Punch Gerber

Punch Gerber makes a hole in the center of the pads of a Gerber object. The holes act as a guide for a manual drill. The tool creates a new Gerber object with the holes punched in the selected pads.

Where to find it

• Menu: Plugins > Punch Gerber.
• Keyboard: Alt+H.
• The panel opens in a tab next to Project and Properties. The tab shows the plugin name.

Screenshot placeholder: images/Punch-Gerber-1.png — the Punch Gerber panel with the pad type checkboxes, the Method radio buttons and the Punch Gerber button visible.

Quick start

1. Select the Gerber object in Source Object.
2. Check the pad shapes to process, for example Circular and Square.
3. Under Method, select Fixed Diameter. Set Value to the hole diameter (mm or inch).
4. Keep Type as Automatic.
5. Click Punch Gerber. A new Gerber object is created with the holes.

Screenshot placeholder: images/Punch-Gerber-2.png — the canvas with the punched pads of the new Gerber object.

Parameters

Source Object

Parameter	Description	Selected by default
Source Object	The Gerber object into which the holes are punched.	—

Processed Pads Type

The table on the right lists the apertures of the object. Only the apertures of the checked pad types are listed.

Parameter	Description	Selected by default
All	Selects or clears all pad types.	Unchecked
Circular	Processes circular pads.	Checked
Oblong	Processes oblong pads.	Unchecked
Square	Processes square pads.	Checked
Rectangular	Processes rectangular pads.	Unchecked
Others	Processes pads that are not in the categories above.	Unchecked
Apertures table	Lists the apertures: Code, Type, Size and the M column. Check M to mark the aperture on the canvas.	—

The Rectangular type is only for rectangular pads. A square pad with equal sides is handled by Square.

Method

Parameter	Description	Selected by default
Method = Excellon	The drill centers of the selected Excellon object serve as the reference. The holes of the Excellon are removed from the pads.	Selected by default
Method = Fixed Diameter	Each pad gets a hole of a fixed diameter at the pad center.	—
Method = Proportional	Each hole is a percentage of the pad size. For circular pads the size is the diameter. For oblong and rectangular pads the size is the smaller side.	—
Method = Fixed Annular Ring	Each hole leaves a set copper ring around it.	—
Excellon combo	The Excellon object with the drill holes. Shown when Method is Excellon.	—
Value (Fixed Diameter)	The fixed hole diameter. Shown when Method is Fixed Diameter. Unit: mm (or inch).	0.5 mm
Circular (ring)	The annular ring for circular pads. Enabled when the Circular pad type is checked.	0.2 mm
Oblong (ring)	The annular ring for oblong pads. Enabled when the Oblong pad type is checked.	0.2 mm
Square (ring)	The annular ring for square pads. Enabled when the Square pad type is checked.	0.2 mm
Rectangular (ring)	The annular ring for rectangular pads. Enabled when the Rectangular pad type is checked.	0.2 mm
Others (ring)	The annular ring for other pads. Enabled when the Others pad type is checked.	0.2 mm
Value (Proportional)	The hole diameter as a percentage of the pad size. Range: 1 to 99 %. Shown when Method is Proportional.	80.0 %

Selection

Shown in Advanced mode only.

Parameter	Description	Selected by default
Type = Automatic	All pads of the processed types are punched.	Automatic
Type = Manual	Only the pads you select on the canvas are punched. The pads must be of a processed type.	—
Select All	Selects all available pads. Shown in Manual mode.	—
Deselect All	Clears the selection. Shown in Manual mode.	—
Punch Gerber	Creates a new Gerber object with the holes punched in the selected pads.	—

Tool Buttons

Button	Description
Reset Tool	Resets the tool parameters to their default values.

Screenshot placeholder: images/Punch-Gerber-3.png — the Method radio buttons with the Fixed Annular Ring section expanded and the five ring fields visible.

Advanced

• The level button in the title switches between Beginner and Advanced mode. Beginner hides the Selection section.
• For Excellon method, the drill holes are removed from the pads where they overlap them. A hole that lies fully inside a pad is also written as a clear feature in the output.
• For Fixed Diameter, Fixed Annular Ring and Proportional methods, the hole must be smaller than the pad. The tool stops with an error if the hole is as large as the pad or larger. It also stops if the diameter is zero or below.
• For Fixed Annular Ring, the hole diameter is the pad size minus twice the ring value.
• For Proportional, the hole diameter is the pad size times the percentage.
• There is no Tcl command for this tool.

See also

• Extract
• Excellon Object
• Gerber Object
• Drilling
• Copper Thieving
• Keyboard Shortcuts