Numerical Innovations - Help Center

After your Panel Gerbers have been imported, please perform the following steps below.   You may use Measure, Query, Properties, or move the mouse-cursor to determine objects locations.  3 Required Panel features: Panel Dimensions, Fiducials, and Tooling holes.  Other common panel objects Text Labels, Rout/Score lines, Coupons, and more.

(Sample Image of previously Panelized Gerber files)

Get Panel Dimensions and Object Locations:

1. Set Origin of Panel to lower-left.  This is the default origin location used by FAB3000.
2. Get the Upper-Right corner of the Panel.  This results in the Panel Size. 
3. Get the Panel Margins: Top, Bottom, Left and Right.  Some Panel Margins may have a zero value.
4. Get Fiducial Locations (usually 3). 
   • Measure the fiducial diameter (usually 1mm) and located on the Top and Bottom metal layers.
   • Measure the fiducial clearance (usually 0.5mm per side) and located on Mask layers.
   • Suggestion: You only need to measure one panel fiducial as the rest will be the same (in most cases).
5. Get Tooling Hole Locations (usually 4 or more).
   • Measure the tooling hole diameter located on a Drill layer.
   • Measure the hole clearance (usually 0.1mm+) and located on Mask layers.
6. Once you have the Panel dimensions, fiducial and tooling hole locations - you're ready to create a new Panel Template!  Go to menu:  File | New | Panel... 

• Hint:  Fiducials and Tools holes are usually symmetrical about the Panel. In most cases you only need to inspect the objects (fiducials, holes) in the lower-left corner, and use the power of relative coordinates to assign the others.  To build a useful Panel Templates, it's good practice to always use Relative Panel Coordinates.

View here for more information about using Panel Setup >>

Other common panel objects you may want to extract are:

1. Panel Label/Text (usually on Silkscreen Layer and/or others)
2. Routs or score lines
3. Coupons or any other objects that belong to the Panel

Click here if you already have a defined Panel Template:   Using a Panel Template to panelize pcbs in FAB3000 >> 

Create Panel Template (*.pan)

1. Go to menu:  File | New | Panel...
2. Press button "New" and enter the name for your new FAB3000 Panel Template.
3. Enter the Panel Dimensions, Fiducials, Tooling Holes, and all other information (see below).
4. When finished defining all your Panel details, press button Save  or   OK 

Important:  The following below describes the process of creating and entering all your Panel Template information. This step only needs to be performed once.

Select tab: Dimensions

Enter the Panel Dimensions: Panel Width and Height.  This is the outer edge dimensions of your panel.

• Important:  FAB3000 Panel Template Width and Height sizes can be "stretchable" - meaning they can adjust to whatever overall size contains your required PCB's in a panel.  Typically you will select a Width and Height larger than the panel dimensions from your Gerber file measurements. 

1. Enter Panel Margins:  Left, Right, Top, Bottom.   
   • Important:  If there are no margins on certain sides then enter 0.0    A preview window is available to visualize your overall panel dimensions.  Light Gray is the Panel Margins, and Dark Gray is the useable Panel area.

(Here's the Panel Setup dimensions entered)

Select tab: Fiducials

Adds Panel Fiducials (at least 3 minimum are required), plus Global and Local fiducials.

Note:   This will require you to familiarize yourself with Relative Panel coordinates, before proceeding.  Enter the following to appear as below.

Here's a sample Fiducial definition taken from the screen capture (above):

• Fiducial Shape:  Circle
• Fiducial Width: 0.0394
• Mask Shape: Circle
• Mask Width:  0.079
• X:  @l+.25          (translates to left side of panel + 0.25 units)
• Y:  @t-.125            (translates to top side of panel - 0.125 units)
• Fiducial Type:    Panel   (choose from Local, Global, or Panel).  This is not required.  If assigned, FAB3000 will add internal attributes identifying the fiducial type.
• Layers:  [Top + Bottom]      Select the metal Layers where the Fiducials will occur.  Don't worry about assigning the Mask layers. FAB3000 does this automatically.    

Select tab: Tooling Holes

Add tooling holes and slots to the panel.  Click here for more information about Panel Tooling Holes.

Note:  This will require you to familiarize yourself with Relative Panel coordinates, before proceeding.  Enter the following to appear as below.

Here's a sample Tooling hole definition taken from the screen capture (above):

• Shape:  Drill      (choose either Drill or Slot)
• Width:   0.125     (the diameter of the drilled hole)
• Height:   0.125     (required for slots)
• X:  @r-.25          (translates to right side of panel - 0.25 units)
• Y:  @b+.25            (translates to bottom side of panel + 0.25 units)
• Rotation:    0.0   (required for slots) 
• Clearance:   0.005   (clearance per side in the Mask layers) 

Note:  There are no layer definitions here, because the tooling holes will be placed on special NC Drill layer and only the Mask layers will have a clearance added.

Select tab: Labels

Adds Text labeling to the panel.  Click here for more information about Panel Labels.

Note:  This will require you to familiarize yourself with Relative Panel coordinates, before proceeding.  Enter the following to appear as below.

Here's a sample Label definition taken from the screen capture (above):

• Text Label:  Machine Front - Bot    (text to be entered into the panel)  
  • FAB3000 also supports Dynamic text, which begins with $$.  Click here for more information about Dynamic Text $$
• Font:   arial.fnt     (select from available FAB3000 fonts)
• Height:   0.2     (text height)
• X:  @CX          (translates to horizontal X center of panel)
• Y:  @b+.25            (translates to bottom side of panel + 0.25 units)
• Rotate:    0.0   (required for slots) 
• Mirror:   checked   (text will be flipped in opposite direction - usually for text on the bottom side) 
• Negative:  Unchecked  (if checked the text will appear as clear)
• Alignment:  CC    (This means Center-Center). Click here more information about text alignment.
• Layers:  [Top_Silk]      Select the layers where the panel text will occur.