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Ucamco Provides Free Reference File Viewer for Gerber Users
July 19, 2017 | UcamcoEstimated reading time: 2 minutes

Ucamco is now offering a free Gerber reference file viewer for the Gerber user community. Ucamco has spared no effort to display all valid Gerber files correctly. The viewer provides an easy way to see the correct interpretation of a file. Diagnostics tools help to analyze it. If the viewer reverse engineers an image on an invalid file, it will give a warning that the file contains errors, thus helping to detect invalid files.
The Reference Gerber Viewer offers the following benefits:
- For developers, it provides an easy way to test their Gerber output and to answer questions about the interpretation of the specification.
- For people who create Gerber output, it provides an easy way to check the image of the file they are about to send.
- For people who receive Gerber files, it provides an easy way to validate their input and arbitrate in discussions about the valid interpretation of a file. Sharing the link to the reference with the file senders will avoid damaging misunderstandings.
This is positioned as an easy-to-use reference and a complement to specification. It will help keep Gerber files on the straight and narrow path of full compliance to the specification. The whole Gerber user community benefits when we are all singing from the same hymn book.
Note: This is a Gerber file viewer, not a PCB fabrication data set viewer. It does not work with NC or IPC-D-356 files, as these are not Ucamco formats and it is not up to Ucamco to write a reference viewer for these.
The Reference Gerber Viewer has been kept simple and easy to learn. As a cloud-based online web service there is no software to download, install and maintain; it is always up to date.
It is available here and its use is free of charge. Feel free to forward the link to our online reference viewer or to integrate it in your website.
About Ucamco
Ucamco (formerly Barco ETS) is a market leader in PCB CAM software, photoplotting and direct imaging systems, with a global network of sales and support centers. Headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, Ucamco has over 25 years of ongoing experience in developing and supporting leading-edge photoplotters and front-end tooling solutions for the global PCB industry. Key to this success is the company's uncompromising pursuit of engineering excellence in all its products. Ucamco also owns the IP rights on the Gerber File Format through its acquisition of Gerber Systems Corp. (1998) and continues to develop it.
For more information on Gerber X2 please click here.
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