New Laser Printer ?

My Samsung does 1200 DPI.
I'm not sure if it yeilds any better print from 600 DPI for making boards unless you are using 1 mil width traces.
But 3 years ago you couldn't get this resolution for the price.
Back then I picked up a CLP 300 color laser for $60 on a closeout deal and the few times that I used it ,it worked good aswell.
I believe the resolution 600 X 600 for black and 600 X 300 for color.
It made great looking prints but the toner is quite costly for it.
And I never got to use it but for a few test prints as I ran out of toner printing color pictures.
The one test I did do for boards was a test print of its character set and I was amazed at small the detail of the puncuation marks that had transfered to the board such a the comma ,period and semicolon.
They were so fine the I couldn't imagine that they would still be there after the etching process and that was at 600 X 600.

The noticeable imperfections on my finished board is from me touching up a few spots with a marking pen other than that they turned out great for my two very first boards so I am sure my technique will get better as I get experienced making more of them.


jer

I do not have a 1200 DPI printer but I would expect that not all are created equal.

Brevor said:

Hi Steven,
I hope you dont mind me asking you a few questions, (or anyone else that has some suggestions) since you seem to be making some pretty advanced boards this way. What drafting program are you using ? and what type of transfer paper are you using ? I also have a LJ4 I use for making boards but my drafting software is > 20 years old and DOS based. I was looking for something newer that would print to a LJ4.
Thanks.

Click to expand...

I use Sprint Layout 5.0
It doesn't have schematic capture and the autorouter is pathetic but if you like to while away the hours tinkering with a layout you'll love it.
You can get a demo version (print & save disabled) from .
I've tried things like Eagle, Ares, Kicad, Autotrax and many others but I always go back to Sprint Layout.
I used to use an old DOS editor called BoardMaker years ago, which was fantastic at the time, but it's a bit dated now.

I have no idea what drafting film I use.
My friend's father used to have a drawing office supply company and when he closed the business I got a couple of rolls of drafting film (for free), same height as A4 on a roll 12" diameter, I have to cut it to width but that's not a big deal as I have enough to last for many years

I used Circuitmaker 2000 and Traxmaker and is the only programs I know right now.
I have tried a few others but the learning curves were a little steep so I didn't spend much time with them and didn't get very far with them as I just wanted to know how to do good with one program.
Since I already have them, I just use them and they do everything that I need them to do for now.
The company was sold to Altium but you might be able to find them if you dig deep enough or on a bit torrent somewhere.

Jer