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Layer Priorities

Layer Priorities

I have just purchased ACE 3000 V6 Pro and have translated a DXF to Gerber using the silkscreen/FAB drawing selection.  My AutoCad drawing has only two layers (Actually 4 layers. see below) . One is the Black soldermask area ( it is a black hatch) and the other layer is the White silkscreen area ( White text and our company Logo).

When I use the Cad Viewer in ACE 3000 I see the soldermask layer #2 in Green and the text layer #3 in yellow (layer #0 is layer 0 in Autocad and layer #1 is defpoints in AutoCad)I see how to change the color of each layer and how to turn each layer on and  off.

What I would like to do and cannot figure out how to do it is..
I want to be able to see the silkscreen text and logo drawn on top of the black soldermask layer.  Would I use the layer priority to change this  (something like the AutoCad 'draw order' ) I have selected the layer level say 3 or 4 and used the layer priority up and down arrows but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

Is there a tutorial video that shows how to accomplish this?

 OK if there isn't a video then can someone post some text to explain how to change the draw order so the text shows in front of the soldermask layer?

Thanks,
Kim

Hello Kim,

Thanks for your question. 

The ACE 3000 viewer does properly not support layer priority viewing.   I will review to see what is necessary to support this feature.

An alternative you can use is the "Translucent" view (menu: View | Translucent) to see blended colors between layers -- which can be helpful.

Note:  You may also want to use our free gerber viewer:  www.dfmnow.com
which will let you view layer priority viewing of Gerber files.

Thanks,
Simon



Simon,
I understand. 
But then what are the Layer Priority arrows used for in the Layers Table?
Kim

Simon,
The Translucent View did not provide the 'see through' sort of view that it implys.  It did change the color of the board ( in this case it is a circular board that we use on one of our products) I can hover around and it will pick out the text and logo that the cursor bumps into and that text will get highlighted but then it will revert back to 'hidden' when the cursor moves away.   I will load your gerber viewer and try that too.  It is just a shame that one has to get out of one viewer that is being used plus you have to save the created gerbers just to verify them with the DFM viewer and if it is wrong you have to go back to ACE 3000 to re do it all over again... Not too efficient.

Another thing that I noticed is that when I go to the layers table and say I turn off a layer and click OK it blasts me out of the ACE 3000 viewer window and it takes me off to some other Window that might be open ( Outlook or my Inbox for instance)  Very Odd me thinks.

Kim

1.  Layer Priority Feature Not Working:   I agree, and we have opened a support ticket for the "Layer Priority" feature of ACE 3000 and expect to have an update available within a week (or less).

Note:  You can also turn off fill to see how the text is aligned behind polygons, etc.


2.  We typically recommend users verify the resulting files generated from ACE in another Viewer (like DFM Now! or others), as a simple way to double-check everything is perfect before sending out to manufacturing. 

Example:  If you were converting a Gerber to DXF file, we would recommend you view the results in another DXF viewer (like AutoCAD), as it never hurts to spend an extra few minutes just to be safe...


Note:  My reference to use DFM Now! was only a "quick suggestion" for viewing with layer stack-up / priority that you mentioned.


3.  Unfortunately I cannot duplicate the layer dialog box causing ACE to disappear behind, another program.  See movie tutorial link:
http://screencast.com/t/m2DNIupE76


Note:  Typically if there are many other open programs, Windows can get confused determining which program is on top, and minimize/hide the wrong screen when you close another - as I have seen the wrong window/dialog get minimized before with many other Windows programs including ACE.

I can assure you there's nothing special we've put in the code to hide ACE or attempt to make things more difficult for the user when you close a dialog... it something that just happens on occasion with ACE and many other Windows programs.

Layer Priority has been completed in ACE 3000 (Version 6.5.6).  To download the latest, start ACE 3000 and go to menu: Help | Check For Updates..., and use the download link.

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