make your own pcbs form a to z

8/10/2019 Make Your Own PCBs Form a to Z

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Make your own PCBs form A to Zusing Eagle Layout Editor + Photoshop

author: Hlias Hliadis

Making your own PCBs is a procedure that needs extreme care so the result become usefullMany times you faced up the challenge to print out your own PCBs many times or manydifferent PCBs in one sheet !n this article we will discuss how you can do this compiningcommon software tools Also we will discuss how to print out PCBs from "lektor maga#inealong with your own custom made PCB in one transparency$ after processing it usingPhotoshop C% for better results

&he software tools you need are:

• Adobe Photoshop CS (image processing).

• Adobe Acrobat Reader (PD !iles reader).

• Eagle Layout Editor ".## ree$are (PC% design).

• PC% PD !iles !rom Ele&tor maga'ine (aailable at their $ebsite)

see (page 3/3) for resources.

Designing

'or the beginning we will design a simple circuit to "agle which will flash two (")diodes *pen Eagle$ under Proects right click and then left click to *e$ Proect.

+i,e a name to the new Proect$ for example %lin&ing Led and then click Enter.

-nder the Proect you created$ right click and select *e$ and then Schematic.

mailto:[email protected]




.ight away the schematic editor will show up Pro/ect : Blinking (ed

After finishing the circuit design$ you must check it out for design faults or not

connected components &his can be done clicking Erc button from the tools

&hen we must transfer the design to the PCB design program &his can be done clicking on

%oard button and the program will automatically start putting the components and thereconnections on the work area



At this point you must arrange the components as you like$ but you should ha,e in mindto put them in places so the shortest route connects them0

After completing the components arrangement use button Ratsnet from the tools

bar to let the program re1route the components connections to be the shortest possible 'inal

click Auto button and select the Layer you wish 2for example &op for one side PCBs3 andthen click , so the PCB traces will be drawn

&he result is like the PCB shown below

Autorouter settings # -P */A0 1 #2 %ottom 30 4ou lea,e the rest as is



5hen the PCB design is ready it6s time to export it to an image file to be able to processit using Photoshop C%

'irst of all we must hide the layers we don6t need$ for example the components$ the

names$ ,alues and let only the PCB traces

&o achie,e this we must click on Display button from the tools bar and 7)el7 thefollowing selections:



45 Dimension

4# tPlace

44 bPlace

After pressing *8 we must see some a screen similar to this one:



&hen click ile 6 E7port and select 8mage.

&his image will show up:

As more Resolution you choose the best processing will occur in Photoshop CS$ alsoyou must check 9onochrome box$ gi,e a name and click ,.

4ou must be careful choosing Resolution: because the more dpi has result the best

9uality but the bigger file si#e$ ;; dpi it6s a good resolution for print out

E7ample;

'ile: Blink(edbmp.esolution: ;;dpi

Monochrome:

&he result is this:

At this point we no longer need Eagle$ the next step it processing the image usingPhotoshop CS



Processing in Photoshop

*pen Photoshop and click pen: find file %lin&Led.bmp and click pen$ the programwill open the PCB you created using Eagle

As you can see the PCB traces are white and the empty space is black$ that must bein,erted because we want to print out the traces

&o achie,e this we use the 8nert command$ click on 8mage 6 Adustments 6 8nert or use the shortcut keys C-RL+8 on your keyboard

.ight away the colors will be in,erter and we now ha,e the traces in black and theempty space in white



As you can see there is an empty white space to the top of the image that is drossy and

aggra,ate the file si#e $ we can eliminate this using Crop -ool from the tool bar$ select

the tool$ mo,e cursor to the upper left corner$ click right mouse button and drag up to thelower right corner of the image so the drossy space left out of the selection <ow the usefulpart of the image is normal and the white space became gray <ow double click to the normalsection on press "nter to remo,e the drossy paper

!f you wish you can fill the white spaces with black to make a more professional lookPCB &o achie,e this we must con,ert the image to <rayscale and create a new Layer Clickon 8mage 6 9ode 6 <rayscale$ and the menu <rayscale will show up &o Si'e Ratio gi,e



,alue # and click ,$ then click to Layer 6 *e$ 6 Layer or use Shi!t+C-RL+* shortcut fromyour keyboard

Creating a new Layer is ,ery important$ for the reason that we don6t affect the originaldesign and we can restore it to the pre,ious state if we want to

5ith the creation of the Layer you will see to the Layers box that you ha,e %ac&ground which has a lock and Layer #

Click to Layer # and select the Paint %uc&et -ool select as main color black:

<ext click into the design$ it will become black$ but don6t be afraid this is going tochange in a while=

<ow$ double click to (ayer %ac&ground$ and the dialog box *e$ Layer will open andthen click ,

4ou will see that %ac&ground now renamed to Layer 5 and the lock disappears$ nowclick and hold the left mouse button to Layer # and drag it under Layer 5: you must be ableto see the original design

At this point we must see some common functions of Photoshop so we can make our lifes easier Photoshop was selected because is the best program 1 in my opinion 1 of it6scategory$ has many facilities on operation$ can read P)' files 2"lektor gi,es PCBs in P)'format3 and has the best image 9uality



4ou must beaten using =oom function$ Polygon Lasso -ool and >and -ool =oomcan be easily controlled with C-RL+ >Zoom in? @ C-RL1 >Zoom out?$ >and tool is used tomo,e into the image to the section we are interested$ holding Space and left mouse button$we mo,e the image to the work area 2Attention$ >and tool mo,es the image in the work area$that means that is replaces scroll bars: but 9oe tool mo,es the image of the Layer 3$Polygon Lasso tool is used pushing L$ Lasso with the help of Shi!t button can create

hori#ontal straight lines$ ,ertical and diagonal 4ou must always finish the (asso tool to thepoint it started so it makes a closed loop 2like the image below "xperiment with the tools tohabituate with their operation it6s better to create a copy of the design so the prototype so youalways ha,e a untouched copy$ click 8mage 6 Duplicate.

Click on Layer 5$ =oom to image ;;$ mo,e it with the >and -ool$ select (asso tool$click near a PCB trace holding Shi!t key and drag the mouse in the direction of the trace'ollow a go1around to close the loop at the point you started !f you want to mo,e the imageuse >and tool.

&he section you selected in now in a discontinuous line$ this section must be filled with

black color$ to achie,e that select select the background color to blackand then press Delete key

.epeat the operation to fill all the section you want to be black and finally the PCB willlook like this one:



&he fillingD could be achie,ement using Eagle with a %cript$ but the company thatde,elops "agle hasn6t included a %cript like this yet and the user6s scripts ha,e many glitches$so we prefer Photoshop to ha,e more flexibility processing our design

%a,e the image in PSD format 2Photoshop 'ormat 3 to be able in future to make anychanges

<ow we will open an "lektor6s P)' pcb file to process it using Photoshop

'or our example we use a file from the "nglish site of "lektor$ in the free categoryMiniPro/ects *nline$ we selected (ed Christmas )ecoration

At webpage there is the word more? that links to a PD file$ this PD must bedownloaded 2right click 7sa,e target as73 to you pc

After you ha,e this file on your hard disk you must open it with Photoshop CS$ clickpen 6 ile and open the P)' file

&he PD Page Selector will show up: !nside this you can see the pages of P)' file$ weneed the one with the PCB layer that6s on page 4: click on page and ,.

http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/miniproj/frmipro.htm

http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/miniproj/details/030157.htm

http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/miniproj/frmipro.htm

http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/miniproj/details/030157.htm



<ow the Rasteri'e <eneric PD ormat dialog box will appear

At Resolution field you must gi,e the same alue as our design has : 2if you don6tneed to attach another PCB file then gi,e a ,alue between EF; and G;; dpi3 at this exampleput ;;dpi and click ,.

&he file will open in Photoshop6s working area



5e must remo,e any schematic$ text and layout we don6t need using Crop tool %electthe PCB area and click "nter <ow only the PCB remains



&his PCB must be printed two times for the construction and let6s assume we want tomake this construction twice &hat means we need it four times

&o reproduce the PCB times$ we must change the paper si#e to our original design to I$ I measures EJK$Lcm 2@idth; 4# 6 >eight; 4:B): click on 8mage 6 Canas Si'e?menu

Put ,alues @idth; 4# 6 >eight; 4:B in cm and click ,: now the paper has Idimensions

At Layer bar there is Layer # and this is the (ayer we must reproduce$ to achie,e thatclick C-RL+A and you will se to the borders of the paper discontinuous lines$ then click



C-RL+C to copy the Layer to the computer6s memory$ now click C-RL+ times and youwill se at Layer bar Layer more (Layer 4: Layer : Layer ")$ with 9oe -ool arrange thelayers to the page &he page must look like this one:

&he empty space we left at the bottom will be used to add the PCB we created with

"agle (ayout

*pen the PCB we made with Eagle to %lin&ingLed.PSD file$ make a duplicate copyand close the original one Click on layer menu and select 9erge Do$n C-RL+E: you willsee Layer # and Layer 4 to merge and finally only Layer # exists

Click and drag in (ayer bar Layer# on top Ele&tor and the "agle PCB will be added to"lektor6s pcbs page along with Layer F to the Layer bar: with 9oe -ool mo,e Layer F to

the desired destination.

&he PCB we created in Eagle is smaller than the "lektor6s one but if you retain theResolution then you must don6t scare if you see it smaller At this point make a test print on

I page to see if e,erything is printed out correctly and try to fit a component on top of thepage to see if the scale is the right

E7posure

!f e,erything is printer out correctly on the test page print it out to a transparency usinga Laser printer to the maximum resolution$ cut the PCBs from transparency and keep then ina good condition until de,elopment 4our hands must be clear and you must don6t tough it ontop of traces

Gou $ill need;

• E7posure chamber $ith H light 55@

• 4 pieces o! glass 575cm : thic&ness 5.Fmm



• Peridrol (!rom local pharmacy shop)

• sparse >ydrochloric acid (!orm Super 9ar&et: used in baths)

• -obo!lo (!rom Super 9ar&et)

• Plastic gloes

• H Light sensitie boards

• Protectie LaIuer spray• Drill $ith drill bits !orm 5:Fmm to mm

• 4 plastic basins

&he exposure chamber isn6t difficult to construct$ it consists of a box 2preferred fromwood3$ with useful height G;cm width and depth ;cm and a door that apply the best way tothe box !n a hole to the roof you attach the lamp &he lamp fitting must be from porcelain topre,ent melting of it 4ou can also attach rubber bottom to the box to eliminate ,ibes thataffect lamp6s life

- lamps emit ultra,iolet radiation and are more expensi,e than regular ones$ amongthis they need a warm up time of approximately F minutes to ha,e best performance$ so

before put the PCB inside let it warm up A--E*-8*; *eer loo& directly to the lamp: it isERG ha'ardous !or the eyes.

&he pieces of glass needed to support the PCB and transparency contact in theexposure chamber$ use one piece as base and put the photosensiti,e PCB on top of it withthe copper side up$ then put the transparency with the printed side face the copper side of thePCB and then put the second piece of glass on top of all -se adhesi,e tape to seal them alltogether

All this must be done in a room with no bright lights and make fast mo,ements$because photosensiti,e boards from the time we remo,e the protecti,e layer are exposed toany light and you may experience problems if let it to much time exposed

After lamp warm up$ put the two pieces of glass along with PCB and transparency:$ithout loo&ing or touching the lamp$ close the door and let it exposed EF minutes$ exploitthis time frame to find a cartoon box 2pe form shoes3 to put the PCB in after exposure andheat 2D*J- %8L) E litter of water

5hen EF minutes passes turn off the lamp and take off the pieces of glasses &ake theexposed PCB and put it inside the cartoon box until the time to etch bath comes

As you see abo,e ! don6t use the 7classic7 enchants 2sodium hydroxide @ trichoride 3because they are dangerous for en,ironment and human and they are also difficult to depositthem later 4ou are not allo$ed to depose them in enironment or to the @C but giethem to a chemical laboratory. &he chemicals ! propose can be deposed to drainage 2<*&depose them to en,ironment either3$ apart from that housewi,es use them for house cleaning

-he etching procedure must ta&e place to a $ell entilated place or to openspace $ith the use o! plastic gloes and the best attention you can hae (hae in mindthat >ydrochloric acid is an AC8D) as you hae to manage chemicalsK

&o one of the two basins put the heated water and spoons of &uboflo$ 2you must notuse this spool again !or !oodK) mix the solution well until &uboflo is dissol,ed

&o the second basin put N of the >ydrochloric acid solution and a little Peridrol2around caps of a common water bottle3 Mix them well



<ow put the board to the first basin with the water and &uboflo and mo,e it until thetraces show up 2in around E1 minutes3 5hen the traces can be seen clearly remo,e theboard and wash it out with pure water into the bath

After that place the board to the second basin with >ydrochloric acid and Peridroland mo,e it around until the copper is remo,ed from the exposed areas of the board$ 2around

EF1; minutes3$ if the copper remo,al isn6t finished in the time add up E1 doses of Peridrol5hen etching finished you must ha,e the PCB almost ready with the copped traces only left4ou must check the board to see if there are undesirably areas with copper $ if you notice thatput the board to the solution again until they are completely remo,ed$ then wash the boardwith water and wipe it with toilet paper

)eposit chemicals to the toilet and wash them also with warm water and soap

5hen PCB becomes dry$ spay it with the lac9uer spray following the manufacturesinstructions

5hen lac9uer dries it6s time to drill the holes$ you will need an electric drill to open the

components holes

!f you want a more professional look to your pcb you can do silk screening of components placement$ but this is made only to special laboratories and there is an additionalcost for it

At this point the guide has come to it6s finish$ ! hope it helped you a bit to make your own PCBs .emember$ don6t be disappointed if the first try fail$ patience and persistence arethe 7tools7 to achie,e your goals +ood luck

>liadis >lias 1 iliasyahoo.com

Electrician 1 Electronics Engineer -echnician 1 8ndustrial 8nstallations

&he names "lektor$ Adobe$ Photoshop C%$ Acrobat$ and "agle are registered trademarks

• www elektor gr elektor maga#ine in +reece

• www elektor 1electronics co uk elektor maga#ine in -8

• www adobe com Adobe site for Photoshop and Acrobat

• www cadsoft de "agle site

&his article is dedicated to my parents and all lo,ing persons and friends


http://www.elektor.gr/

http://www.elektor-electronics.co.uk/


http://www.adobe.com/

http://www.cadsoft.de/



http://www.elektor.gr/


http://www.adobe.com/


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