Excellon Object

An Excellon object holds the drill holes and the slots of a drill file. Each tool (drill diameter) is one row in the tools table. You select the tools there and send them to the Drilling plugin or the Milling plugin to make G-code or milling paths.

Where to find it

• File > Open > Open Excellon (shortcut Ctrl+E). Select a drill file (.drl, .txt, .xln and similar).
• Project tree: an Excellon row. The title of its Properties tab is Excellon Object.
• Use the Excellon Editor button in the Properties tab to edit the holes. See Excellon Editor.

Screenshot placeholder: images/Excellon-Object-1.png - the Properties tab of an Excellon object with the tools table and the Plugins frame visible.

Quick start

1. Open a drill file with Ctrl+E.
2. Select the Excellon row in the Project tree.
3. In the tools table, select the rows (tools) that you want to drill. Use the # column to select a row.
4. Click Drilling in the Plugins frame. The Drilling plugin uses the selected tools. See Drilling.
5. For slots or holes that you want to mill with an end mill, use Milling in the Plugins frame. See Milling.

Parameters

General Information (Plot Options)

Parameter	Description	Default
Solid (check box)	Shows the holes as filled circles and slots. Clear it to show only the outlines.	On (excellon_solid)
Multi-Color (check box)	Draws each tool in a different color. The color is in the C column of the tools table.	Off (excellon_multicolored)
Name (text box)	The object name in the project. Press Enter to apply.	Object name
Plot (check box)	Shows or hides the object on the canvas. It is in the same row as the tools table title.	On (excellon_plot)
Excellon Editor (button)	Starts the Excellon Editor for this object.	-
INFO (toggle button)	Shows or hides the attribute tree of the object.	Hidden

Tools Table

Parameter	Description	Default
Tools Table (check box)	Shows or hides the tools table.	On (excellon_tools_table_display)
Tools table - #	The tool number. When ToolChange is on, the tool is shown as T1, T2 and so on in the G-code. Select the row here to use the tool for G-code.	-
Tools table - Diameter	The tool diameter. It is the cut width in the material.	-
Tools table - Drills	The number of drill holes for this tool.	-
Tools table - Slots	The number of slots for this tool. Slots are made by milling them with an end mill.	-
Tools table - C	The color of the holes when Multi-Color is on.	-
Tools table - P (check box per row)	Shows or hides the drills of this tool on the canvas. This does not select the tool for G-code.	On
Auto load from DB (check box)	When on, the tools of the object are replaced with tools from the tools database that have a close diameter. The setting is saved in the application options (excellon_autoload_db). See Tools Database.	Off (excellon_autoload_db)

Plugins

Button	Result	Page
Drilling	Opens the Drilling plugin. It makes G-code from the drill holes of the selected tools.	Drilling
Milling	Opens the Milling plugin. It makes G-code from a Geometry object.	Milling

Utilities (shown with the Utilities button)

Parameter	Description	Default
Milling Geometry - Milling Diameter	The diameter of the cutting tool that mills the drill holes. In mm (or inch).	0.8 (excellon_drill_tooldia)
Mill Drills (button)	Makes a Geometry object for milling the drill holes. Select the holes to be milled in the tools table with the # column.	-
Slot diameter (text box, no label)	The diameter of the cutting tool that mills the slots. It is the second entry of the frame, under Mill Drills. In mm (or inch).	1.8 (excellon_slot_tooldia)
Mill Slots (button)	Makes a Geometry object for milling the slots.	-

Transformations

These controls are the same for all object types. See Object Operations.

Parameter	Description	Default
Scale (text box and button)	Scales the object by the factor. Expressions are allowed. A factor of 1.0 does nothing.	1.0
Offset (text box and button)	Moves the object by (x, y). Expressions are allowed.	(0, 0)
Transformations (button)	Opens the Transform tool for this object. See Transform.	-

Beginner / Advanced (level button)

In Beginner mode, many parameters are hidden. Switch to Advanced to show all of them.

Context menu

Right-click an Excellon row in the Project tree. See Objects Overview. The Join entry As Excellon makes a combined Excellon object from the selection. See Object Operations.

Advanced

• Units and format: the Excellon file has its own units and number format. A file without units uses the Excellon import default (excellon_units, INCH). See Preferences-Excellon.
• Slots: a slot in a drill file is a routed hole. It is milled, not drilled. The Slots column counts them.
• Tool order and holes selection: the tool order and the holes selection of a job are set in the Drilling plugin. See Drilling.
• Editor: changes to single holes, drill arrays and slots are made in the Excellon Editor.
• Convert: an Excellon object can be made from a Gerber or a Geometry object with Edit > Conversion > Convert Any to Excellon. See Object Operations.

See also

• Objects Overview - Gerber Object - Geometry Object - CNCJob Object
• Excellon Editor - Drilling - Milling - Importing Files
• Preferences-Excellon - Tools Database - Object Operations