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Chris55000
United Kingdom
38 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 13:27:52
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Hi!
Does anyone remember the lovely blue/black PCBs with red solder resist produced by the erstwhile Elektor Print Service?
I'd love to setup Easy-PC to be able to create my designs in a similar style, can anyone suggest:-
a) The top layer colours;
b) the solder resist layer colour;
c) the Component ID font - I believe it may have been
Microgramma Bold Ext - can Easy-PC print this on layouts?
d) Is there a cheap and easy way of adding the top legend - I
print it on paper, cut it out and stick it to the component side of
the PCB - is there a better method anyone's tried at home?
Many thanks,
Chris Williams |
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Peter Johnson
United Kingdom
498 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 14:54:41
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IIRC, the board material was blue, and the silk screen did vary, but was usually yellow. I do recall a few boards being white, however.
The most distinctive characteristic was the octagonal pads, which you can, of course, now do with Easy-PC. Since Elektor was printed in monochrome, apart from the cover, there weren't any defined artwork colours, just a series of monochrome images for photography. If you want to set up your own colours, you can set them up in a design, then save them as a colour file from the [View], [Display] dialogue. That way they can readily be applied to any design.
The fonts can easily be changed, as long as you've got a copy of the right font! Just edit the relevant text style to include the TT font. Remember that TT fonts on average are about 30% smaller, as they include an allowance for descenders in the overall height, so you'll have to increase the size as well. If you've got a choice, use a bold version of the font, as otherwise the text may be too thin to reproduce well.
On the silk screen, I've not tried it, so I've no idea if it would work well, but how about trying some of that stuff used for DIY iron-on transfers for T-shirts? |
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Chris55000
United Kingdom
38 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 18:45:55
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Hi!
Thanks for your tips Peter!
I didn't know that the EPS used blue base material (and sometimes!) yellow silkscreen - I've seen industrial PCBs at work made with this and I once bought an unbranded 0-30V psu kit that came with a blue PCB, but I'd thought Elektor's blue background was silk-screened on ordinary glass-epoxy (FR4) material!
I've got a bold version of the font I'd like to try, and I'll see how I get on with T-shirt paper - I've got a couple of designs to layout!
Incidentally would I be in hot water with Elektor for copying the style? - the designs would be personal one-offs not related in any way to any previous Elektor pcb as they would be for a circuit for which no layout was available!
Chris Williams |
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Peter Johnson
United Kingdom
498 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2009 : 16:47:03
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I can't see any way in which you could. As far as I'm aware the style was never explicitly used as a trademark in the way that a logo would be. Also, you're not reproducing any of their patterns or circuits, which would be copyright.
In any case, I believe copyright in these cases is fairly fragile, as small changes like changing the value of a resistor or moving a track are sufficient to render it different. That's how cheap far eastern 'clones' get away with it! Unless there's patent protection, that is... |
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edrees
United Kingdom
779 Posts |
Posted - 13 Mar 2009 : 18:13:15
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Hi Chris55000.
The blue (and sometimes white-ish) pcb is most likely to be a cheap resin bonded paper substance. OK for anything running off a 9V PP3 battery, but not recommended for professional use. On the other hand it could be a G/F FR4 board with blue solder resist. Score with a knife to determine what you've got!
Would be interested to learn how you got on with the T-shirt printing paper.
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Peter Johnson
United Kingdom
498 Posts |
Posted - 18 Mar 2009 : 11:23:16
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| Must be showing my age, but on a number of occasions they provided free pcbs for small projects with the magazine. All the one's I saw had the distinctive fibrous look on the cut edges that you only get with GRP boards. I don't believe they were bonded paper, but I was always intrigued who made the blue GRP, which I presume was essentially equivalent to FR4. |
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Scazon
United Kingdom
66 Posts |
Posted - 02 Apr 2009 : 00:06:59
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| I'll have to put in a free puff for Tate Circuits of Birmingham: if only because they've been sending me free samples for over 15 years! They seem to do a wide range of colours of both substrate and resist. |
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Elektor PCBs