Generating Gerber X2 Fabrication Data from a PCB in Altium Designer

As part of Altium Designer’s ability to export a wide range of PCB design fabrication and assembly file formats, the Gerber X2 format is available for both individual and output job file generation.

Gerber X2 is a direct, and much advanced, evolution of the existing Gerber RS-274X standard and adds a large range of additional data for PCB fabrication and assembly. Compared to the RS-274X standard, the new Gerber X2 format includes critical information, such as:

• Layer stack definitions
• Pad and via attributes
• Impedance controlled tracks

A prime advantage of the Gerber X2 format is backward compatibility with the old Gerber RS-274X standard. Being a multi-file standard, a target fab/assembly house that has not moved to the new standard can extract the traditional Gerber file elements as needed. This may be a significant advantage for those unwilling to tackle a major shift in fabrication file formats, or for fabrication houses with inflexible equipment and software.

The overall benefit of adopting the Gerber X2 format for transferring board design data to fabrication and assembly houses is the rich set of manufacturing data included in the file set, and the backward compatibility to the previous standard for a low risk upgrade path. With a full implementation at both ends of the CAD-CAM chain, the risks associated with data misinterpretation, file errors and variable data interpretation can be largely eliminated. In short, both the Gerber X2 and IPC-2581 formats represent a new generation of board design to manufacture data transfer.

Useful links:

• See the related Blog entry by Ben Jordan.
• See the Ucamco website for further information.

Gerber X2 Direct Output

With a project PCB file as the active document, the Gerber X2 file set can be generated by selecting File » Fabrication Outputs » Gerber X2 Files from the main menu. This opens an initial Gerber X2 Setup dialog in which you can define the plot layers, drill options and general configuration applied during the export process.

Output is generated to the location defined in the Output Path field, on the Options tab of the Project Options dialog. Generated file names will include the name of the PCB document.

The generated Gerber output is also opened as a composite CAM document that can be edited and/or saved into the current project and managed via the CAMtastic panel.

Gerber X2 Output through an Output Job File

Related page: Preparing Multiple Outputs in an OutputJob

To include Gerber X2 file output in a project's Output Job Configuration file, click on [Add New Fabrication Output] under the Fabrication Outputs section, and select Gerber X2 Files from the menu, and the desired data source from the associated sub-menu.

Configure a Gerber X2 Files output as part of an Output Job file's Fabrication Outputs.

As with other Fabrication outputs, when the OutJob is run - either manually, or part of the project release system - the Gerber X2 file set will be generated in accordance with settings defined for the applicable Output Container.

Prepping a Gerber X2 output as part of a configured OutJob.