Procedure for panelization in CAM-350

[randychase]

I have a customer that requires me to panelize all the boards. I am using CAM-350 Ver7. The help file leaves a little to be desired.

[randychase]

Interesting.


the Panel Editor, which is only licensed for CAM350 users who received a maintenance update from v6.0 to 7.0. It is not available for sale with other new or upgraded CAM350 bundles. All other users who would like the Panel Editor should contact our sales staff to purchase the FabFactory product, which includes all of CAM350's functionality, as well as manufacturing modules, such as the Panel Editor.


I wonder how many people still have the V6 or V7 Panel Editor like me? :)

Is Fab Factory similar or not?

[Mark Larson]

I have never used the panel editor, I have used the macro in V6 though, I found that I had to edit the macro a bit which was simple. The macro works nicely to panelize a board..

I have found it's a good idea to save old revisions of software, the macro is not included with V7. See SMP_PNL.SCR in the script directory.

[randychase]

I used the old panelization method in ECAM years ago. I thought it was arcane. But the new Panel Editor in V7 is even more arcane.

Sigh... in fact, CAM-350 is not the easiest program to use as far as being intuituve. I like the ability to define and add fiducials, tooling holes.

Anyway, my bigger problem now is I can't get it to do the second board I was working on without locking up when I hit the CREATE panel button.
:(

[ltrakal]

Here at my job they want me to go for that, panelize the boards, I'm still trying to avoid that...I called costumer support yesterday and since I don't have the panel editor featur another way to do that is with the merge command, so you merge all the gerber files into one, but before that you should open each one and save it as a cam 350 file format...I didn't try it yet but I guess I will sometime next week.

Laszlo

[ltrakal]

ok, here I go, time out, I can't avoid this anymore, Ineed to start doing panelization with cam350, so now I'm learning the program...any ideas how to do it after merging the files into one?

[randychase]

I don't use the merge technique. But moving is easy, once you get used to the arcane method of window and inside and outside. Ack...

Remember you can snap to objects and/or a grid.

[ltrakal]

thanks, I'm doing it , I'm doing it, and just a secret, is easier than what I expected...well I don't know how to take this because if it is easy to do it is easy to make mistakes...what I'm doing now is tryoing to get a template in cam350 with all my panel information, that is so cool, I can't manage the colors though, it has a very limitid palette...andy one know how to interpretate the commands in a .cam file from cam350?

Thanks

[Carl_at_xrite]

Randy,
Version six you could panelize (step and repeat macro) version 7 eliminated that function so without purchasing the add on you get hosed..
All we do here is draw the array in a mechanical package and send it off to the fab house and let them step and repeat the data and then return the stepped paste mask gerbers.

Carl

[Mark Larson]

I'm looking for ideas on how to panelize 2 boards on the same panel using CAM350.
I am presently doing this in PowerPCB, by creating Gerbers with an offset so each board is in the correct position, then combining the files.
I have panelized the same board before in CAM350 using the macro in V6, I don't think the Utilities-Panelization will do 2 different boards, what about Merge?

[ltrakal]

Don't use the merge command, the easier way is just to import one over the other one and merge the layers, then you just click wherever you want the second one, and if you are not happy with it just move it. You don't need to use diferent origins. Actually is easier if you use the bottom left corner of the board.
As for the merge command I had some fab house telling me that it doesn't merge the files really well, they had some data lost sometime. The other method is safer.

Laszlo

[ltrakal]

Originally posted by Carl_at_xrite
Randy,
Version six you could panelize (step and repeat macro) version 7 eliminated that function so without purchasing the add on you get hosed..
All we do here is draw the array in a mechanical package and send it off to the fab house and let them step and repeat the data and then return the stepped paste mask gerbers.

Carl

Anyway to get that macro please? I have version 7 and I don't have it.
Anyone have a good macro for dimensioning in metric? the one for the current version is still in inches.

Laszlo

[Mark Larson]

Originally posted by ltrakal
Don't use the merge command, the easier way is just to import one over the other one and merge the layers,

Laszlo


????? you say you don't use the merge command, yet you say you merge the layers, could you explain?


the panelization macro does not work with version 7, the panel_spread@ command is no longer supported, you need version 6 to run it

I guess they didn't want a free way to panelize, would hurt sales of the panel editor

[ltrakal]

Originally posted by Mark Larson



????? you say you don't use the merge command, yet you say you merge the layers, could you explain?


the panelization macro does not work with version 7, the panel_spread@ command is no longer supported, you need version 6 to run it

I guess they didn't want a free way to panelize, would hurt sales of the panel editor

Ok, what you have to do is a regular IMPORT GERBER DATA, and have at least one of the boards inside CAM350. Ok now you want to get another board inside CAM350, what you are going to do is another INPORT GERBER DATA, then you click on each layer you want to import and map them with the existing ones in the database, let's say you are importing a two layers board inside a database that has another two layers board so when you import map top layer with the top layer existing and so on. Now when you click OK, the program will ask you: LAYER NOT EMPTY.
MERGE, EMPTY OR CANCEL?
So there you click MERGE, because you want to keep the data inside those layers and MERGE the new ones to them.
Now you have to select a location for the new files and that's it. Let me know if you need more help

Laszlo

[ltrakal]

so mark, did you do it?

[Mark Larson]

yup, worked fine, there seems to be more than one way to panelize, using the macro in V6, the import merge method you helped me with, use copy, and the panel editor.

Having done only the first 3, and then only once each with the import merge and the copy method, it would be nice to know the up and downside if any with each. The copy method seems easiest.