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Eagle traces and pads not that smooth

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mradel1984

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Hi There


I'm new to eagle and I am using Eagle Ver 5.6.0

When I try to save my layout into pdf format using the print command I found some artifacts like those shown in the next test layout picture taken from the pdf file

View attachment 63230
 
I have not used 5.6.0.
The problem may be in the PDF. Is there a higher resolution option? If you converted to PDF at 150dpi it will look bad. Try 1200dpi.
 
I have not used 5.6.0.
The problem may be in the PDF. Is there a higher resolution option? If you converted to PDF at 150dpi it will look bad. Try 1200dpi.

Hi ronsimpson ,

I don't see any resolution or quality options in the pdf create dialog, just paper size A4,A5,.. and other non-important options
btw , could you tell me your version number , and whether it produces smooth traces or not ?

Thanks in Advance
 
The output resolution depends on what I print to. If I make a gerber file and view it things look good. If I look at a paper plot is is only good to what the printer will do. Eagle crashes on this machine so I will look at it in a different machine in the morning.
 
I always thought that eagle exports to pdf in vector graphics and not in raster, so there should be no artifacts whatsoever.
What do you see when you zoom way in?
 
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None of the Eagle versions, up to 6.1 export pdf so far as I know. My versions export png, some bitmaps, and tif.

John
 
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What do you see when you zoom way in?

If I understood your question well :
I see the same artifacts with the same degree as without zooming(artifacts are not magnified)

Somebody told me that this is normal and they won't appear when they're printed out , is that right?

AnyWay, is that problem common or just me . I searched the internet and I didn't find any similar problems, anybody here used eagle to export to a pdf ?

Any recommendation for any PCB layout software that works fine regarding my problem ?
 
Any recommendation for any PCB layout software that works fine regarding my problem ?

Yes, EAGLE.

As everyone has tried to point out, you are witnessing an artifact of your screen resolution or your printer resolution.

EAGLE will work fine down to the limits of current PCB production.

John
 
If I understood your question well :
I see the same artifacts with the same degree as without zooming(artifacts are not magnified)
I print eagle files to pdf all the time and never had any problem with it. When you zoom in a lot you should see just straight lines and polygons with no artifact.
What pdf reader are you using?
 
Hello,

I have never had anything like this. Would you like to upload the .brd file so that we can confirm where the problem is..
 
Hi,

I often see like this in the board layouts I made saved in pdf. Some lines may also look overlapping. Rechecking the .brd file will let you know nothing is wrong. I guess it's just the resolution. When printed in a PCB, these imperfections do not show.

Jugurtha,

for any saved board file you have,
try file-print-i think (save as pdf)-choose (black and solid)
you will see what he is talking about. :D

meowth08

added later: i am not sure if the procedure is the same with the other versions of eagle :p
 
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Hi,

I often see like this in the board layouts I made saved in pdf. Some lines may also look overlapping. Rechecking the .brd file will let you know nothing is wrong. I guess it's just the resolution. When printed in a PCB, these imperfections do not show.

Thanks meowth08, this is really helpfull, I hope they won't show when printed out on a laser printer
but what resolution you talking about ?
 
meoth08 said:
Jugurtha,

for any saved board file you have,
try file-print-i think (save as pdf)-choose (black and solid)
you will see what he is talking about.

Hello meowth08,

Well, this is what I used to print the on a transparent to etch it, and it went just okay. ("Print", then "Print to file (PDF)", Black and Solid checked . I also tried to print with "Print" then "PDF Creator" and it worked.

I wonder where the issue might be..
 
Hello,

I'm using 5.11 and here are the PDF files I got from your .brd


Both "Print to File" and "PDF Creator" worked fine.
 
Here is a segment blown up so each grid is 0.1-mm square. I had to do a print screen, since I don't know how to print only a portion. The jaggedness here is much less that what you posted to start with and is actually just my screen.

You seem to be worried about an artifact of the printing that does not affect PCB production.

John

View attachment 63355
 
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Hello,

I'm using 5.11 and here are the PDF files I got from your .brd


Both "Print to File" and "PDF Creator" worked fine.

I don't get it :rolleyes: !!!
Both of them have the same artifacts , the problem must be my Graphics Card , I believe
I tried different kind of monitors(CRT , LCD) and got the same result , That must be my graphics card
 
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