Hello,

I am thinking of buying DipTrace and have questions about ordering PCBs.

Are there manufacturers that except a DipTrace file for PCB creation?

I did a little searching and am not sure of the value of Gerber file board creation. I mostly do one-off or low quantity runs and the prices I see for making PCBs from Gerber files seem high. Don't get me wrong, ExpressPCB is expensive but I am not seeing a huge savings.

What am I missing? Where should I look to get boards made.

I would like to purchase 'DipTrace Full (unlimited)' due to the size and number of holes required.

Here is an example of the sort of boards I create:

http://www.cosmacvip.com/VIP2/VIP2LARGE ... P2_PCB.jpg

The entire project can be viewed here, with multiple versions of PCBs I have designed (All of these are from ExpressPCB):

http://www.cosmacvip.com/VIP2/VIP2.php

I have also used Pad2Pad.

What am I missing? Where should I look to get boards made.

Thank you,

ED

All manufacturers accept Gerber and N/C drill files. Find one in your country or anywhere you want.

hi

Just to say that i have found PCB-pool aceept the diptrace files, i have just order my first board from them so i dont know how good they are.

http://www.pcb-pool.com/ppuk/order_prod ... on_js.html



Tooms

If you live in the US, you can order straight from DipTrace using the 'Order PCB' menu, which will send the PCB directly to Bay Area Circuits in San Francisco. They start at $30 and $6 for 5-day shipping. Depending on your board size, you can get multiple boards for that price. So far I'm really happy with them and they've become my main source.

Hope this helps...

-Mux

Here is a tutorial that has helped me export my designs from DipTrace to send to OSH Park:

http://kuzyatech.com/diptrace-osh-park

I have used both OSH Park and Bay Area Circuits successfully. Both produce great quality boards. OSH Park seems to be a little cheaper for smaller boards as they include postage. Bay Area turns the boards around a couple of days faster for me, generally about 10 calendar days as opposed to 12-14 for OSH Park. Bay Area Circuits has a "weekend warrior" special going, 90 square inches for $125 = $1.39 per square inch vs $5 for 3 boards for one square inch = $1.67 per square inch for OSH Park. Bay Area has another special if you need a large order, $300 for 352 square inches = $0.85 a square inch.