Visual Improvements

[Randall W. Lott]

What kind of things have you done to create a PCB that has style?

I like to place graphic symbols, operation information, and custom component footprint boundaries on my silkscreen layer.  The alignment tool is irreplaceable to me.  There's nothing worse than the absence of symmetry where it could be used.

I create or import non-typical fonts for reference designators since the standard font seems to be boring to me.

Yes, this can slightly increase the manufacturing time depending on the method of silk-screening, but it's absolutely worth it to me.

Many people, including myself, take appearance very seriously.  It's a clear indicator of an engineer's relationship with their work.  If these things didn't matter, we would only see green PCBs in brown boxes.

[robrenz]

These came to mind.

http://www.aurius.com/aurius_previous/design/design.htm

[Rufus]

What kind of things have you done to create a PCB that has style?

I frequently don't bother with silkscreen annotation at all. The density of SMT boards often means there isn't space for a significant proportion of designators. Pick and place machines don't look at annotation, ATE equipment doesn't look at annotation. A technician can't fix a board without additional information so give him a component placement drawing with all the designators and a size he can read.

I am happy for people to be bored silly by my boards, a board which nobody wants or needs to look at is doing its job.