I use the following workflow to upload and order boards from Seeed Studio] and BatchPCB
First, set up EAGLE and customize it's environment and behavior to your liking.
- Obtain the latest version of Cadsoft's Eagle program
- Download a .dru rules file that encodes BatchPCB's and/or Seed Fusion's requirements. I use a 10-mil version of SparkFun's DRU file
- Put a copy of the file (with the .dru extension) in the Eagle program's dru directory (on my Mac, this is at Applications/Eagle/dru/SparkFun10mil.dru )
- Download a .cam processor definition file that you can use to create "gerber" and "drill" files for your fab house. I tweeked the SparkFun one to use additional layers and not generate a mill file, you can download JMP-gerb274x.cam and put it in Eagle's cam directory (Applications/Eagle/cam/JMP-gerb274x.cam)
- ON MACOS and Linux: I use a homegrown shell script that will archive old files and collect things for a fab house submission and put it somewhere where you can find it easily - I put the script in my $HOME/bin subdirectory and make sure my PATH references it as makeboard.
- Tell Eagle to use the rules file when autorouting: (Tools)->(DRC), (Load) dru/SparkFun10mil.dru
Second, pick a fab house. I've used both BatchPCB and Seeed Studio's Fusion Service; BatchPCB was agonizingly slow (1 to 2 months!) when I last used it, Seeed takes less than a month (half that if you pay for fast shipping) and is a fraction of the cost (10x 5cmx5cm boards for $10us!) You might also want to peruse this list of fab houses.
Once you have set up your EAGLE environment and have looked at the BatchPCB and/or Seeed Fusion products, you can focus on creating boards:
- Create a schematic and associated PCB layout using Eagle Lite (there are many good tutorials on the web - I'll bet you can't tell that I particularly like SparkFun's site :-) I tend to give the files version numbers in their name as well as in text on the board - and increment the version number whenever I actually fab a board, so I have filenames like CANBusProtoboard-1.0.sch or shields/IOShield/1.3/IOShield.brd
- When you have a PCB you like (AND HAVE CHECKED by printing 1:1 and
making sure all your components fit), use the CAM Processor to
generate the files that the Board house needs:
- (File) -> (CAM Processor), (File) -> (Open) /Applications/EAGLE/cam/JMP-gerb274x.cam
- (Process job)
- dismiss the CAM Processor window - it will have created a bunch of files in the directory your schematic and pcb files are in
- I then use a helper script in a terminal window, giving it the base
name of my project, but you can manually make a tar file out of the
gerber and drill files and compress it with gzip if you like:
- plocher\@mymac> makeboard CANBusProtoboard-1.0
This will create a subdirectory with a bunch of files in it:- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.GBL - Gerber Bottom Layer copper traces
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.GBO - Gerber Bottom Silkscreen
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.GBS - Gerber Bottom Soldermask
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.GTL - Gerber Top Layer copper traces
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.GTO - Gerber Top Silkscreen
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.GTS - Gerber Top Soldermask
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.TXT - Excellon Drill File (for all the holes that need to be drilled into your board)
- the above "gerber and drill" files are collected and gzip'd
into
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.gerbers.tar.gz
- while the Eagle files
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.sch and
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.brd
- are put in
- CANBusProtoboard-1.0.eagle.tar
- plocher\@mymac> makeboard CANBusProtoboard-1.0
- If you are using BatchPCB:
- You can now use your BatchPCB account to (Upload a New Design). I use the basename of my project, with a version number, for the name of the design, e.g., "CANBus Protoboard 1.0" I then (Browse) to the eagle directory created by the makeboard script, then select the ...gerbers.tar.gz" file. Click (continue) a couple more times and your board design will be uploaded and validated by BatchPCB's automated system.
- If it passes, you can then order 1 or 100 or more of your board - though I'd recommend you start simple so you don't waste money making coasters :-)
- If you are using Seeed Studio's Fusion product:
- Submit an order for one or more Seeed Fusion products (one per board design...).
- When you get a confirmation email, respond with a tar file attachment with the order number in the Subject: line
- Finally, you can upload the ...eagle.tar file to your blog or website so that others can build on your efforts as they explore the world of making their own boards.