question for express pcb users

[marrstians]

i've been drawing up some pcb's on express pcb but i can't figure out how to print it without those damn grid marks... am i screwed and have to start over with a different program or what???

[Fret Wire]

I just export to bitmap and print off that.

[bwanasonic]

There is a good bit of info about this if you search the archives. I forget the exact workaround. Personally, I think the pricing for the miniboard service makes it a very attractive alternative to etching and drilling your own board. You can easily fit, say: 2 Fetzers, 1 AmzMosfet Boost  and 1 TS type board on  one 3.8X2.5 board. At $59 for 3 (2-sided) boards, that's less than $5 per circuit. More than worth the hassle and time for me.

Kerry M

[moosapotamus]

You need to do a screen capture and pase it into some other program to print out.

What I do is get the image as large as possible and looking exactly like I want it to in expresspcb, turn off the grid, turn off corners, etc... Then, hit the print screen key on my keyboard. Then, go to mspaint and hit ctrl-v or click on paste. Save the image file in mspaint, size it and print it.

You don't have to use mspaint. Any graphics program, or even word or powerpoint will work. Instead of clicking and dragging to make the image the size you need, it's nice to paste the screen capture into a program that will let you enter exact dimensions in the image properties.

~ Charlie

[Adam Shame]

You need to do a screen capture and pase it into some other program to print out.

What I do is get the image as large as possible and looking exactly like I want it to in expresspcb, turn off the grid, turn off corners, etc... Then, hit the print screen key on my keyboard. Then, go to mspaint and hit ctrl-v or click on paste. Save the image file in mspaint, size it and print it.

You don't have to use mspaint. Any graphics program, or even word or powerpoint will work. Instead of clicking and dragging to make the image the size you need, it's nice to paste the screen capture into a program that will let you enter exact dimensions in the image properties.

~ Charlie

I use this method, but I leave the "box" around the circut.  I then do the print screen to Adobe Photoshop, and crop exactly around the box.  Then I resize the image to however big the box is in ExpressPCB.  Perfect size every time.

[Gringo]

use this method, but I leave the "box" around the circut. I then do the print screen to Adobe Photoshop, and crop exactly around the box. Then I resize the image to however big the box is in ExpressPCB. Perfect size every time.

Me too. I use Ace Winscreen (shareware) for capture, cos it lets me capture just what i want from the screen, paste it on paint, and save as monochrome bitmap. Then i use XnView (shareware) to resize it (by altering the dpi).

[trescat]

To get rid of the grid when printing out, the easiest solution is to get rid of the border, by dragging all the corners to  the upper left corner which is fixed at coordinate (0,0) . This solves the problem

Trescat :lol:

[Jim Jones]

Hi Trescat,

I just tried your suggestion but couldn't get rid of the dots...

Jim

[BILLYL]

This site will answer all your questions about the work arounds pcbexpress.

http://www.robotroom.com/PCB.html

Good Luck

BILL[/url]

[trescat]

Hi Jim
          I'm sorry I forgot it doesn't get rid of the graph dots it just gets rid of the dark shading when printing out , my apologies ,sorry I couldn't be more help

Trescat

[Jim Jones]

Hey Trescat,

No biggie!  I usually do a screen capture with Express PCB but I was hoping for an easier way.    I'd be quite willing to pay for a version of Express PCB that would allow you to print without the grid!

Jim