Panelization
Last updated: May 8, 2020
This feature is useful if you’re working with an array of mutiple boards in a panel. You can skip this page if you’re working with a single board.
1. From the “Set Up PCB“ window, indicate the number of boards along the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) direction in your panel.
Note: the “Single Board Dimensions” section refers to the size of each tiny individual board in your panel. Don’t confuse this with the size of the entire panel.
2. If there is spacing between each board, fill that information in as well.
Click on “Learn Board Reference Points“ when ready.
3. Training the local fiducials for a panelized PCB is similar to how you would train the local fiducials if you only had a single board (see Set Up PCB). The difference is that there are now multiple pairs of local fiducials to train instead of just one pair. While training the local fiducials, the diagram on the right side will help you keep track of which board you’re on.
Fiducials are recommended, but if your board design does not have local fiducials, you can use other features such as pads or vias instead.
Once all the local fiducials have been trained, click “OK“.
4. When setting up the placement of parts (see Set Up Place), you only have to train one board (the top-right board in your panel).
That’s all there is to it.
Whatever you place into “Board 1-1” will be automatically repeated for all other boards during production.
During production, notice that now there are extra columns to indicate the status of component placement for each board (“Brd 1-1“, “Brd 2-1“, etc.). A successful component placement will have a green check mark, while an unsuccessful one will have a red X.
