Printing negative artwork - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: M4trix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2014, 09:32:11 pm
content: Hi guys,I'm fiddling with Altium Designer for some quite time and I can't believe that a couple of thousands dollar software doesn't have this simple option to print a negative artwork. Now I'm checking the latest AD14 and this still isn't implemented. I can do it in ORCAD but I want to stick with Altium. The reason why I have to print a negative artwork is because I'm using negative photoresist and soldermask dry films for PCB production. Well, there is a workaround, print it as an adobe PDF, reverse the image and then print it on a transparency film but this is a pain in the arse! So guys, am I missing something or I'm simply dumb or blind and I can't find this feature in Altium Designer so far?

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2014, 10:31:34 pm
content: i'm not aware that altium can do that. there is no point for printouts.you can create gerber and then invert it there i guess. ( not sure )image inversion is normally done photographically using negative slides.

author: M4trix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2014, 11:11:12 pm
content: Hi free_electron,thank you for your quick response. Well, then it looks like I still have to use those workarounds in order to print negative images. This guy is using an interesting method with Inkscape -->http://www.instructables.com/id/Killer-PCBs/step2/Create-Artwork/

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2014, 11:17:40 pm
content: I assume that you can at least export a positive image or pdf? If so, then inverting can be done simply with Imagemagick command line toolsconvert -density 1200 -monochrome -colors 2 -depth 1 -negate in.pdf out.pdf(imagemagick can read/write a huge number of image formats including PDF)

author: M4trix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2014, 11:23:41 pm
content: sleemanj,hmm, gonna try that for sure! Thanks.

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2014, 12:08:13 am
content: I use irfanview to invert pdf's

author: eliocor
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 26, 2014, 12:13:12 am
content: Easier way (if you are using gerber files):- open your gerber file with a text editor- search for the line containing: "%IPPOS*%"- replace "%IPPOS*%" with "%IPNEG*%"- save file

author: M4trix
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2014, 08:27:45 pm
content: Well guys, looks like the method with Inkscape is working best. When you get into it, it's very simple. Thank you guys for your support!Update: Doh! Altium Designer has an option to print a negative artwork! It's all about playing with the print colors. Found this on the net and it works ->Draw your designSelect a different layer, say Layer 1.Place a 'Fill' on this layer covering all of the design.Goto print setup.Choose 'colour' for the artwork, not monochrome.Choose 'White' for the colour of the tracks and any other details.Choose 'Black' for the fill layer.Print.The artwork will come out negative.* M4trix ashamed...