Printing PCB etching layout.....bitmap

[momo]

I read the writeup on  John Lyons way of etching, this convinced me to try it, ive got a hold of everything nessesary......Im working on Photoshop elements, which is a scaled down version. Im positive it can do the job.

So the thing is I can resize the layout on the sheet, and if the layout is accompanied with a ruler, then its easy to scale, but with no ruler present on the layout, then I have no clue how to do this without spending tons of paper scaling the print.

When you choose a new document, you can ask for bitmap of normal, so I tried bitmap with a 300 dpi rate, thinking that the original layout format was 'encoded' bitmap....it does not scale it right.

I did the search and tried a meathod explained, but I dont have the mentioned command in the menu....Im sure this is simple to do, Im sorry again for this redundant question.
Again, I can scale the pic to size if its accompanied with a scale, but how do I do it right without a scale on the PNP layout?

thanks a million!
Oh and I realized the power of etching efficiency wise.....I can etch/drill maybe 4-5 circuits on a page?, so that would be about 2-3 hours work?......well after that, you got 4-5 circuits to populate,debug house. So yea that 2-3 hours work will give out 2-3 weeks work!
at least in my case!!

[mdh]

Import it into a program like Inkscape (free, multi-platform: http://inkscape.org/) or Adobe Illustrator, turn on a 0.1 inch grid, and try to line up the pins of an IC or transistor over the grid points.  Resize the image (from within Inkscape or Illustrator; in Inkscape this is accomplished by Object->Transform->Scale) until you get good match up over the grid points.  Once you get the pads to line up, print a copy, and compare the spacing to a piece of perf or an IC socket.  If it's good, you'll know that Inkscape/Illustrator/whatever prints to scale properly in your setup, so you won't have to check every time you do this in the future.

The advantage of scaling the image within a vector editor such as Inkscape or Illustrator is that you don't suffer any loss of quality of the original image.

[momo]

Hmmm, I have a mac and downloaded the inscape, that required x11, anyway its not working, Im positive I can do this photoshop elements...
I tried scaling a gif from the layout gallery, kept the prportions as I scaled to the ruler on the page, print3ed that, and still this one came out bunched up and smaller.
Anyway, if anybody has a clue how to with PS Elements....there is a thread on how to do it with regular photoshop, but for some reason I cannot find the mentioned command.

[momo]

OK, got it!, found another thread that was exactly that....
thanks for the reply and sorry for that.

[John Lyons]

This may be the caveman way to do it by this is what I do in photoshop.

Take a piece of perf baord and scan it 100% to make a template to size your layouts.
Open up the layout and also the perf template.
Click on the perf layer, right click on that layer and chose blending options. Slide the bar over until you get about 50% opacity.
Now you can see the perf template imposed over the layout...you can see the layout behind the perf template.
Click on the layout layer and then click on scale, resize the layout until it lines up with the perf template.
The IC or transistor pads should line up in the verticle and horiozontal planes.
Get a spare or dead IC to double check your printed out Layout to make sure you got it correct.

Voila!

John

[momo]

Yessss!!, that will do it for the layouts without attached scales for reference, thanks for that, for now ive got 4 circuits in double lined up on a PDF, ( I dont have a lazer printer), so on the corner theres a service store that will do it.

Whooohooo, tommorow is the day I etch for the first time!. It hit me hard when I realized how efficient/clean I could be doing this. I have built 6  boxes all on perf board....doing the layout as I went using layouts meant for pcb as a reference. Oh man, that was lots of fun( was a monks job!) and I learned alot about how a circuit is layed out. But now theres no going back!

The handling of acid and generally expensive list needed turned me off, but now, its cheap, it works, and does not seem like a big hassle now, for what you get!
I will research though how to dispose, even in small  quantities. I guess backing soda is a good neutrlizer, but after that, is it better in the ground, or down the flush?
Cheers

[markm]

This goes against the general opinion of the board but, I have to agree whole-heartedly, I dislike perf.
It may be "just as good" as a well etched PCB but, it certainly doesn't look it.
Perf is also more time-consuming and I don't know 'bout you but, I like having the time to use the circuits I build!! 

[cheeb]

Hear, hear! 

[momo]

Mark, I just did my first etched boards using John's way....well, Im quite happy to be in the etched board league now!!, I agree, its so pleasent to populate a ready board!!
Plus the process was not as difficult as it seemed...