Any pcb layout programs allow you to import jpeg image as background?

You won't find a PCB layout program that will do this. The best they can do (some of them) is import a Gerber file that may then be edited.

Leon

I use eagle and used one of the ulp scripts provided with it to get a gif image of a wasp onto my PCB (on the silkscreen in this case, but that's just a matter of choosing the layer). But note that it is imported as a bunch of dots.

Wouter van Ooijen

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Adobe Streamline?

On 22 Aug 2003 10:31:42 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (joe) Gave us:

PCB layouts are made from schematics, and PCB layout software is keyed toward that end. You will not find ANY package that takes line art bitmaps, and makes layouts from them. It is a silly concept.

If you want to copy a PCB from a mag, get a REAL layout package , and place the part package pads or vias, and draw the traces. The experience from that practice alone is much more valuable than taking some photo layout and moving pads around to specific pad centers for a chip layout. IN fact, it sounds like it would take much longer than standard throw it down, and tie the pins together layouts.

The best package for hand layout of 6 layers or less IMO, is called Tango PCB. It may even do 8 layers.. I have never needed to know.

It has limited printing capability, but is a VERY precise layout package. It is also out of "print", as in not available, and not supported. I wish there was a Linux hack of it or something.

Anyway, I don't think that you\ll find what you are looking for, and that you'd get more meaningful experience from laying out yourself from the picture even, than some "import" feature. It really is quite easy.

But I see pcb boards with graphics on them all the time, fancy logos, pictures etc. How do they do that? They must be importing some type of image... bmp, gif or whatever on the silkscreen layer. Mind you, I will be using the jpeg image only as a guide. The layout itself will be created using the standard manual pick and place and routing features of the layout program. When done, the jpeg (i.e., silkscreen image) will be deleted.

I am not aware of any PCB CAD which allows this.

An alternative which most will support is importing the image as PCB primitives on spare layers which can be deleted after 'tracing'.

There is a free tool here

which claims to convert various bit mapped graphics formats to various vector formats including Autocad DXF.

So maybe you are looking for a PCB package which supports DXF import. Or maybe you can find a gerber tool that will import DXF and export gerber.

I am sure it can be done, I am also pretty sure it will be troublesome (file format conversion and import/export seem to be universally flakey).

thanks for the link. i'll check it out.

dxf is what i was thinking, but i couldn't do it since my dxf file is of a 3D design.

Autocad has an optional package called Overlay which is used to import things like aerial photos or map images into Autocad. saved as a dxf file, you could import it into a layout program, perhaps.

mike

In article , joe writes

Vutrax has a free add-on option for the Windows version that can convert line drawings Windows Bitmap format to Vutrax format vectors for import into any Vutrax Schematic, PCB or general diagram. It on the web site in [Vutrax Interfaces] in the [Downloads] section and is called 'Bitmap to Vutrax Vector Converter'. You will have to use Paintshop Pro or similar to prepare your image as a monochrome bitmap. If you move the imported image onto a convenient spare layer you can use it as a 'ghost' for your real artwork.

Vutrax is free up to 256 pins (The ghost image not counting) at either of

that works well. vectorized an image to dxf that opened in layout. all you have to do is modify the ini files to get it on the right layer.

wow. i thought cd business cards were cool. but aside from simple images on the board, in a place where they're not obscured by parts, big deal. good way to copy artwork, though. too bad capture doesn't import dxf. it would beat having to have a printout. you could just do a side by side on a large sheet, delete the vector image, and reduce the drawing size.

tnx again, mike

An interesting thought came to mind. Are you trying to make it easier to copy an existing PCB by 'redrawing' it? Drawing over the background with new primitives?

Thats a clever way to import a PCB into a new layout package, but is unlikely to work for anything other than the smallest PCBs with the loosest routing rules, due to the limitation of graphic file size and resolution.

Good example of lateral (instead of linear) thinking though!

Dana Frank Raymond

yeah. i did a web page background like that. took a picture of a Trilithic Tricorder SLM and drew an outline on a separate layer in PSP.

but he doesn't have to do it 1:1 ... if he sets the grid and snap options right and uses good parts. the image would just be used as a reference which might be easier than looking back and forth from magazine to screen.

mike

"Dana Raymond" schreef in bericht news:h3R1b.11622$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.austin.rr.com...

new

loosest

Well, for the few old PCB's I have ever imported to Protel, I simply re-entered the entire schematic, and did a new layout, copying it from the old one, just by looking at it. Nothing bigger than a two-layer 6" x 10", and a pretty boring job.

On 22 Aug 2003 21:18:10 -0400, DJ Delorie Gave us:

We do 0402 SMD layouts with it all the time.

How, which command?

Circad has a "reverse engineering" mode which lets you import a BMP file as a background that you can trace over while doing your layout. There are program features that let you scale the BMP image appropriately on both axis.

Info is available at

Funny, I could almost swear that somebody recently said...

"PCB layouts are made from schematics, and PCB layout software is keyed toward that end. You will not find ANY package that takes line art bitmaps, and makes layouts from them. It is a silly concept."

John

Pardon my not being impressed, but, so what? They're still far bigger than the one mil resolution of even cheap layout programs.

My original question was: what is different about that layout program that makes it "more precise" to you?

I assumed he would be pulling part footprints from the standard library, and using the photo to help him manually run the traces to the right pins. I see nothing impractical about it.

as i suggested in my other post(s).

how many colors? i took an image and just for a quick test, opened it in WinTopo, Vectorized it, and saved as dxf. then i just imported it into Layout.

brs, mike