Ask Me Anything about PCB File Formats

Join our next Ask Me Anything about PCB file formats where you can ask us questions on:

  • Understanding different PCB file formats (Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581)
  • Benefits and limitations of each format
  • Tips for optimizing file handling and sharing
  • And much more!

:speech_balloon: Question submission window: Through July 3rd

Please, note that this is not a live event. We ask you to post your questions on the forum before the deadline.

Why is there size limit of 36 inches in IPC-2581. We do Flex that are longer than that. Viewers freak out.

Why does IPC-2581 not handle negative planes? It becomes useless.

We dont know of a limit of 36" in 2581. Which Viewer are you using and what error message do you get?

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To the best of my knowledge 2581 does support negative planes. Chris Shaw from Fujitsu uses negative planes with 2581. What EDA tool are you using?

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Here’s an example in XML provided by Chris Shaw -

Layer name=“ISL2” layerFunction=“PLANE” side=“INTERNAL” polarity=“NEGATIVE”

Altium Designer.

The viewing tools available do not import negative layers correctly, so it is not possible to verify the data.

All standard viewers have issues with the large format.