Eagle CAD

[danadak]

Some basic questions on Eagle CAD (I am dyslexic to the max) -

1) When I am looking at board I am always looking as if
I am suspended above the top layer of the board. Such that
if I look only at bottom layer its as if I had xray vision
looking thru top, and glass/core, to bottom ?

2) When I place a pad on top layer that is replicated on
bottom layer ?

3) If I do a single sided board, I should route and fill on
bottom layer, which is solder side ?

4) I have a cnc, is there anyway to do a "stick on" silkscreen
for labeling ?


Regards, Dana.

[H.O]

1) Yes.
2) If it's a thru-hole pad  or via yes. If it's an SMD pad no.
3) Yes, the bottom layer is what you'd normally use for a single sided board with thru-hole components. If you're doing a single sided board with SMD comonents then it would generally be the top side. If you're mixing thru-hole with SMD then it's up to you and what parts you're actually using. You need to be able to "get to" the pins of the thru-hole parts which with some connectors and capacitors for example can be a problem from the top side.
4) Don't understand this question. It's up to you what ends up on the silkscreen when you postprocess the board thru the CAM processor.

There's a section for ECAD software questions with a subcategory for EAGLE, I suggest you post any further questions there and possibly ask a moderator to move this thread there as well.

[danadak]

The CNC question. The CNC cannot create a silk screen when it is machining, so
are there any film technologies that a laser fitted CNC could cut to create a stick
on silk screen layer after board has been machined ?

Thanks for the other answers, I can now stop taking my dizzy dyslexia pills. As
an aside I watched quite a few videos on Eagle, not one of them discussed perspec-
tive view.


Regards, Dana.

[Jeroen3]

Two silk options come to mind:
- Create a mylar sheet to screen on the ink. Same as solderpaste.
- Use photosensitive ink that solidifies when exposed to laser.

Eagle only has 1 perspective. That's from layer 1 to layer 255. That's why TOP is layer 1 and BOTTOM is 16 (there are 14 layers supported in between).
There is an ulp to mirror the board. (view from 255 to 1) But instead of changing the perspective, it mirrors the entire board. So don't forget to re-mirror your board after using the ulp!

[danadak]

One other question.

I have a board that is 2.5" x 2"

It is all TH but I had one SMD that I decided to convert back to TH.
So I deleted in schematic, inserted a new component, and went back
to layout. The layout has the component outside the crosshair origin
marking, and I cannot move it ?

What method should I use to move it back into board area ? I am using
Eagle Light version.

Regards, Dana.

[H.O]

You should use the normal move method.
Did you create the part yourself? Where is the origin of the part relative to the part itself?

There should be crosshair indicating the origin, this is roughly where you need to "grab" it. If you can't see the crosshiar its either because you've goofed the part creation and put the origin WAY off the actual part OR you've simply turned that layer (tOrigins/bOrigins) off. The layer needs to be on in order to be able to "grab" the parts.

[danadak]

Part is below the origin. In fact if I try to move any part now on
the board they will not move and I get no error screen.  And
part never shows as selected.

I have exited, re-entered Eagle thinking some bug, makes no
difference.

See attached, L1 at bottom is issue.

Regards, Dana.

[H.O]

I mean the origin of the part it self, not the origin of the board.
By the looks of it you have the tOrigin layer turned off which means the part origins aren't visible and you can't grab them. Turn that layer back on and you'll be fine.

[danadak]

Thanks, that was the issue.


Regards, Dana.