Hello!
This is to announce the release of gerbv-2.1.0! Gerbv is an open source Gerber file (RS-274X only) viewer for Linux and other unix flavors. Besides viewing Gerbers, you may also view Excellon drill files as well as XYRS (pick-place) files. For more information, browse to gerbv's web site:
Gerbv is allied with the gEDA Project, an open-source collaborative which has produced an end-to-end tool chain for PCB design on Linux and other unices. The gEDA Project's website is here:
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Gerbv release 2.1.0 introduces several new features. Here is a list of new features:
- Added ability to select objects, with the option of deleting or viewing basic properties of the objects
- Split off the core functionality of gerbv into a library (libgerbv) to allow developers to quickly write software using Gerber parsing/editing/exporting/rendering functionality. Full DOxygen documentation has also been created to facilitate developers wishing to use libgerbv.
- Added export to RS274X and Excellon functionality, allowing gerbv to translate files between formats. The RS274X export function can also be used to "clean" troublesome files to a more compatible format.
- Added the ability to override the Excellon format "guessing", allowing non-standard drill files to be correctly rendered
- Greatly expanded the command line functionality, including the ability to panelize boards into a single one through the command line
- Added "Aperture usage" tab to Gerber reports. This allows the user to see how often each aperture is used in all visible layers of his project.
Several notable bugs were squished in release 2.1.0:
- Fixed bug when exporting several layers to SVG/PDF/PS, which caused corrupted output and/or crashes
- Fixed several Windows-only problems related to parsing and rendering
- Fixed rendering bug when using polygon objects within step and repeat blocks
- Improved RS-274X export output format to work with certain Gerber viewing software
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Gerbv's homepage is on SourceForge:
There you will find a bug database, a feature request database, the CVS repo and a commit mailinglist.
To download gerbv-2.1.0, go to
and grab gerbv-2.1.0.tar.gz
To install gerbv do this:
- tar zxf gerbv-2.1.0.tar.gz
- cd gerbv-2.1.0
- ./configure
- make && make install
Interesting configure options are:
--help : Lists all configure options.
--enable-debug : Program will output lots of debug spew while running (default = no -> no debug output by default.)
--disable-exportpng : Disable compilation of export of PNGs. (default = no -> exportpng on by default.)
--enable-unit-mm : Set default unit for coordinates in status bar to mm (default = no -> units = inches by default.)
--disable-cairo : Use GDK only for graphics rendering. (default = no -> both GDK and cairo used by default.)
--enable-efence : Link with ElectricFence for malloc debugging (default = no -> efence off by default.)
--disable-update-desktop-database : Update desktop icon database after installation (default = no -> desktop icon installed by default.)
Thank you for using gerbv-2.1.0!
-- The gerbv team