias and Brick Polygon. If the checkbox is not selected, then that type of object is not included in the Gerber output files.

For Via Polygons, select the Via Pads checkbox to place a via pad at the top and bottom of any exported via polygon in the resulting translated file.

For Edge Vias, you may select one of three options:

• Output edge vias as one cell wide vias: Select this option to translate an edge via to a one cell wide via polygon, the same length as the polygon edge.

• Convert polygons with edge vias to vias: Select this option to translate an edge via to a via polygon that is the same size as the polygon to which the edge via is attached.

• If all polygon edges have vias, convert polygon to a via otherwise convert edge vias individually: If a polygon has an edge via on every side, then the metal polygon is converted to a via polygon in the translated project.

Gerber File Settings

Gerber File Format: Click on the millimeters or inches radio button to select the length unit used for the Gerber output files. You select the number of whole digits and decimal digits you wish to use for length values in the Gerber output files. The whole number portion is those digits to the left of the decimal place.

Gerber Filenames: This section of the dialog box allows you to control the naming of the Gerber files output as the result of the export command. The naming scheme is determined by which of the three options you select: Default, Project Name or Custom Prefix. See the appropriate section below for the naming conventions for each selection.

ext.: Enter the desired extension for the output files in the ext. text entry box. The default is " gbr." All of the files created by the export command use this extension, regardless of the naming convention used. . The rest of the discussion of filenames assumes the use of the " gbr" extension.

Default: Selecting this radio button names the output files as shown in the table below.

Project Name: Selecting this radio button names the output files <Project Base Name>_#. gbr where <Project Base Name> is the basename of the project from which you are exporting and # is an integer value that uniquely identifies each file. The Export Gerber window displayed at the end of the export identifies the layers using the default naming scheme in the table above and their correspondence to the output file names. For example, for the project steps.son the Gerber output with project name selected would be as follows:

                   SONNET_TOP: steps_1.gbr

                   METAL_Lossless_0: steps_2.gbr

                   SONNET_BOT: steps_3.gbr

Custom Prefix: Selecting this radio button names the output files <Custom Prefix>_#. gbr where <Custom Prefix> is the whatever is entered by the user in the text entry box below and # is an integer value that uniquely identifies each file. The Export Gerber window displayed at the end of the export identifies the layers using the default naming scheme in the table above and their correspondence to the output file names. For example, for the custom prefix "galaxy_" the Gerber output with Custom Prefix selected would be as follows:

                      SONNET_TOP: galaxy_1.gbr

                      METAL_Lossless_0: galaxy_2.gbr

                      SONNET_BOT: galaxy_3.gbr

Netex-G Job Filename: A job file is output as part of the export that provides the setup for the output Gerber files if you need to re-import the Gerber files into Sonnet. You may do a Job File import using this file. The Job File name is determined as follows:

Project Name: Selecting this radio button names the job files <Project Base Name>. njb where <Project Base Name> is the basename of the project from which you are exporting . For example, if you are exporting the project steps.son then the job file is named steps.njb.

Custom Prefix: Selecting this radio button names the job file <Custom Prefix>. njb where <Custom Prefix> is the whatever is entered by the user in the text entry box below. For example, for the custom prefix "galaxy" then the job file is named galaxy.njb.