EAGLE CAD - Creating Transparency Films From The Board Editor

We just finished our Board schematic in Eagle. What now? Well... we're moving to the real world by creating the transparency films used to manufacture the PCB's.

In the Board Editor select the Layer settings button. The Display window appears. Click on the None button to deselect all the layers.

Click the Layer settings button

Click the None button to deselect all the layers

To create the bottom filter select the following layers:

• 16 Bottom
• 17 Pads
• 18 Vias
• 20 Dimension
• 45 Holes

The Circuit Board Ready For Printing The Bottom Layer Transparency Filter

Click on the Print button or follow the path File > Print. The Print window appears. After selecting the printer, paper type, orientation and alignment, set the area to full. The scale factor and page limit should be 1. In the Options area just the Black and Solid options should be checked. Set the Calibrate values to 1 and the Border values to 10.

Printer Settings For The Bottom Layer

Go one... you're ready to print the transparency film for the bottom layer. Click the OK button.

For the top filter you should select the following layers:

• 1 Top
• 17 Pads
• 18 Vias
• 20 Dimension
• 45 Holes

The Circuit Board Ready For Printing The Top Layer Transparency Filter

The printer setting are the same as to the bottom layer, but in the Options area you also should check the Mirror option.

Printer Settings For The Top Layer

Now you can print the transparency film for the top layer too. For information about how you can make a real PCB using the transparency films you just printed, read this.