On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 2:07 PM, Jaso= n White <whitewaterssoftwareinfo AT gmail DOT com> = wrote:

Buildin= g your own boards, ay?

I know this isn't directly rel= ated to your question but I always exported a 1000 dpi monochrome PNG file = for each layer and loaded it into GIMP or another photo manipulation progra= m. From there I could panelize my design (tile it), add descriptive headers= such as "THIS SIDE UP" and print it with a supposed .001" a= ccuracy. At 1000dip the resolution of the image in pixels correlated direct= ly to how many thousands of an inch wide it was supposed to be, simplifying= the task of recognizing how big or small a design really was.

One thing I found was that the large commercial printers such as = the ones Staples or OfficMax typically have, print *far* superior masks (tr= ansparency slides) than anything I could achieve at home with a consumer la= ser printer. If you are doing photo-lithography (the photo transfer method)= I would strongly recommend getting a pdf of the mask printed off by them f= or a buck or two. Typically home printed transparencies have to be doubled = up for additional opacity, whereas theirs did not.

I found this to be a real advantage because it's very difficu= lt to align multiple sheets, the plastic when its printed on seems to warp = a little bit as its heated by the printer, causing the same image printed t= wice even on the same sheet not to be exactly the same dimensions. Also I t= ypically under-exposed my boards in fear of small (8-10mil) traces would ge= t washed out. The amount of time in the developer goes down significantly i= f the board is exposed a bit longer than the absolute minimum needed to get= the pattern in the photo resist.

Just my 2 cents.

Jason White.

On = Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 6:21 AM, Richard Bown <richard AT g8jvm DOT com> wrote:

Hi,
On the 8th attempt I now have a board ready to print on to a
transparency.

When printing is there any way of NOT printing the header sheet with
the list of whats there ?
I found I can deselect the top of the board OK, just want to print the
bottom only.

It would be nice if some how I could add to the printing menu the size
6X4", or a wee bit bigger, as I'm using a printer with a tray for = photo
paper as well.
So I could pre-cut the film to 6x4" and load it from the top tray ,
I see A, B, C & D sizes but not sure what they are, and I'm not sur= e on
US paper sizes, sri.
The paper guide on the printer tray will open out to 4.5" , so a littl= e
tolerance of size.

many thanks

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Best wishes /73
Richard Bown
Email : richard AT g8jv= m.com
HTTP =A0: =A0http://www.= g8jvm.com
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Jason White