Gerber Viewer Availability

[guy.steph.ryan]

Hi. I'm an occasional EAGLE user. One of the features I was hoping Cadsoft would eventually incorporate is a built-in Gerber file viewer so I wouldn't need to sign up with a third-party vendor to check my Gerber files before submitting them to a board house.

Given the rapid pace by which Autodesk is adding new capabilities to Fusion 360, I purchased their Standard license - in part with the hope of being able to view Gerber layouts within EAGLE. Assuming this feature doesn't already exist and I just missed it, does anyone know if Autodesk will be incorporating a Gerber viewer?

Thanks! - guy

[rachaelATWH4]

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@guy.steph.ryan wrote:
Hi. I'm an occasional EAGLE user. One of the features I was hoping Cadsoft would eventually incorporate is a built-in Gerber file viewer so I wouldn't need to sign up with a third-party vendor to check my Gerber files before submitting them to a board house.

Given the rapid pace by which Autodesk is adding new capabilities to Fusion 360, I purchased their Standard license - in part with the hope of being able to view Gerber layouts within EAGLE. Assuming this feature doesn't already exist and I just missed it, does anyone know if Autodesk will be incorporating a Gerber viewer?

Thanks! - guy

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Hi Guy,

You can import Gerbers into the board editor. It's available as File -> Import -> Gerber....

But this probably isn't the best way of viewing them as you are effectively creating a new board with the gerbers imported as the design data.

Have you looked at standard Gerber viewers that are free like gerbv or gerbview?

Best Regards,

Rachael

[jorge_garcia]

Hello @guy.steph.ryan,

I hope you're doing well. Incorporating a gerber viewer into EAGLE is low on the priority list compared to other features. The main reason is the availability of so many free gerber viewers like the ones Rachael mentioned. Additionally, having a third party tool show your gerbers can build more confidence in their accuracy than a viewer within the tool.

I believe there is an enhancement request for this already, if there isn't I'll make one and add your voice to it.

Please let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[guy.steph.ryan]

Hi, Rachel.

Thanks very much for your reply.

I wasn't aware of gerbv or gerbview, but I have heard of gerblock and viewplot. I've actually used Pentalogix ViewMate - which worked fine but required me to search their website, create an account, and import my gerber files so I could examine the resulting plots.

No question there are free options out there for viewing Gerber file plots, but as a matter of convenience I personally would like to see this capability integrated into EAGLE.

V/r, - guy

[guy.steph.ryan]

Hi, Jorge.

Thanks for adding my request to integrate Gerber plot viewing to the "Wish List" of potential EAGLE improvements. I personally would find value in not having to go outside of EAGLE to see what my Gerber plots look like. I could always compare EAGLE's plot views with those generated by alternate sources to reveal any potential problems.

V/r, - guy

[rachaelATWH4]

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@guy.steph.ryan wrote:

Hi, Rachel.

Thanks very much for your reply.

I wasn't aware of gerbv or gerbview, but I have heard of gerblock and viewplot. I've actually used Pentalogix ViewMate - which worked fine but required me to search their website, create an account, and import my gerber files so I could examine the resulting plots.

No question there are free options out there for viewing Gerber file plots, but as a matter of convenience I personally would like to see this capability integrated into EAGLE.

V/r, - guy

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Hi Guy,

I don't know whether it would help but you could create display aliases to match each of your gerber layer setups. That way you can quickly call up an alias to display just what is shown for each layer of the gerber. You could also write a script to export all these layer setups automatically in monochrome into a chosen folder which would then enable you to view them with the standard image viewer from within your OS. A script could be written to open it up with all the files loaded form within EAGLE. Similarly a script could be created to automatically launch gerbv from within EAGLE and either of these could be integrated into a custom menu for ease of access.

Best Regards,

Rachael