topic Re: Gerber Files- Producing from AutoCAD in AutoCAD Forum

Gerber Files- Producing from AutoCAD

martindraftingsolutions1 — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 03:28:55 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to find a way to produce gerber files from my PCB project in AutoCAD. My goal is to reproduce hand-drawn PCBs from the 1960s for a personal project.

Most of the answers provided to similar questions suggest new dynamic programs that cater best to original designs it seems and I am REALLY trying to avoid changing to the available free software that, frankly, doesn't serve my needs. And the cost for Eagle is prohibitive.

I am recreating existing boards with large, wavy traces for a restoration project on an old Heathkit radio. Heathkits were sold unassembled to the public with comprehensive assembly manuals that include images and diagrams of the supplied boards, which is why my new boards need to appear virtually identical. This project is simply a matter of tracing an image of an existing board, which I have started in AutoCAD. The electrical design already exists, so recreating a schematic is unnecessary. I 'm just putting traces where there are traces, holes where there are holes, and so on.

An internet search for AutoCAD to Gerber brings up threads from the 1990s for costly software that I'm not sure is even accessible in today's world.

Has anyone here successfully created gerber files for a project generated in AutoCAD? I am even prepared to create the gerber files manually, except that I'm not sure where I would start and what a Gerber file would even look like as a finished product. My experience with AutoCAD has always been civil or architecturally centered.

Any advice?

Thanks,

Dan

Re: Gerber Files- Producing from AutoCAD

RobDraw — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 10:13:35 GMT

@martindraftingsolutions1 wrote:
I'm not sure where I would start and what a Gerber file would even look like as a finished product.

Any advice?

My advice would be to find out what the files are supposed to look like. It's very difficult to hit a target when you don't even know what the target looks like.

Re: Gerber Files- Producing from AutoCAD

leeminardi — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 11:51:53 GMT

You will have to determine which version of Gerber to use. Here and here are good places to start. It then becomes a task of reformatting polyline coordinates and adding control codes.

Re: Gerber Files- Producing from AutoCAD

pendean — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 12:23:58 GMT

You need a third party converter/addon: there used to be one for older AutoCAD version, but not anymore.

Whip out a credit card and go shopping on the web, start here for recs and go from there https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/dwg-to-gerber-gerber-to-dwg-converter/td-p/6628832 then https://www.google.com/search?q=dwg+to+gerber