To fabricate a bare-board, a manufacturing team (typically referred to as a FAB House) requires layout data to be generated from the source PCB design document. The PCB is fabricated as a series of layers that the manufacturer assembles into a board through a variety of chemical and mechanical processes. Fabrication of each physical layer requires an image of that layer, referred to as a Phototool – a piece of clear film, with black lines, circles and other shapes forming exactly the same patterns as the content of that layer in Altium Designer's PCB Editor.
While Gerber and NC drill files continue to satisfy the needs of many companies, the increased complexity of PCBs, combined with the need for faster design turn-around has resulted in the emergence of new data formats. The most popular of these, ODB++, captures all PCB fabrication data in a single, unified database.
The benefits of ODB++ go far beyond packaging relevant CAM files together; as far as imaging goes, it adds a whole new dimension to your CAM descriptions. Whereas Gerber files contain flash and draw instructions in a single list, layer by layer, ODB++ adds the concept of steps, which are like columns alongside each layer row. Once steps are defined, they may be nested within other steps, either as single instances or in arrays.
The ODB++ format uses a standard file system structure. A job in ODB++ is represented by a self standing directory tree, which means the job tree can be transferred between computer systems without loss of data. All files in ODB++ are readable ASCII files. A database job is a single folder (odb), composed of the following sub-folders: fonts, input, matrix, misc, steps, symbols and user.
Altium Designer enables you to quickly and efficiently generate ODB++ output from your PCB design, once that design is complete and has been successfully verified against design rule constraints. The board fabricator simply takes this output and is able to generate the film and program the drilling machine accordingly.
ODB++ output can be generated in one of two ways:
- Using an appropriately configured output generator defined in an Output Job Configuration file (*.OutJob).
- Directly from within the active PCB document using the File»Fabrication Outputs»ODB++ Files menu command.
Generated ODB++ files can also be opened (loaded) for verification purposes in Altium Designer's integrated CAM Editor. This can be optionally set to happen automatically upon file generation – courtesy of the unified nature of Altium Designer's design environment.
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Important!
This plugin is only available for Altium Designer 13.0 or older versions.
Altium Designer 14.0+ Users: You can install this plugin in the Extensions & Updates section in Altium Designer.
