Polygon Cutout doesn't work in footprint editor

[trey]

I'm trying to create a copper polygon in the footprint editor and then use the polygon cutout tool to remove an inner portion of it.  I have no problems making the outer copper polygon, but the cutout tool appears to have no effect.

Seems like this is a bug or a feature that still needs to be implemented.  For now I'll work around it in the normal board editor.

(EAGLE 9.1.0 on OSX)

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous,

It's nice to hear from you again. This one is a feature that still needs to be implemented.

I've created and enhancement report.

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

Best Regards,

[trey]

Jorge,

Could you also file an enhancement report to allow concentric copper polygons?

Currently, if you cut out a copper polygon, no copper polygons of a different net can be placed inside the cutout.  It would be nice if we could associate a cutout polygon with a specific solid polygon such that it only acted on a single solid instead of non-discriminately cutting.

Thanks!

Trey

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

We definitely want to make the polygon tools more flexible. However for the scenario you are mentioning (probably a capsense pad or something like that) you are better off using wires to create the concentric rings. EAGLE ring would consists of two arcs (circles don't work with the arbitrary pad shape feature) and you would place the pad or smd at a point where the two arcs meet. EAGLE would see the arcs as extensions of the pad(smd).

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

Best Regards,

[trey]

In the concentric case, I'm actually talking about the board editor.  I've got an antenna surrounded by a guard polygon, which is then surrounded by a ground polygon.  Its no big deal to work around it using multiple polygons, but in my mind it makes sense for cutouts to be associated with a particular solid polygon.  I've attached an image of the case I'm working around.

Secret circuit board 😉

[Kristey]

Hi
I have a similar problem. I want make a Cap Pad and I need apply a polygon cutout on a inter layer, and this tool didnt work.

How I can make it?

[carlJTW5Q]

Hi @jorge_garcia, did that enhancement request go anywhere? I'm trying to define a footprint for a standoff which wants to have an NPTH through hole in the middle of the pad. The copper must be pulled back from the hole to avoid creating a burr; if there's a burr there the standoff won't sit level and the assembly wont work.

I have defined the copper land as a polygon and set an SMD pad in the middle like I would for an irregularly shaped pad. I put a hole in the middle of that polygon. I defined another polygon on the top layer as a cutout and made it into a cutout, with a gap between the edge of the drill and the cutout polygon.

The polygon cutout doesn't show up in the footprint editor, and when I pull the footprint into a PCB it still shows solid copper under the hole and raises a dimension error in DRC. It seems like it's still ignoring cutouts defined in the footprint. I have also tried defining a polygon on the tRestrict layer, and that doesn't seem to render correctly either.

If this hasn't been implemented yet, what is the recommended workaround to create a non plated through hole solder pad?

Thanks,

Carl

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @carlJTW5Q,

I couldn't find the enhancement request and I've gone ahead and created it again. I've added this thread to it for evidence of this need.

The workaround for now is basically to make a strip of polygon that folds back on itself to make the donut polygon shape. See the attached images for more clarification.

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

Best Regards,

[carlJTW5Q]

Thanks Jorge. It's deeply depressing that that Autodesk can,
straight-faced, ship a product with such basic features broken for 5 years,
but that's obviously not your fault. As always, your forum posts are a tiny
lighthouse in the ocean of shame and despair that Eagle exudes.