Visualizing PCB boards prior to production can be challenging. Process, test and manufacturing engineers, and quoting and costing professionals often receive zip files of board designs in proprietary formats, and the free software that comes with their machines can’t always handle the different file formats or import the data. Transferring the data to a readable format can be cumbersome and costly.
Since most tools can read and display Gerber files, manufacturers often pick out pictures of the individual layers and then combine the layers together when they fabricate the board. However, that data is based on images and pictures, doesn’t include intelligent data and can’t be filtered or edited. Without intelligent data, it is difficult for them to identify potential problems before production.
