Solder Mask no longer transparent in 3D view

[robert1356]

I am slowly adopting all the new features of Fusion 360 and have an issue with the current solder mask.  In my previous designs, in the layer stack-up, the material for solder mask was "user defined" or empty.  With this configuration, when I push the layout to 3D and select "3D Geometry to Include: Solder Masks" I get a 3D model with a nice transparent green layer so I can see all my copper through the solder mask.

In my newest design, I am using the Autodesk '4 Layer Stack' stack-up configuration for my board.  It defines the solder mask as the material SR:Green.  If I push my design to 3D and I select "3D Geometry to Include: Solder Masks" the resulting 3D model has the solder mask, but I can't see the copper through it.  It's solid green, not transparent.  I really want it to look like it used to when I included the solder mask, green and transparent.

[constantin.popescuXD3CL · Accepted solution]

Hi Robert,

The way to get the Solder mask to be transparent when one of the defaults is used is by adjusting the Color, please see the layer Stack Manager snapshots below:

Make sure the check-box "Edit material properties" is checked than select the "Top SolderMask" layer then scroll to the right until you see the "Color" column. Click on the Color field like below:

The "Select Material Color" dialog will be shown and there you can change the value in the "Alpha channel" to be less than 255, e.g.: 200. The "Material" will change to "User Defined" which is because you have changed one of the supplied materials locally, see below:

Then you need to save the modiefied Layer Stackup (click the "Apply" button) then save the board design and later when you generate the 3D document the Solder Mask should be transparent.

Please let me know how you go with this.

Kind regards,

[robert1356]

Thank you, that is the solution I was looking for.  I tried editing that before I sent the message, but I did not see the checkbox that enabled editing.

As an interim, I noticed I could select the component in the 3D view and adjust the Opacity Control (contextual menu when you click on the component), 80% seemed good.  This didn't change anything if I exported for my customer, but it was quick enough for me to see what I needed to see.

[constantin.popescuXD3CL]

Hi Robert,

One more thing that I forgot to mention in my previous response is that after you change the Solder Mask color locally you can save the updated Layer Stack as a preset that you can reuse anytime you need to instead of using the default 4 Layer Stack. You need to use the left side combo-box and the Save button next to it, please see below:

Kind Regards,

[robert1356]

Yes, thank you.  I had already figured that out.  I saved the stack-up itself and the DRC file so it would (hopefully) automatically select that same stackup as the default.