Gerber files describe each layer of a board, copper, soldermask, silkscreen, paste and outline, as two-dimensional images made of flashed apertures and drawn lines. The extended RS-274X format embeds aperture definitions, and the X2 extension adds attributes such as layer function and net names. A Gerber set with drill files and a fab drawing is the most common release package, and fabricators check it in a viewer before a single panel is made.
Send the Gerbers and the drill file in one zip, and include the board outline layer this time.
Also heard as
- Gerbers
- RS-274X
- Gerber X2
- artwork files
Related terms
Drill file
Machine file listing the size and position of every hole to be drilled in a board.
Artwork
Image of each board layer used to make the phototools for fabrication, and by extension the layer data itself.
ODB++
Structured CAD-to-fabrication data format that packs layers, drills, netlist and part data into one package.
Aperture
Shape and size used to draw or flash a feature in Gerber data, named for the opening in a photoplotter's aperture wheel.