Free Windows Gerber Viewers
When you send off your fancy design to a PCB fabrication shop you'll typically send Gerber files. Reviewing Gerbers is like a final proof-read ensuring the boards you get back are what you want.
You can use a Gerber viewer to view these files. Since I'm a penny-pinching hobbyist, here's a quick list of first impressions for (truly) free Windows-compatible Gerber viewers.
The table above tells you, for each viewer application, the overall verdict; whether it opens multiple files, and/or zip files or one at a time; whether it opens drill files; UI quality; richness of feature set; and additional notes.
I haven't spent much time with any of these Gerber readers so some of the problems above might be fixable. Top picks: GerberLogix, gerbv, and GC-Prevue.
GerberLogix is my favorite Gerber reader. Easy to use, simple and clean UI, simple zip import, and fast to launch and load. Update: Version 2.5 now automatically detects Excellon format so the drill file displays perfectly.
Gerbv comes in a close second favorite. If only it opened zip files... It is also fully featured, displays correctly and doesn't appear to have commercial use restrictions. Since I'm now selling products, I'll use gerbv as my go-to viewer.
GC-Prevue is fast, you can import multiple gerber files or zip files, and it has a lot of features including the ability to merge gerbers graphically!
Screen Shots
You can use a Gerber viewer to view these files. Since I'm a penny-pinching hobbyist, here's a quick list of first impressions for (truly) free Windows-compatible Gerber viewers.
| Name and Link | Verdict | Files | Drill | UI | Features | Notes |
| gerbv | WIN | many | yes | great | good | Second Favorite |
| 3D Gerber Viewer (web) | WIN | many | no | good | fair | fast, 3d; not all layers |
| Circuit People (web) | WIN | zip | no | n/a | minimal | black and white |
| GerberLogix | WIN | zip, many | yes | great | good | My Favorite!! |
| GC-Prevue | WIN | zip, many | yes | good | great | odd zoom; merge! |
| ViewMate | WIN | zip | yes | good | great | edit, too! |
| ViewPlot Viewer | WIN | many | yes | fair | great | drill displays wrong |
| gerber-viewer.com | FAIL | zip, many | yes | fair | fair | slow, drill displays wrong |
| Gerber Viewer Lite | FAIL | one | no | good | good | only 2 layers! |
| ExcelCAM | FAIL | one | no | poor | good | can't read gerbers?! |
| ProntoGERBER CONNECTION | FAIL | one | no | poor | good | can't read gerbers?! |
The table above tells you, for each viewer application, the overall verdict; whether it opens multiple files, and/or zip files or one at a time; whether it opens drill files; UI quality; richness of feature set; and additional notes.
I haven't spent much time with any of these Gerber readers so some of the problems above might be fixable. Top picks: GerberLogix, gerbv, and GC-Prevue.
GerberLogix is my favorite Gerber reader. Easy to use, simple and clean UI, simple zip import, and fast to launch and load. Update: Version 2.5 now automatically detects Excellon format so the drill file displays perfectly.
Gerbv comes in a close second favorite. If only it opened zip files... It is also fully featured, displays correctly and doesn't appear to have commercial use restrictions. Since I'm now selling products, I'll use gerbv as my go-to viewer.
GC-Prevue is fast, you can import multiple gerber files or zip files, and it has a lot of features including the ability to merge gerbers graphically!
Screen Shots
 |
| PentaLogix ViewMate |
 |
| Circuit People web application |
 |
| GraphiCode GC-Prevue |
 |
| Roneda ViewPlot |
 |
| EasyLogix GerberLogix |
 |
| gerbv |
 |
| 3D Gerber Viewer |
No comments:
Post a Comment