Preferences Excellon

The EXCELLON tab sets the default values for Excellon objects. Excellon files hold drill holes and slots. The tab controls how the file is plotted, how the coordinates are read, how the file is exported, and how the Excellon Editor works.

Where to find it

• Menu: Edit > Preferences (shortcut: Shift+P).
• Tab: EXCELLON. See Preferences Overview.

Screenshot placeholder: images/Preferences-Excellon-1.png — the EXCELLON tab with the General group visible, with the Excellon Format rows for INCH and METRIC.

Quick start

1. Select Edit > Preferences, then select the EXCELLON tab.
2. In the General group, check the number format for INCH and for METRIC files.
3. In the Export group, set the number of digits for the exported coordinates.
4. Select Apply to use the values now. Select Save to keep them.

Parameters

Each table lists every control of one group. The Key column shows the key in defaults.py.

General

Source file: appGUI/preferences/excellon/ExcellonGenPrefGroupUI.py.

This group controls the plot of an Excellon object and the number format of the coordinates.

• Excellon Format: the number format for files in INCH and METRIC. The tooltips give the default values: 2:4 for INCH and 3:3 for METRIC. The first box sets the digits before the decimal point. The second box sets the digits after it.
• Update Export: when checked, the Excellon export settings change to the values of this group.

Option	Description	Default	Choices	Key
Plot	Plot (show) this object.	True	On or off	excellon_plot
Solid	Plot as solid circles.	True	On or off	excellon_solid
M-Color	Draw polygons in different colors.	False	On or off	excellon_multicolored
INCH (whole part)	This numbers signify the number of digits in the whole part of Excellon coordinates.	2	Number 0 to 9	excellon_format_upper_in
INCH (decimal part)	This numbers signify the number of digits in the decimal part of Excellon coordinates.	4	Number 0 to 9	excellon_format_lower_in
METRIC (whole part)	This numbers signify the number of digits in the whole part of Excellon coordinates.	3	Number 0 to 9	excellon_format_upper_mm
METRIC (decimal part)	This numbers signify the number of digits in the decimal part of Excellon coordinates.	3	Number 0 to 9	excellon_format_lower_mm
Zeros	This sets the type of Excellon zeros. If LZ then Leading Zeros are kept and Trailing Zeros are removed. If TZ is checked then Trailing Zeros are kept and Leading Zeros are removed. This is used when there is no information stored in the Excellon file.	"T"	LZ = L; TZ = T	excellon_zeros
Units	This sets the units of Excellon files. Some Excellon files do not have a header. For these files the app uses this value.	"INCH"	Inch = INCH; mm = METRIC	excellon_units
Update Export settings	If checked, the Excellon Export settings will be updated with the ones above.	True	On or off	excellon_update
Restore Defaults	Button. Sets the INCH and METRIC number formats, the Zeros and the Units to the factory values. Select Apply or Save to keep them.	—	Button	—
Algorithm	This sets the path optimization algorithm. - Rtre -> Rtree algorithm - MetaHeuristic -> Google OR-Tools algorithm with MetaHeuristic Guided Local Path is used. Default search time is 3sec. - Basic -> Using Google OR-Tools Basic algorithm - TSA -> Using Travelling Salesman algorithm Some options are disabled when the application works in 32bit mode.	'B'	Rtree = R; MetaHeuristic = M; Basic = B; TSA = T	excellon_optimization_type
Duration	OR-Tools MetaHeuristic and Basic stop the path optimization after this time. In seconds. 0 means 3 seconds.	3	Number 0 to 999	excellon_search_time
Fuse Tools	When checked, the tools will be merged but only if they share some of their attributes.	True	On or off	excellon_merge_fuse_tools
Outline	Set the line color for plotted objects.	'#750000BF'	Color	excellon_plot_line
Fill	Set the fill color for plotted objects. First 6 digits are the color and the last 2 digits are for alpha (transparency) level.	'#C40000BF'	Color	excellon_plot_fill
Alpha	Set the fill transparency for plotted objects. The value is written to the last 2 digits of the Outline and Fill colors.	191	Number 0 to 255	excellon_plot_fill, excellon_plot_line

The circle settings are in the same group. They set how circles are made of line segments. The defaults are Adaptive, Max Deviation 5.0 um and Circle Steps 32.

Option	Description	Default	Choices	Key
Circles	How each circle is made of straight line segments. Adaptive: each circle gets the number of segments that keeps it within Max Deviation. Fixed: each circle gets the number of segments in Circle Steps.	'adaptive'	Adaptive = adaptive; Fixed = fixed	excellon_circle_steps_mode
Max Deviation	The largest distance, in micrometers (um), between a circle and the straight segments that replace it. A smaller value gives smoother circles and more segments. Used in Adaptive mode.	5.0	Number, 0.01 to 1000.0	excellon_circle_tolerance
Circle Steps	The number of circle steps for the linear approximation of circles. Used in Fixed mode.	32	Whole number, 0 and up	excellon_circle_steps

Options

Source file: appGUI/preferences/excellon/ExcellonOptPrefGroupUI.py.

Option	Description	Default	Choices	Key
Drill Tool dia	Diameter of the cutting tool when milling drill holes.	0.8	Number 0 to 999.9999	excellon_drill_tooldia
Slot Tool dia	Diameter of the cutting tool when milling slot holes.	1.8	Number 0 to 999.9999	excellon_slot_tooldia

Export

Source file: appGUI/preferences/excellon/ExcellonExpPrefGroupUI.py.

This group sets the number format, the units, the zeros and the separator of the exported Excellon file. The Int/Decimals rows set the digits before and after the decimal point.

Option	Description	Default	Choices	Key
Units	The units used in the Excellon file.	'INCH'	Inch = INCH; mm = METRIC	excellon_exp_units
Int/Decimals	This numbers signify the number of digits in the whole part of Excellon coordinates.	2	Number 0 to 9	excellon_exp_integer
Int/Decimals	This numbers signify the number of digits in the decimal part of Excellon coordinates.	4	Number 0 to 9	excellon_exp_decimals
Format	Select the kind of coordinates format used. Coordinates can be saved with decimal point or without. When there is no decimal point, it is required to specify the number of digits for integer part and the number of decimals. Also it will have to be specified if LZ = leading zeros are kept or TZ = trailing zeros are kept.	'dec'	Decimal = dec; No-Decimal = ndec	excellon_exp_format
Zeros	This sets the default type of Excellon zeros. If LZ then Leading Zeros are kept and Trailing Zeros are removed. If TZ is checked then Trailing Zeros are kept and Leading Zeros are removed.	'LZ'	LZ = LZ; TZ = TZ	excellon_exp_zeros
Slot type	This sets how the slots will be exported. If ROUTED then the slots will be routed using M15/M16 commands. If DRILLED(G85) the slots will be exported using the Drilled slot command (G85).	'routing'	Routed = routing; Drilled(G85) = drilling	excellon_exp_slot_type

Editor

Source file: appGUI/preferences/excellon/ExcellonEditorPrefGroupUI.py.

This group sets the defaults of the Excellon Editor. The rows include the drill array settings (linear and circular), the slot array settings and the selection limit.

See Excellon Editor.

Option	Description	Default	Choices	Key
Selection limit	Set the number of selected Excellon geometry items above which the utility geometry becomes just a selection rectangle. Increases the performance when moving a large number of geometric elements.	30	Number 0 to 99999	excellon_editor_sel_limit
New Dia	Diameter for the new tool	1.0	Number 1e-06 to 99.9999	excellon_editor_newdia
Nr of drills	Specify how many drills to be in the array.	5	Number 0 to 9999	excellon_editor_array_size
Linear Direction	Direction on which the linear array is oriented: - 'X' - horizontal axis - 'Y' - vertical axis or - 'Angle' - a custom angle for the array inclination	'X'	X = X; Y = Y; Angle = A	excellon_editor_lin_dir
Pitch	Pitch = Distance between elements of the array.	2.54	Number -360 to 360	excellon_editor_lin_pitch
Angle	Angle at which each element in circular array is placed.	0.0	Number	excellon_editor_lin_angle
Circular Direction	Direction for circular array. Can be CW = clockwise or CCW = counter clockwise.	'CW'	CW = CW; CCW = CCW	excellon_editor_circ_dir
Circular Angle	Angle at which each element in circular array is placed.	12	Number -360 to 360	excellon_editor_circ_angle
Length	Length. The length of the slot.	5.0	Number 0 to 99999	excellon_editor_slot_length
Direction	Direction on which the slot is oriented: - 'X' - horizontal axis - 'Y' - vertical axis or - 'Angle' - a custom angle for the slot inclination	'X'	X = X; Y = Y; Angle = A	excellon_editor_slot_direction
Angle	Angle at which the slot is placed. The precision is of max 2 decimals. Min value is: -360.00 degrees. Max value is: 360.00 degrees.	0.0	Number -359.99 to 360.0	excellon_editor_slot_angle
Nr of slots	Specify how many slots to be in the array.	5	Number 0 to 999999	excellon_editor_slot_array_size
Linear Direction	Direction on which the linear array is oriented: - 'X' - horizontal axis - 'Y' - vertical axis or - 'Angle' - a custom angle for the array inclination	'X'	X = X; Y = Y; Angle = A	excellon_editor_slot_lin_dir
Pitch	Pitch = Distance between elements of the array.	2.54	Number 0 to 999999	excellon_editor_slot_lin_pitch
Angle	Angle at which each element in circular array is placed.	0.0	Number -360 to 360	excellon_editor_slot_lin_angle
Circular Direction	Direction for circular array. Can be CW = clockwise or CCW = counter clockwise.	'CW'	CW = CW; CCW = CCW	excellon_editor_slot_circ_dir
Circular Angle	Angle at which each element in circular array is placed.	12	Number -360 to 360	excellon_editor_slot_circ_angle

Adv. Options

Source file: appGUI/preferences/excellon/ExcellonAdvOptPrefGroupUI.py.

Option	Description	Default	Choices	Key
Table Show/Hide	Toggle the display of the Tools Table.	True	On or off	excellon_tools_table_display
Auto load from DB	Automatic replacement of the tools from related application tools with tools from DB that have a close diameter value.	False	On or off	excellon_autoload_db

Advanced

• The Excellon Format rows and the Export group are the defaults that the application uses for a new file. The tooltips do not describe a rule for files that have a decimal point. Check the result after you change these values.
• The circle settings in this tab and in Preferences Gerber work the same way.

See also

• Excellon Object
• Excellon Editor
• Drilling
• Importing Files
• Exporting Files
• Preferences Overview
• Preferences General
• Preferences Gerber
• Preferences Geometry
• Preferences CNCJob
• Preferences Plugins
• Preferences Utilities