solk to solder mask clearance error - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mov-jump
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2016, 02:03:50 pm
content: HelloI have been challenged with this errorI know haw can i ignore it but i wanna know how what is the problem with my design and how can i improve it to don't have this kind of error???THX in advance

author: Philfreeze
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2016, 02:19:24 pm
content: your silkscreen (the designators and outlines; yellow layer) go over pads. Altium sees that the silk screen is too close to the pads. The error just says it a bit different. It says that the silkscreen is too close to the solder mask openings (pads).So, either ignore the error and kill the rule to make it less annoying:(delete the rule or make the clearance negative)Or change your silkscreen/part library. This would be a better approach.Most of the time the manufacturer will corrent the error and not print over the pads, this can make your silkscreen look a bit patchy though. If the manufacturer doesn't fix it you will have the print on your pads which will make it harder to solder and the thermal/electrical connection won't be as good.TL;DR fix your part library. The silkscreen (yellow) shouldn't go over the pads.

author: mov-jump
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 23, 2016, 08:51:39 pm
content: At the first thx for your complete answer.I wanna create this pcb in home and silkscreen will be fill by copper so i think this error with destroy pads when some silkscreen are over pads? am i right?

author: Philfreeze
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 08:29:55 am
content: exactly.If you want to do it at home and fill the silkscreen with copper I would recommend that you move the component outline to a mechanical layer and you only keep the designator on the silkscreen.Alternatively you can move the designators to a signal layer (top or bottom) and let the silkscreen be as it is.

author: D3f1ant
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 26, 2016, 08:58:15 pm
content: I might be miss-understanding, but if you making this pcb at home...you probably wouldn't be adding a silkscreen, or even a soldermask, so you can turn off all the rules relating to those. The only rules you probably need to care about are electrical clearance, connectivity and annular ring related.When you print the board artwork, just turn off the layers your not using in the printsetup. If its a single sided board you would just print using only multilayer and signal layer (or two prints, top and bottom, remember to mirror the top layer). I would suggest showing holes too, it makes drilling a bit easier as you have nice etched centers to center the drill.

author: mov-jump
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2016, 04:26:54 pm
content: So I need some text to show component places and in home we just can print them with copper instead of silkscreen . If I turn the silkscreen rules off then I can't have a valid board.For example some text might be too close to pads, so it makes pcb dirty and maybe have some short circuits.

author: D3f1ant
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2016, 07:50:02 pm
content: I don't understand why you would want to show silkscreen in copper, but in that case you will obviously just move the text to places where it doesn't cause short circuits. You will need to move the text you want from the silkscreen onto a copper layer. Then your normal electrical clearance rules would apply instead of the silkscreen rules and any copper pours would flood around around the text.