Gerber2PDF is a command-line tool to convert Gerber files to PDF for proofing and hobbyist printing purposes.
Download and run Gerber2pdf.exe (Windows) or Gerber2pdf (Linux 64-bit). This will display the copyright and usage information.
A batch-file or script is recommended, but a simple "Open with..." link will also work, resulting in a single Gerber converted to a PDF with the same file-name as the Gerber.
The SourceForge automated malware warnings are set up to be quite aggressive, with a high probability of false-positives. My suggestion is to trust your personal antivirus software instead.
The source is available from the git repository and GitHub.
To build on Linux, run make.
To build on Windows, install MinGW and run
mingw32-make from within a POSIX-like environment, such as
Git Bash.
A common issue with building is the Git submodules. If the Engine/Toolbox
folder is empty, GNU make will issue a very cryptic "No rule to make target".
To solve the issue, run git submodule update --init --recursive so that all
submodules are initialised and up to date.
You can also download the files manually from
the Toolbox repo
and save it in the Engine/Toolbox folder, but it is highly recommended to let
Git sort it out for you.
- Strokes2Fills is now tolerant to rounding errors in the Gerber. Segments closer than 1 μm apart are considered to be coincident.
- Added the
-CMYKoption, which converts the output PDF to use the CMYK colour space.
- Version-bump to 1.7
- The
-strokes2fillsoption now joins disjointed line and arc segments into a single polygon. - The
-strokes2fillsoption now supports holes in boards.
- Bugfix: The polygon aperture type expects an integer number of sides, but some Gerber files specify it with a trailing ".0000".
- Bugfix: Gerbers that issue a move command before selecting a tool now renders without problems.
- Empty coordinates, although not conforming to the Gerber file format specification, now returns a warning instead of an error.
- Version-bump to 1.6
- Removed the background colour limitation. The same Gerber can now be rendered in different background colours on different pages.
- Added Unicode file-name support
- Various internal architecture improvements (see Git log for details)
- Version-bump to 1.5
- Removed the limitation where
-strokes2fillsapplies to all instances of the Gerber file
- Version-bump to 1.4
- Added the
-page_sizecommand-line option
- Fixed bug relating to explicit positive numbers
- Implemented a new "-strokes2fills" command-line option.
- Fixed bug relating to the Open Contour warning.
- Fixed bug relating to Gerbers that specify units by means of the deprecated
codes
G70orG71, instead of the mandatory%MO??*%parameter.
- Added an option to change the background colour
- Fixed bug relating to arc bounding box calculation
- Fixed bug relating to the first coordinate of an imaging level
- Fixed bug relating to closed contour warnings
- Fixed bug relating to arc bounding box calculation
- Added silent exit feature
- Fixed bug where paths were handled wrong when terminated with a flash instead of a move.
- Multiple instances of negative image Gerbers now render correctly.
- Fixed bug regarding the calculation of arc centres.
- Fixed bug where paths were sometimes drawn as regions.
- Added a "-nocombine" option.
- Added transparency to the layers. Transparency is specified by adding an optional alpha value to the colour.
- Optimised for smaller PDF output by reusing previous Gerber conversions.
- Added warnings for deprecated features (optionally disabled by the "-nowarnings" option).
- Added an icon to Gerber2pdf.exe.
- Fixed step-and-repeat bug
- Fixed bug regarding aperture macros and primitives with "exposure off".
- Added an option to change the layer colour.
- Added an option to combine layers onto a single page.
- Added an option to mirror the output.