Gerber viewer for simple DRC

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audiox

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
610
There are number free gerber viewers available for download. Most of them are reduced versions of commercial CAM-software, allowing only to view or print. I was wondering if there are any free software that can also do a simple Design Rule Check: warn if track spacing or annular ring of a pad is too small. And do it from gerber files, without netlists that pcb editor usually require to do any checks.

For simple DRC netlist can't be necessary. For example the prototype board houses run DRC for my gerbers every time and they have nothing but the gerbers I sent them. But they are using full versions of (very expensive) CAM software...

I am using an ancient DOS pcb cad that is not able to do DRC. And I don't have a schematic editor, I draw my schematics manually. By the way that was quite common in early 80's when I worked as a designer. The first pcb editors were just simple drawing programs.
 
I know that there are better tools available and even for no money. And I kow that you have your own favorite pcb editors. But I have used this piece of software for 20 years, made component libraries etc. Learning a new tool would be too difficult in my age. The only weakness of my system is that doing "design rule checking" visually is quite slow. With simple analog boards that is not problem but for more complex ones it would be nice to have an automatic tool for that.

I am quite sure that there is a free gerber viewer/editor somewhere that allows to do simple DRC. And if there is, some of the specialists reading this forum probably knows it.
 

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