Include Net names when printing board

[robert_pellegrino]

When I print a BRD file from within Fusion, it will print the traces and pads, but not the Nets or labels.  I have tried printing to PDF and directly to the printer.   How do I print and have the pads labeled?

Fusion 360 2.0.15995 x86_64

Windows 10

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @robert_pellegrino,

I hope this message finds you well. The only way to do this would be to take a screenshot of the screen. We don't print out the net names in the traces and pads, these are just meant as a visual aid while working on your electronics design but not for documentation.

What do you need this for? Maybe I can give you some other options.

Best Regards,

[robert_pellegrino]

Jorge,

I need this for documentation, of course.  If I wish to reference a design offline, email it to a colleague, include it in a published paper... There are countless reasons why you might want to print all or part of a board layout to a PDF or printer.  The one thing that all of these scenarios have in common is that they are next to useless without the labels on the pads and traces.  I can't imagine why you would leave them off without even the option of including them.

--bob

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @robert_pellegrino,

I hope you're doing well. In a manufacturing context those labels are usually submitted as a netlist, which you can generate on for your design. You can do it in the 2D PCB by going to the Manufacturing menu > IPC-D-356 netlist or typing EXPORT in the CLI followed by enter and then selecting Netlist.

Having those net names on the traces and pads on a printed sheet would quickly become unintelligible in even a modestly complex design. I recommend exporting the netlist and including that in the documentation if it is necessary.

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

Best Regards,

[robert_pellegrino]

Jorge,

I think that Autodesk should allow the user to decided when and if a particular presentation is unintelligible or unwieldy.  There are plenty of scenarios where this functionality would be useful to document all or part of a board.  Think about a magazine article or web page or just an email exchange between colleagues.  What is effective communication to a manufacturing entity is not how you communicate with a human being.  

Netlists are for computers.  Pictures are for humans.

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hi @robert_pellegrino 

I hope you're doing well. Just to make sure we are on the same page, you want the net labels to appear in the printout similar to this screenshot

I want to make sure when I put in the request, that I'm requesting the right thing.

Please confirm.

Best Regards,

[robert_pellegrino]

Yes, like that.