CAM350 Gerber tools

CAM350 is a software tool for support of printed circuit board manufacturing. CAM350 directly reads your project files, analyzes, identifies and corrects causes of manufacturing problems, checks design rules (spacing, masks, thermal connections), produces panels, and data files required in the manufacture of printed circuit board (Gerber, N/C drill, N/C mill), increases efficiency and supports your “flying probe” and “bed of nails” testing tools …
CAM350 supports your process from the design phase up to the printed circuit board manufacturing phase, helping you to avoid manufacturing problems. Also, CAM350 helps manufacturers of printed circuit board in meeting all of their client’s (designer’s) requirements, given the speed and quality.
Verify and Optimize PCB Designs for Successful Manufacturing
Today’s complex PCB designs require comprehensive verification before they are transferred to the fabricator. This helps ensure the successful and timely manufacture of your bare boards. Problems arising during PCB fabrication can drastically impact product schedules and result in costly design re-spins. Sometimes this can require design modifications that compromise the integrity and intent of the original design. Inspecting, validating, and preparing the PCB design prior to release to manufacturing will result in a significant increase in efficiency, less risk of design re-spins, and most importantly, successful electronic products built faster and at less cost.

CAM350 for CAM Engineers
CAM350 automates the PCB CAM engineering department by preparing and optimizing the design files for fabrication. Getting designs quickly through fabrication is a very complex process and effectively managing each operation is the key to moving into high-volume production. With a solution for every operation, CAM350 manages data input and preparation, through analysis, test, mill and drill to final bare-board production.
You can do in the following way if you have PADS tool with you. First you have to do reverse Engineering in CAM350 with the gerber files by following steps.
Importing Gerber data into Layout tool, you get only graphical information,
I am unaware if the latest version of CAM can transfer electrical information.
The geometrical information is in Segments.
Gerber imports helps to replicate the component placement & routing. If you have Schematics then, you can import Gerber data directly in Allegro. Why go all way from
CAM ->PADS -> Allegro.
Edit layer, Convert Draw to Flash, Extract Netlist, Build Parts, Place parts & Export Cad Data to Power PCB.
In CAM 350 help type "Reverse Engineering". You will get the steps to do reverse Engineering.
Importing Gerber data into Layout tool, you get only graphical information,
I am unaware if the latest version of CAM can transfer electrical information.
The geometrical information is in Segments.

Gerber imports helps to replicate the component placement & routing. If you have Schematics then, you can import Gerber data directly in Allegro. Why go all way from
CAM ->PADS -> Allegro.
Once if you convert the gerbers in PADS Power PCB, you can import the PADS file to Allegro.
Any complication during fabrication will make the job time consuming and labor intensive, decreasing profitability. CAM350 can safeguard against these setbacks.
how to compare gerber files
Please help me to have a guide on how to compare 2 GERBER FILES using CAM350.
The situation is i did not design the circuit. I have the old files from our customer and then recently they provide a new GERBER files due to the changes of some components.
How to compare in a fastest way that we will know the differences?
his command allows you to compare two separate Gerber layers and detect any differences between the two. Essentially, it is like plotting both layers on film, then placing one on top of the other and seeing if they match. Individual layers of a composite can also be compared.
Reverse Engineering of PCB Designs
CADX Services is a PCB design service bureau that has years of experience in designing printed circuit boards and schematic capture. We have extensive experience using CAM350 and other gerber manipulation tools to reverse engineer PCB designs and recapture lost PCB designs. We've been using CAM350 for a several years, up to the most current version of CAM350 available.
Our designers are experienced in schematic capture, PCB design, capturing component symbols, pattern creation, component creation, library management. The engineering experts at CADX Services are skilled in the conversion of PCB designs, electronic schematics, and netlist formats; we regularly employ these skills to not only convert between differing design formats, but also to reverse engineer PCB designs.
In addition, if you have corrupted gerbers or a corrupted aperture table, send us your data! In many of the cases where clients sent us corrupted gerber data, we were able to clean it up so that it could be read and understood by any standard gerber manipulation tool.
The following images are some examples of some PCB designs processed to gerbers and loaded into CAM350. They are shown here to give you a feel for the CAM350 interface.
Warning: This function is memory-intensive. The more free RAM memory you have on your computer, the faster it will run. To have as much memory available as possible, close other applications prior to using this feature.

Command Sequence:
1. Open or Import the design whose layers you wish to compare.
2. Select Analysis > Compare Layers. The Compare Layers dialog box appears.
Note: If you have already run the layer comparison process, and simply want to open the Control Panel to view the flagged differences and make modifications, you do not need to go through the process again. Just click the Control Panel button. You can also open the Control Panel by using the Info > Find > Layer Compare Errors command, which is only available if you have acid traps flagged in your design.
3. Select the two layers you wish to compare from the Layer 1 and Layer 2 drop-down lists. Note that any differences found will be flagged on Layer 1.
4. Accuracy is the tolerance to which each pixel can deviate between the two layers. The smaller the value, the more accurate the data must be to pass the comparison "test", and the longer it will take for the system to compare the layers. (For example, choosing 0.5 mils instead of 1.0 mils takes the system 4 times longer to process the data.)
5. If you only wish to compare a certain area of the layers, select the Window Area To Compare option. Otherwise, to compare everything, select Compare Entire Layer.
6. If you have run this function before, and wish to remove the flags associated with previously detected differences, select Delete Old Errors.
7. When you are done making your selections, click the OK button.
The CAM350 is a software for electronic engineers to check the designs. And also, it is widely used to panelize PCBs for SMT producing to save costs of making PCBs. Elecrow supplies the PCB Fabricate service to help our users cost down the PCB costs.
So, here is a step by step tutorial for you to learn how to panelize PCBs with the CAM350, to make your designs more effective and cheaper.
When using CAM350, the CAM engineer will accurately prepare, optimize and process the design data. CAM350 will perform an in depth analysis of the data to locate manufacturing violations, it will create optimized mill and drill files, prepare test data, and produce panelization strategies, all resulting in an automated, highly effective process.
CAM350 streamlines the electronic product delivery process by verifying and optimizing a PCB design for fabrication. CAM350 is easy to learn and use, and its return on investment is instantaneous. CAM350 gets PCB designs successfully through fabrication with ease - the first time.

Many electronic design organizations now recognize that problems arising during PCB fabrication can drastically impact product schedules, cause costly design re-spins, and require modifications to the design after release from engineering, compromising design integrity and intent. Inspecting, preparing and validating the PCB design prior to release to manufacturing will result in a significant increase in efficiency, less risk of design re-spin, and, most importantly, successful electronic products, built faster, at less cost.
Seek out and repair manufacturability flaws in the design
Create NC files quickly and accurately
Optimize the drill and mill machine performance
Streamline tooling with panelization functionality
Extract the essential data to drive test equipment
Optimize test machine performance and probing time
Identify collisions, break-outs, and un-probable conditions
With the ability to effectively manage each operation while increasing productivity, reducing turn-around time, and ensuring top quality board output, CAM350 is the only solution you need. You can achieve new levels of speed, accuracy, and excellence, the first time around, when it counts the most.

Technical Tips for BluePrint and CAM350
Below is a collection of all the Tips from Downstream DataFlows eNewsletter. This is your one stop source to see all available article in their entirety. These are packed with helpful information on how to perform different tasks, use certain functionality, and troubleshoot specific issues. For additional helpful information, please view Technical Guides as well.

If you require additional assistance or if you have any questions, please email support.
BluePrint Tech Tips
Drill Charts - 2 scenarios using one example for the answers
Creating your Drill Table to sort out the Via Counts
Display the start layer and end layer in your drill chart for each via type (Customizing your BluePrint Drill Chart)
Display order for PCB View Objects
Drawing Type Differences
How to Update Design Variants
Shape Fill Tools Explained
Integration with Corporate ERP Systems
Panel Array Functionality
CAM350 Tech Tips
Panelization of Multiple Boards in CAM350
IPC Netlist Compare - An In-Depth View for Release 10
Alignment of Gerber Data in CAM350
Composites as an Editing Tool
PADS Gerber and Drill Output Preparation
Netlist Extraction
Navigation Pane in CAM350
Pad Modification for Stencils, Mask and Paste Layers
Data Selection Methods for Editing
Add Polygon Features and Benefits
In depth Look at IPC Netlist Compare
Gerber Import and Polygon Arcs

Creating Gerber files that accurately reflect what you want manufactured is a challenge no matter how long you have been a pcb designer. However, by learning from others and avoiding the most common mistakes, you can speed up the turnaround time, reduce the chance of orders placed on hold, and complete your projects faster. The following list reviews the top seven most common mistakes made with Gerber files and how you can avoid them.

1. Missing Aperture List
Your Gerber files specify what to do and where. Your aperture list specifies what tool to use. A single comprehensive aperture list for all layers should be sent with your Gerber files, rather than a separate aperture list for each layer. Please note: An aperture list does not need to be sent with 274X format files. If you send 274D format, we use your aperture list in combination with your Gerber files to create your artwork.
Requirements: One comprehensive aperture list for all layers, English Units. Please do not modify the aperture list your software outputs. An aperture list does not need to be sent with 274X format files.
Resolution: All layout packages which output 274D also output an aperture list. Common extensions include .rep, .apt, and .apr. If you have difficulty outputting an aperture list, please send 274X format.

2. Missing Excellon Drill File
Excellon drill files are used to determine what size holes to drill and where. Plated and non-plated holes need to be included in one drill file, with plated and non-plated holes having different tool numbers.
Requirements: Excellon Format, ASCII Odd/ None, 2.4 Trailing Zero Suppression, English Units, No Step and Repeats.
Resolution: Nearly all layout packages will output an excellon drill file. If you cannot generate one, we can in most cases create one from your fabrication drawing for an engineering fee.

3. Missing Tool List
A tool list is used in combination with your excellon drill file to create your drill. Your drill file specifies where to place the holes. Your tool list specifies what tool to use. A tool list should be embedded in your excellon drill file or sent as a separate text file. Using a tool list provided on a fabrication drawing is not preferable, as it eliminates many of the automatic verifications and makes data entry errors far more likely.
Requirements: Tool list embedded in excellon drill file or sent as a separate text file.
Resolution: If your layout software will output an excellon drill file, it will also output a tool list. Common extensions include .tol and .rep.

4. Missing Gerber Files
Believe it or not, many times people submit orders and forget to attach their gerber files.
Requirements: Gerber 274X or 274D, English units are preferable.
Resolution: ODB++ files are acceptable; It is possible to convert many other file formats to gerber.

5. Insufficient Annular Ring
An annular ring is the donut (“annulus”) created when your drill pierces a copper layer. It is defined as the radius of this donut. For example, a .030” pad with an .020” hole would have a .005” annular ring. This is required to allow for complete plating on vias, as well as solder ability on component holes. Many times people do not allow for the proper annular ring requirements.
Requirements: A minimum of .005” annular ring for vias or a minimum of .007” for component holes is required for manufacturing.
Resolution: All layout packages provide this as a DFM check. Setting sufficient annular ring in your layout software is the preferred method in order to maintain proper copper spacing.