• We process gerber data in electronic format preferably in RS-274X (embedded format) and nc drill files in Excellon format 2,3 Leading, millimeters, absolute.
• Gerber data should have all the necessary technical details for fabrication including mechanical drawings, PCB surface finish, base copper thickness, layer stack-up details, grade of PCB, finished thickness of PCB, special features like impedance controlled PCB, edge plated PCB, blind/buried vias, flexible & flexi-rigid PCB’s, metalcore & thermal bonded PCB (external & internal heat sinks).
• All gerber data should contain a document or `read me’ file containing complete technical details of PCB.
• If PTH & NPTH information for drills were not specified, then all drills would be considered as Plated through holes (PTH).
• The centre of the corner marks are used for establishing the dimensions (contour) of the boards. If otherwise customer needs to specify whether it should be considered from inner or outer edge of the board outline.
• Legend (silkscreen) on soldering pads should be avoided as it may cause soldering problems. Height of legend text should be more than 1.27 mm for better legibility of components and text width 0.20mm.
• For better yield during manufacturing process, drill edge to copper clearance in inner layers should be 0.35mm minimum (0.30mm for critical PCB’s with BGA’s). Annular ring should be provided sufficiently for all PTH pads for better solder ability.
• Mechanical drawings should contain all dimensional details related to PCB dimension, slot dimension, hole to edge information, etc.
• To reduce engineering time during design for manufacturability (DFM) process, gerber data should not have multiple sub-layers for each individual layers.
• Component pads in all layers should be in flash mode will help in reducing the time for DFM process. Glossary of terms commonly used in PCB's:

This is a text file describing the size and shape of each element on the board. These are also known as a D-code lists. These lists are not necessary if your files are saved as Extended Gerber with embedded Apertures (RS274X).

Our standard aspect ratio of 6:1. This equals the smallest hole size that can support plating. It is calculate by taking the board thickness divided by the smallest drill diameter.

A typical tolerance is within 10% of the given thickness. Generally tolerances are as per IPC standards

A clearance (or isolation) is a term we use to describe the space from power/ground layer copper to through hole. To prevent shorting, ground and power layer clearances need to be .025” larger than the finish hole size for the inner layers. This allows for registration, drilling, and plating tolerances.

This is how much copper your board will have on its surface. It is the copper foil thickness + plated copper - surface preparation. It is usually given in oz.

1 oz = 0.035 mm thickness.

We generally offer finished copper of 1-oz., 2-oz., and 3-oz. For inner layers we use a copper thickness of 1 Oz. Different finished copper thickness’ also can be fabricated

The cut line is going to be used to program the router path and it represents the board outside edge. It is recommended to pull back outer layer copper and inner copper from the cut line to avoid copper exposure after PCB routing.

This selection will have us place the week and year of manufacture on your board. It can be etched on the board or part of the Silkscreen.

These usually include an outline of the board, dimensions, fabrication notes with legend or copper.

The outline is used to program the router. The dimensions are used to insure proper scale and board measurement. The fabrication notes include other pertinent information (copper thickness, board thickness, stack-up specifics, etc.). The drill chart contains symbols inside the outline that are used to mark individual drill sizes and corresponding board locations. The drill legend has the drill sizes, the needed tolerance, and if they are to be Plated or Non-plated (see “Plated through holes (PTH) – Non-Plated through holes (NPTH)).

It will have X & Y coordinates with tool sizes viewable in any text editor. It is this file that governs your finished hole sizes.

This is a text file describing drill tool number, corresponding size, quantity, and if the holes are to be plated or non- plated.

Testing is used primarily to test for opens and shorts.

This surface finish will have 3-6 microns of Nickel above Copper overwhich there will be 0.06-0.08 microns of Gold

This surface finish will have Gold directly plated over copper. Thickness of upto 3-3.5 microns of Gold can be attained in this

Our Industry standard format for files used to generate artwork necessary for circuit board imaging. Preferred Gerber format is RS274X, which embeds the apertures within the specific files (see Aperture information). If files are not saved in RS274X, we will need “One” aperture list sent with the files.

When your software outputs more than one list, there is a risk of the wrong d-codes being applied, if we need to hand enter the values.

We can plate your edge connectors with Gold. (Approx. Ni 4-6 microns / Au 1 micron). With your gold selection, a standard degree bevel will be added to your edge connector. For multi-layer boards please insure adequate copper pull back for the bevels. Please mention this in the special instructions when placing your order.

Acronym HAL, which is the process of putting solder on exposed copper of the circuit board. Approx. 63/37 Tin/Lead mix is used. Also known as a SMOBC which is an acronym for Solder Mask Over Bare Copper.

Our inspections are based upon a pictorial guide “IPC-A-600G” that we use for our defect determinations.

These are usually solid copper plains of a multilayer board that carry power or are ground. Please generate these layers as negatives. Make any clearances on these layers .035” over the drill / tool size. This will prevent shorting from occurring with layer shifting on inner layers.

These are the inner-layers . We will remove any pads that are not connected to traces on your internal signal layers in order to expedite the touch up process. Many customers send their files to us with this step already done, which helps to speed up the tooling process. If for any reason, you do not wish us to remove the extraneous pads, please clarify this in your read-me file or special requirement note.

The plains of copper connected by the plated through holes. On board text such as company name, logo, or part number that is correct reading on the top layer will ensure the layer are placed correctly.

Please include a layer sequence so that we are able to build your order with the correct stack up.

Traces are the “Wires” of the Printed Circuit Board (also known as tracks). Spaces are the distances between traces, the distances between pads, or the distances between a pad and a trace. How wide is the smallest trace (line, track, wire), or space between traces or pads? Whichever is less of the two governs the order form selection.

We offer widths down to 0.005". If you need < 0.005" traces/spaces, please indicate it clearly and we will revert regarding the feasibility of fabrication after studying the gerber.

This is the total number of holes in the board. It has an influence on price if it increases the total drilling time.

The name or number associated with your printed circuit board. We use your part number throughout the entire order process for your convenience.

Holes that have copper plating in the hole barrels are defined as PTH’s. Holes that do not have copper in the hole barrels are defined as NPTH’s All drill sizes will be treated as PTH unless NPTH is specified in the Drawing, Print, Drill file, drill tool description text file, or identified with a special. In addition, unsupported holes identified in Gerber files in the following ways will be treated as non plated: holes without pads. If drawing or tool description is different than the size specified within the drill file, we will use the drill file to determine finished hole size

If you have the same drawing number but updated revisions, please enter it. This will avoid any confusion for manufacturing your desired boards. Please make sure that your revision number is included with your drawings too.

Marking ink is used to identify components during later assembly and troubleshooting processes. This can be placed on one or two sides (in yellow or white), depending on the board design and application. We can include your company logo if it is provided on the drawing specs. Minimum line width for legible printing is 0.008". Anything smaller may result in missing or illegible marking on your boards. White is our standard color but we also offer yellow. Please refer 6 of standard instructions

This is the final size of the hole. We will select a drill larger than the specified hole size to allow for plating thickness. We can provide a hole down to 0.012" . See our capability page for more details.

Acronym for Solder Mask Over Bare Copper. After boards have been coated with soldermask, the process of Hot Air Leveling will distribute solder to all areas of copper that are not covered by mask.

Used to protect the board and circuitry during the assembly and packaging operations. Among other things, the solder mask helps prevents solder bridges between adjacent pads and traces during the wave soldering process. Liquid Photo-imageable (LPI) is our default process and the color is green. However, we also offer some additional colors.

To generate your soldermask artwork, add your smallest space measurement to the pad size. For boards with 0.006" spaces, use a pad size up to +0.006" up to 0.010" for 0.010". Spaces larget than 0.010" should have a pad size of +0.010". Please note: While we make every attempt to leave a mask "dam" between surface mounts, fine pitch areas will be relieved in strips. Our manufacturing process needs at least 0.005" mask "dam" between pads in order to adhere to the board. Pad-to-pad spacing less than 0.013" will not have soldermask between them.

The pitch of the surface mount is defined as the dimension in inches from center to center of surface mount pads.

In order to prevent building a board inside out, we must be able to identify the correct orientation of your design. Component, layer 1, or 'top' layer should read in facing up. All other layers should line up as though looking through the top side of the board.

These can also be called lines or tracks. These are the conductors of the circuit board. See ‘minimum traces & spaces’ for more details.

Rather than completing a route path around the board edge, the edges are "scored" to allow breaking boards apart after assembly. This is another way to panelize the boards This method creates two beveled scoring lines along the perimeter of your boards. This makes it easier to break apart the boards at a later date. You would receive your boards in panel form like routing with break points

All files needed for the processing of your order must be compressed in a zip file. Due to the large amount of orders received, we are not able to accept individual layer files sent to us. Incase of any other technical clarifications, please email us at