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FlatCAM Evo is a free, open-source 2D CAM program. It changes the files of a design into the G-code that a CNC router, a CNC mill or a laser needs. This wiki is the user manual of FlatCAM Evo.

Screenshot placeholder: images/home-1.png — The main window with a loaded PCB: copper isolation paths, drill holes and the board cutout on the canvas.

What FlatCAM Evo is

FlatCAM Evo started as a tool to make printed circuit boards (PCB) on a desktop CNC machine. PCB work is still its main job. But the program slowly grows into other areas: general 2D milling, laser engraving and cutting, drawing from DXF, SVG, PDF and images, and direct machine control.

FlatCAM Evo continues FlatCAM by Juan Pablo Caram. It has a PyQt6 interface, a fast OpenGL canvas, many plugins and a Tcl scripting shell.

What you can do with it

Area	What the program does
PCB isolation	Cuts paths around the copper tracks and pads. See Isolation Routing.
Copper removal	Removes the copper that the board does not use. See Non-Copper Clearing.
Drilling and slots	Drills holes and mills slots from Excellon files. See Drilling and Milling.
Board cutout	Cuts the board out of the stock, with tabs. See Cutout.
2-sided boards	Mirrors the layers and makes alignment holes. See Double-Sided.
Production	Panels, solder paste, films, fiducials, copper thieving. See Panelize and Solder Paste.
General 2D CAM	Mills or engraves any 2D shape from DXF, SVG, PDF, HPGL2 or images. See Importing Files.
Laser	Makes G-code for laser machines with laser preprocessors. See Preprocessors.
Machine control	Sends G-code to the machine and measures the board height (in development). See G-code Sender.
Automation	Runs Tcl scripts and works without a window. See Tcl Scripting.

How it works in 4 steps

1. Load the files of the design: Gerber, Excellon, board files, DXF, SVG, PDF or images.
2. Prepare the objects: move, mirror, rotate, scale, panelize or edit them.
3. Make the toolpaths with a plugin. A toolpath is a Geometry object.
4. Create a CNC job, check it on the canvas, and save the G-code for your machine.

Where to start

If you are...	Read this
New to FlatCAM Evo	Installation, then Getting Started
Missing a parameter in a panel	Beginner and Advanced mode: the default Beginner mode hides some parameters
Ready to make a first board	Tutorial: Single-Sided PCB
Making a 2-sided board	Tutorial: Double-Sided PCB
Looking for a menu or a button	User Interface and Keyboard Shortcuts
Looking for one parameter	The page of the plugin, or Preferences
An advanced user	Tools Database, Preprocessors, Tcl Command Reference
A developer or translator	Developer Guide and Translating

Manual contents

• Start here: Installation · Getting Started · Single-Sided PCB · Double-Sided PCB · User Interface · Keyboard Shortcuts · Glossary · FAQ and Troubleshooting
• Files and projects: Projects · Importing Files · Exporting Files · Command Line and Headless · Updates
• Objects: Overview · Gerber · Excellon · Geometry · CNCJob · Script · Document · Object Operations
• Editors: Gerber Editor · Geometry Editor · Excellon Editor · G-code Editor
• PCB operations: Isolation Routing · Non-Copper Clearing · Paint · Cutout · Drilling · Milling · Follow · Double-Sided · Solder Paste · Film · Panelize · Copper Thieving · Fiducials · Markers · Punch Gerber · Invert Gerber · Etch Compensation · Extract · Rules Check · QR Code
• Utility plugins: Align Objects · Calculators · Distance · Object Distance · Optimal · Move · Transform · Subtract · Image Import · PDF Import · PCB Wizard · Report · Tcl Shell
• Machine control (in development): G-code Sender · Levelling · E-Cut
• Advanced: Tools Database · Preprocessors · Path Optimization · Tcl Scripting · Tcl Command Reference · Developer Guide · Translating
• Preferences: Overview · General · Gerber · Excellon · Geometry · CNCJob · Plugins · Utilities

Links

• Source code and releases: github.com/MariusAdrian88/FlatCAM_Evo
• Stable code: branch main. Development code: branch 1.0.
• Video tutorials: YouTube playlist
• Bug reports: GitHub Issues

FlatCAM Evo is free software under the MIT license.