gerber to PDF export

[ampdoctor]

I've got a little problem I'm trying to work through over here.  I have a few stand alone gerber files that were not part of any altium project.   I can easily import them to altium, however I'm having a bit of trouble exporting them out to pdf's.    And  before somebody mentions it, yes I've tried gerbv.  The problem is that it doesn't export accurately and seems to add color channels that screw up the printing process.  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[GK]

You could just print to a *.pdf file using a free program such as "cutepdf", or something like BroadGun pdfMachine if you wan't to spend some money.

[JuKu]

What is wrong with the built in SmartPDF or the outjob->PDF functions?

[ampdoctor]

What is wrong with the built in SmartPDF or the outjob->PDF functions?

That's the problem.  Do I need to create an entire project before I can use these features, or is it something else entirely?  Basically what I'm doing is going to file -> open *.gbr.  Then it displays just fine.  After that I can't do much with it.  Do I need to create an entire project before I can work with job files, and what would be the general work flow?   

I think my biggest issue is that I don't use Altium very often so I only really understand it's basic functionality.  So, what I'm hoping for is a broad brushed nudge in the right direction as to what exactly I'm doing wrong here.  As I said originally, I have no schematics or anything else for that matter; just the gerber and NC drill files.

[JuKu]

Ok, different direction than what I do. I about never even look at the gerbers Altium generates. The outjob route is project specific, but the smartPDF should print a PCB file without an associated project. the gerbers load to Camtastic, which is Altium's gerber viewer/editor part. You first want to convert the data to Altium PCB file, which gives you the PDF print option. I have never done that, but the instructions are at:

http://www.altium.com/files/Altiumdesigner6/LearningGuides/AR0121%20CAMtastic%20Reverse%20Engineering%20PCBs.PDF

[ampdoctor]

That doc was just what I needed.  Thank you very much for the help and the patience sir!

[Chris]

You can print to PDF directly from Camtastic if you have a PDF printer installed. Just import the gerbers and print.

[HQ]

try this method, if you or someone still have such question
https://www.nextpcb.com/blog/gerber-files-for-pcbs