What Design Files Are Necessary for PCB Manufacturing & Assembly?

Bittele Electronics is focused on board level Turnkey services. Once your PCB design is ready, there are a few files that you will need to generate in order for production to begin. For a turnkey order, we will require a bill of materials (BOM), centroid data, and of course your board designs in either Gerber or ODB++ format. In addition to the files just mentioned, it will also be helpful to include any additional files such as fabrication or assembly drawings, or any special instructions specific to the project. If your design is not fully completed, we do provide preliminary quotes based on early gerber files. We have provided further details on generating these files below.

Gerber/ODB++ Files

Gerber files are a set of files containing information about each layer of the PCB to be used for production. If you would like more information about these files, our guide for generating Gerber files from commonly used programs: comlete instructions on how to export gerber files from eagle, from kicad.

Along with your Gerber files, be sure to also include the drill files and a board outline file. A drill file contains the location and size of all drill holes. There may be multiple files if blind/ buried vias are required. Please be sure to include all drill files to ensure none of your requirements are missed.

Mechanical files should also be included with your file set. For example, the board outline file is used for verifying the dimension of the board. You may also want to include any cut-outs or internal routing on this layer.

We also accept ODB++ file in lieu of Gerber files. These files are typically generated in an archive and include all fabrication files together.

Centroid file

The Centroid file (also known as a “Pick and Place” or “XY Coordinate” file) contains information about where each component is placed on the board, such as the x-y position, rotation, layer, reference designator and the value/package. Our guide for generating a centroid file.

Bill of Materials (BOM)

The BOM is a list of all the parts that will be populated on the board. These also include the parts that are DNI. See our Sample BOM.

Special Requirements

If your board contains any special requirements such as impedance control, gold fingers, blind/buried via, unique stack up/ thickness, etc., please include a document outlining your requirements. These requirements are commonly listed in “ReadMe” text files or “PDF” files.

Assembly Drawings

An assembly drawing is helpful when there is not enough space for all reference designators on the board. A document containing the assembly information of your board is most commonly sent as a “PDF” file.

Preliminary Files

If you are still working to finalize your design, we can typically generate a preliminary quote based on early Gerber files, or a detailed description. When you have finalized your design, we will review any updated files and modify your quote accordingly.

If you need any additional information regarding data requirements, please email sales@7pcb.com and one of our specialists will get in touch with you.

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