making gerber files from Express PCB

[MmmPedals]

I am looking into having some PCB's made. I do my layouts in Express PCB and most places only take gerber files. is there anyway to convert it?

[theehman]

somebody had posted on here a while back that they could convert Expresspcb to gerber for a nominal fee.  Search for gerber and expresspcb and you'll probably find it.

[Steve Mavronis]

If you are only doing single side boards will any place accept a (print as PDF) 300dpi PDF file of the layout bottom copper layer artwork?

[R.G.]

Frankly, the simplest thing is to take a printout of your expresspcb layout and re-enter it into a PCB program that outputs gerber.

I went through this a ways back and in the process of "negotiating" with the express pcb people, one of their reps admitted that it's deliberately made as impossible as they can to convert the free express pcb output into gerber. The idea is to entice you into using them with a free tool and a cheap price on the first boards so the can capture any volume buyers that turn up.

As a result, I use express PCB only in the rare conditions that I need exactly what they provide for cheap. And when that's needed, I do the layout first in a (IMHO) usable layout suite and then copy it into express PCB to get cheap boards.

I don't like being manipulated.

[smallbearelec]

I had learned to use Winboard when the developer still existed and supported it. That company died (I think) and I had to either learn a different program or depend on a service like Express PCB. I downloaded the free version of EAGLE CAD, worked with that and eventually paid their license fee for the full program. It has been well worth the trouble and the cost.

[John Lyons]

Search for member CGdark. Ceasar will convert it to gerber for you for a small fee.
He does good work and a friend has used him several times.

John

[slacker]

If ExpressPCB will let you create vector graphic PDFs or will allow postscript printing, then there's stuff on the internet about converting those to Gerber files. No idea if any of it works though.

[Steve Mavronis]

If ExpressPCB will let you create vector graphic PDFs or will allow postscript printing, then there's stuff on the internet about converting those to Gerber files.

I believe it does. When I "print" my ExpressPCB (and ExpressSCH) as Adobe PDF it does zoom as large as you want to view it, like a vector graphic, without loosing any clarity. If you don't have Acrobat Pro there are plenty of free PDF writers out there. Tip - if you import it into a graphics program like Photoshop or GIMP make sure you set the import DPI to 300 so it maintains full resolution and still prints from those programs actual size too.