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smARTWORK

smARTWORK: PCB-layout software

                   smARTWORK Frequently Asked Questions

Q:  I just bought a new inkjet (or bubbljet or laser or ...) printer, and
    smARTWORK just prints garbage (or produces distorted artwork or ...).
    My spouse (or signficant other) just sold my old printer at the garage
    sale.  Is there any way to use my new printer with smARTWORK?

A:  SmARTWORK is designed to produce properly scaled artwork only on Epson
    9-pin printers or other printers that CORRECTLY emulate them.  However,
    a shareware package "PrintGL" will allow you to print on inkjet, 24-pin,
    HP-compatible laser, and PostScript printers.  An older version is at:

		ftp://ftp.wintek.com/pub/smartwork/printgl.zip

    Or get the latest version from:

		http://www.concentric.net/~Ravitz

Q:  When creating a drill tape for my smARTWORK layout with DRILL.EXE,
    I'm getting the message "out of memory".  What can I do?

A:  Make a temporary copy of your layout file.  Edit this temporary copy
    using the smARTWORK EDIT program.  Delete the silkscreen layer using
    the "clear sil" command.  The DRILL program should now be able to read
    this smaller layout file.

Q:  What are the apertures used the the photoplot files created by the
    smARTWORK program PHOTOPLT.EXE?

A:  Aperture "D10" is a 12-mil round draw aperture and "D11" is a 50-mil
    round flash aperture.

Q:  I'm using a shareware preview program to look at my photoplots from
    the smARTWORK program, PHOTOPLT.EXE.  Everything looks OK except some
    of the pads look like Mickey Mouse(tm)!  The pad corners have swollen
    into huge ears.  Is surgery required?

Q:  My PCB manufacturer just called and complained about Mickey Mouse(tm)
    ears on my pads, etc.

A:  Your preview software (or your vendor's photoplotter) has been set
    to expect "360-degree circular interpolation" of Gerber arc commands.
    Although this format cannot be used on all photoplotters, it is much
    easier to generate, and thus may be favored by some implementors.
    Unfortunately, the same people sometimes forget to issue the required
    command to select this feature.
    
    To defend against this incompetence, the photoplotter manufacturer or
    preview software author can include a special setting to override the
    default setting, "90-degree circular interpolation".  If this override
    is active, PHOTOPLT.EXE's arcs may be incorrectly drawn.

    Read (or have your vendor read) the plotter/software manual.  Look
    for a setting that affects "Arc drawing" or "Arc Style" or "Circular
    interpolation" and insure that it's set to "quadrant", "90" or "def-
    ault" instead of "multiquadrant", "360", "special" or "extended".

    As a last resort, use a text editor to insert a line in PHOTOPLT's
    output data:
			G74*

    to counteract the missing-but-incorrectly-assumed "G75".

    For more information, see pages 14-16 of "Gerber Format -- Plot Data
    Format Reference Book", Document number 0000-00-RM-000 1/31/93, Gerber
    Systems Corp.

Q:  Is smARTWORK year 2000 compliant?

A:  Version 1.4r7 is NOT fully Y2K-compliant.  Specifically, after 1999,
    DOT.EXE incorrectly dates the artwork printout.  2000 is displayed as
    100, 2001 as 101, etc.  Otherwise the functionality of the program is
    unimpaired.

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