Electronics > PCB/EDA/CAD

Bottom Sil Screen Text Mirrored on JLCPCB

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Kean:
I don't have any experience with PCAD.  I have many years of experience with Eagle and Protel/Altium, and a little KiCAD/others.

In general you should not be enabling the Mirror option for any Gerber/drill files being sent for fabrication.  All the files should be as if you are looking down and through the PCB, so text on the bottom layer will be backwards unless you flip the board in the viewer.

The few times that I would be enabling Mirror option is for PCB prints or assembly drawings of the bottom layers that I will view/print for my own use, so they match the true view from the bottom of the PCB.

The other options on that screen shot I can only guess at.  All the at Layers are what you might think, with Assy being an assembly drawing.  Board is probably the outline.  Not sure about Type.
Then the checkboxes select what to include in that layer.  So a copper or mask layer would include pads.  Copper would have vias.  Drill would have holes.  RefDes,/Type/Value are options typically used only on the Silk layers.  Mirror is as I described above.  Titles would likely add text title to the output, which could be helpful on an assembly drawing, but is unlikely to be needed/useful on the gerber layers as it will just be something that JLC need to remove.

Smokey:
"Flip" in the text box just reverses the text.  You want to do this for a bottom layer.
Don't mirror anything in the gerbers menu you posted. 

The gerber viewer after you have generated them is the final word.  that is how the boards will be made.  so if you dont' like your gerber viewer output, then you won't like your boards.

bostonman:

--- Quote ---The few times that I would be enabling Mirror option is for PCB prints or assembly drawings of the bottom layers that I will view/print for my own use, so they match the true view from the bottom of the PCB.
--- End quote ---

I'm unfamiliar with producing drawings for anything other than a board house to produce a board for me, so this could be why all the options and stuff confuse me. As mentioned, I have a few sample boards, but none of them have the same gerbers.

The option of 'mirror' in gerbers makes more sense now too. Due to seeing the text backwards in the gerber viewer made me think 'mirror' was needed. What really confused me is that I accidentally put text on the backside that should have been on the left but on the right side and text that should have been on the right on the left. When I got the "mirrored" PCBs yesterday, I was totally confused because due to mirroring, the text was in the correct locations since it flipped both text on opposite sides.


--- Quote ---"Flip" in the text box just reverses the text.  You want to do this for a bottom layer.
--- End quote ---

I'm uncertain if you're familiar with PCAD, but pressing 'F' flips the part to the bottom which apparently does the same for text boxes (also, non-related, pressing 'L' while routing changes the layer so the trace starts routing on another layer).

Kean:

--- Quote from: bostonman on January 23, 2025, 02:35:09 pm ---
--- Quote ---The few times that I would be enabling Mirror option is for PCB prints or assembly drawings of the bottom layers that I will view/print for my own use, so they match the true view from the bottom of the PCB.
--- End quote ---

I'm unfamiliar with producing drawings for anything other than a board house to produce a board for me, so this could be why all the options and stuff confuse me.

--- End quote ---

Assembly drawings are just that, drawings used during PCB assembly.  They are not needed for PCB fabrication, only for PCBA.  They show the PCB without copper traces, but with the outline of components and their designators (maybe values as well).  Sometimes you need to hide the designators on a silkscreen due to lack of space, so the assembly drawing helps here during manual assembly or future repair work.  Of course, when you are using SMT and have access to a PnP (or use something like JLC assembly services) then the centroid data file for placement is much more useful than the assembly drawings.

bostonman:
Along with a  licensed version of PCAD, I also inherited their parts library. Unfortunately, much to your feedback, they have unique layers that I don't quite understand; most likely for production purposes.

If I create a part, I need to try duplicating the information on specific layers because I'll get errors when using their PCB template. If I use a black PCB template, then their part libraries give errors. Due to this, I never learned which layers is essential to manufacturing; I only know how to lay out a board and provide gerbers to a board house.

As an example, they have a glue point and a pick point. I assume this would be for a board house to assemble the board on a PNP (I can conduct research on this, I"m just pointing out which stuff I haven't had to worry about).

Also, as mentioned above about unique layers, I never figured out what is so unique that I'm stuck using their blank templates (although it's really not big deal). I've only created five or six boards, and most often the existing part libraries suffice for my needs. Most often I go long periods without needing to create a board, so I find myself annoyed trying to remember all the steps.

In any case, these are reasons for my ignorance on certain aspects regarding PCB layout.

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