« 555 based SMPS | Main | A max232 Based 'duino »
Restricting via placement in Eagle (February 26, 2008)
Vias are a useful tool when laying out a pcb, but if there's a via in the middle of your text, the effect isn't pretty. This is an especially common occurrence when using and auto-router.
There are a few solutions to this, the easiest is not caring. A harder to execute, but similar solution is to integrate the via into your text.
Finally, in eagle, you can use the vRestrict layer to keep via's out of your text.
This board has a via stuck right in the middle of the product label. Unless it'll be renamed 'USE7' it'll need to be fixed.
The first step, using the rip-up tool is to rip-up any tracks in the affected area of the board.
Now, using the rectangle tool, select the vRestrict layer from the layer drop-down menu. Draw a box around any text you wish to preserve. Here, I'm preserving the 'USB7' name and the '08KB' production mark.
When you're done, run the auto-router again. You'll find the auto-router has kept is via's out of your protected areas. You can be proud of the refined look it gives your board.
Eagle (2)
Howto (9)
PCB (6)
Posted by spiffed at February 26, 2008 8:15 PM