The fabricator loads them into a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system to prepare data for each step of the PCB production process. Fabrication data contains a Gerber file for each image layer and drill span (copper layers, solder mask, legend or silk.) (For historic reasons drill data is also transferred in NC formats although Gerber files are often of better quality.) Typically, all these files are " zipped" into a single archive that is sent to the PCB bare board fabrication shop. The CAD systems then outputs PCB fabrication data to allow fabrication of the board. PCBs are designed on a specialized electronic design automation (EDA) or a computer-aided design (CAD) system. PCB fabrication data View of a Gerber format file Files with attributes are called X2 files those without attributes are X1 files. In 2014, the graphics format was extended with the option to add meta-information to the graphics objects. There are two major generations of Gerber format:
For assembly the fabrication data contains the solder paste layers and the central locations of components to create the stencil and place and bond the components.
Gerber is also the standard image input format for all bare board fabrication equipment needing image data, such as photoplotters, legend printers, direct imagers or automated optical inspection (AOI) machines and for viewing reference images in different departments. This data typically contains a Gerber file for each image layer (copper layers, solder mask, legend or silk.). The CAD systems output PCB fabrication data to allow fabrication of the board. The official website contains the specification, test files, notes and the Reference Gerber Viewer to support users and especially developers of Gerber software. It is the de facto standard used by PCB industry software to describe the printed circuit board images: copper layers, solder mask, legend, drill data, etc. The Gerber format is an open, ASCII, vector format for printed circuit board (PCB) designs.
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