Thanks a lot to all for answering my rants. I am OK now that I have broken the barrier. Seems that I am not the only newbie that needs some spoon feeding to get started. I just received this mail from one of the 3 main 'maker' pcb makers:
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Hello,
.... ,you just can reupload one gerber file with a zip.
The zip need to contain the following files:
- Top Layer: pcbname.GTL
- Bottom Layer: pcbname.GBL
- Solder Mask Top: pcbname.GTS
- Solder Mask Bottom: pcbname.GBS
- Silk Top: pcbname.GTO
- Silk Bottom: pcbname.GBO
- Drill Drawing: pcbname.TXT
- Board Outline?pcbname.GML/GKO
Hope this is clear for you.
Thank you.
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So - ONE zip file is EIGHT Gerber meta/sub aspect files that can be merged into ONE actual RS-274x format Gerber file that completely instructs the machine(s) that make(s) the pcbs. Or something like that. Nice to know...
I have calmed down, and might play a bit with PCBExpress and Eagle no that the stress factor is gone. I was just in a hurry to get this thing started. Thanks again
