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Visualization of the board made in EAGLE using Photoshop

Unsubscribe how to visualize a printed circuit board designed in CAD EAGLE using Photoshop. But I want to warn you right away that this method does not take into account the presence of interboard transitions (vias) and surface-mounted sites (smd).
At the exit:
image

At the entrance:

image

For this you need: a board file (with the extension .pcb), the EAGLE program, and of course Photoshop.
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Step 1 - Create a Virtual Board: Preparation and Dimension Layer


  1. Open the board in the EAGLE, remove all layers except Dimension
  2. We export as a picture to the clipboard: choose File-> Export-> Image, set the Clipboard checkbox, change the extension to 600 (for good quality) and click Ok.
  3. Open Photoshop, create a new document (File-> New, or press [Ctrl-N]). In the dialog box:
    • call the document
    • make sure that the Preset is Clipboard (otherwise we have empty clipboard)
    • Change Color Mode to RGB
    • click Ok

  4. Paste the clipboard into the image (Edit-> Paste, or [Ctrl-V])
  5. Create a mask for the layer:
    • Select the tool 'Magic Wand Tool', set the Tolerance - 0, and put a tick on the Contiguous
    • Click in the center of the board
    • Click on the button 'Add layer mask' under the list of layers

  6. We paint the board:
    • Click on 'Layer thumbnail' choosing the layer itself, not its mask.
    • Fill with color: 'Edit-> Fill ..', select 'Use: Color', and select the desired color, for example # 006600 (R-0, G-123, B-0), click 'Ok'.

  7. Change layer name to 'PCB'

Step 2 - Create contact pads and drill a virtual board


  1. Go to EAGLE, select only two layers - Pads and Vias. We export (File-> Export-> Image-> Ok).
  2. Go to Photoshop and paste the picture (Ctrl-V).
  3. Create a mask for the layer:
    • select the 'Magic Wand Tool', you can use the [W] button,
    • uncheck the Contiguous and click on the pad
    • click on the button 'Add layer mask' below the list of layers

  4. Click on 'Layer thumbnail' and paint over with gray, for example # 999999 (R-153, G-153, B-153)
  5. Put a tick on Contiguous and on 'Sample All Layers', click in the middle of the board (not on the pads)
  6. Next, remove the tick on 'Contiguous' and hold down the Shift key, click on the contact area (adding a selection)
  7. Invert the selection 'Select-> Inverse' or [Shift-Ctrl-I] and delete the excess: select 'Layer mask thumbnail' on the 'PCB' layer and fill it with black.

    image


Step 3 - Marking


In EAGLE, select the 'tPlace', 'tNames' and 'tValues' layers. And everything is as usual: export, create a mask, fill it with white color, call it 'Silk'. Upd: When creating a mask, you need to change the 'Tolerance' to 64.

In principle, at this stage you can stop, the board already looks like:

image

But, as you can see, the markings on the board crawl onto the platforms. In a real board, all this will be cut off at the preparation stage, we will do the same:
  1. right-click on the 'Layer mask thumbnail' of the 'PCB' layer and select the 'Add Layer Mask To Selection' option
  2. Invert the selection 'Select-> Inverse' and add a selection from the 'Pads' layer
  3. For greater likelihood, slightly expand the selection: 'Select-> Modify-> Expand-> 2pixels-> Ok'
  4. Left on the 'Layer mask thumbnail' of the 'Silk' layer and fill it with black.
    image


Step 4 - Final - Finishing


To give even greater likelihood you need to add a bit of volume. To do this, make the 'PCB' layer cast a shadow. This is done using the 'Styles' dialog box. You can also create a layer 'Top' - the top tracks. But this is already as a homework.

Keep, study, analyze, show off.

By the way, I often noticed blots on the board at this stage, especially in the marking layer.
Well, at the end for comparison, what I visualized as much as possible, and what happened in real life (the previous version of the board was scanned).
image

image

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/149026/


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