A GUI based PCB gerber file viewer and panelizer written in python

This tool would not have been possible without the following projects:

• www.kivy.org

• www.github.com/curtacircuitos/pcb-tools

• www.github.com/opiopan/pcb-tools-extension

• www.useiconic.com/open

hm-panelizer is released under MIT license, Copyright 2021,2022 HalfMarble LLC (www.halfmarble.com)

Please note that I forked pcb-tools and pcb-tools-extension, made significant modifications, and included them as part of this tool.

There are a couple of open source tools out there that will help you panelize your Pcb, for example https://blog.thisisnotrocketscience.nl/projects/pcb-panelizer/ , https://github.com/sej7278/kicad-panelizer and www.github.com/yaqwsx/KiKit, however, I wanted a GUI based app, which I could run (easily) on a macOS based machine, so here we are.

It also gave me an opportunity to learn python (it is my first python app, so it is most certainly not optimally implemented) and gain some insight into the mysterious world of gerber files.

I hope that you will find hm-panelizer useful, however, I offer no guarantee that it will work in your case - always verify with other tools, before you order your Pcb panels!

hm-panelizer is a python app, so you will need python version 3.6.x or higher (we use 3.9.12) and install kivy, pygame and pycairo python packages. Here is an example of steps I had to perform on my own macOS machine:

• Install homebrew by following one step installation on https://brew.sh/

• Add "/opt/homebrew/bin" to your PATH in ZSH configuration file:

  open -e ~/.zshrc
  
  export PATH=$PATH:/opt/homebrew/bin
  

• Install "pkg-config" and "cairo":

  /opt/homebrew/bin/brew install pkg-config
  
  /opt/homebrew/bin/brew install cairo
  

• Upgrade "pip":

  python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
  

• Install "kivy", pycairo" and "pygame" python packages:

  pip3 install kivy
  
  pip3 install pygame
  
  pip3 install pycairo
  

• I have received a report that "cairocffi" python package is required as well. On my Mac things work fine without it, however, if your machine needs it, then you can install it with:

  pip3 install cairocffi
  

Once you have python and the required python packages installed, you can run hm-panelizer via command line (i.e. terminal) by cd'ing into the hm-panelizer folder, then issuing python3 main.py command.

Main view

Main view (outline verification)

Panel view

It might. The gerber viewer part should almost certainly work, but the panelizer feature is another story.

I personally use KiCad 6.x and wanted to panelize my own Pcb, so that's what I mostly tested. I did try a few other Pcbs created with other software and I am eager to hear your experience.

Please keep in mind, however, that hm-panelizer was just a side project for me. I am releasing it as open source in hopes that the community will contribute to it. If you find a bug and can fix it, then please help!

Having said that, here are requirements to create a Pcb that should make it suitable for hm-panelizer:

• use metric system
• your pcb gerber files must use Altium/Protel filename extensions (see https://pcbprime.com/pcb-tips/accepted-file-formats/Gerber%20File%20Extension%20Comparison.pdf)
• the board outline gerber file (.gm1) must be present
• "Disable aperture macros" when exporting gerber files (this may not be needed for simple designs and only needed by some Pcb houses)

Limitations:

• currently, the tool can only add mouse-bites to perfectly straight lines only (see hm-panelizer's "Outline verification" feature)
• only horizontal mousebites are suppported
• the horizontal/vertical feature is currently problematic with most Pcb houses (I recommend that you use your Pcb design app to do the rotation and only use hm-panelizer for layout and mousebites for now)

Here are the KiCad settings I personally use to export my Pcbs:

KiCad plot settings

KiCad drill settings

Here is a list of wish features that I personally would like to add when I have the time:

• speed optimizations (rendering and panelization)
• GUI for setting colors of Pcb layers, themes
• scrollbars
• support both horizontal and vertical mouse bites
• standard output/error redirected to the progress panel to track the debug logs
• render component parts
• 3D rendering

Visit my Discord channel https://discord.gg/7mf5qqBMEF