Elementary Mr. Watson: Routing Hunger Games—May the Traces Be Ever in Your Favor
Happy’s Tech Talk #42: Applying Density Equations to UHDI Design
Beyond Design: Effective Floor Planning Strategies
DipTrace 3.0 Implements Ucamco's Gerber X2
May 19, 2016 | UcamcoEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Together with leading software development company Novarm, Ucamco is delighted to announce the stable release of DipTrace 3.0, the latest generation of Novarm's intuitive, powerful and affordable PCB layout solution for the world's electronic engineers. DipTrace 3.0 is the result of Novarm's understanding of how EDA software is used in the field, its active involvement in the electronic designers' community, and the fact that it listens carefully to its customers. Novarm has responded to its marketplace with a raft of new developments that significantly improve its software's overall performance, ease of use and reliability. This includes fully implementing Gerber X2 for more robust design data transfer, as Novarm's CEO and Senior Software Developer Stanislav Ruev comments: “Gerber X2 manufacturing outputs improve the reliability of CAD-CAM data transfer, ensuring maximum understanding between the designer and the PCB manufacturer”.
Gerber X2 builds on Extended Gerber, the PCB industry's de facto standard image format, to bring unprecedented clarity to the CAD-to-CAM data transmission process. It does this by fully supporting the well-known Extended Gerber image format with a new format for the additional design information, that is clear, unequivocal and automatically machine-readable. This includes details on stackup, the functions of layers and individual features such as pads, and other parameters.
“We are delighted that DipTrace 3.0 is now supporting Gerber X2”, says Karel Tavernier, Managing Director of the Gerber format's custodian and developer, Ucamco. “With this development, Novarm joins the growing number of PCB design software houses that support Gerber X2 because they recognise the importance of absolute data and communications clarity when transferring PCB design data from one company to another. By providing designers with a robust, unequivocal and known language with which to communicate easily and clearly with their manufacturing partners, we and Novarm deliver unprecedented capabilities to the industry-wide CAD-to-CAM data transfer process in particular, and to the future of the PCB industry in general”.
Ucamco confirms that the Gerber X2 output of DipTrace 3.0 has been fully verified and conforms to the X2 specification.
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).
Share on:
Testimonial
"Our marketing partnership with I-Connect007 is already delivering. Just a day after our press release went live, we received a direct inquiry about our updated products!"
Rachael Temple - AlltematedSuggested Items
Elementary Mr. Watson: Routing Hunger Games—May the Traces Be Ever in Your Favor
08/26/2025 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. WatsonI’d like to share a harsh truth, and I say this as a friend: PCB designers are often their own worst enemy. It’s rarely the complexity of the circuit, the last-minute changes from mechanical, the limited enclosure space, or the ever-expanding list of design rules that send projects to the dust heap of failed boards. More often, it's our own decisions, made too quickly and narrowly, and with too little foresight, that sabotage an otherwise good design.
I-Connect007 Editor's Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
08/22/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007In this week’s roundup, we have a variety of articles covering design, manufacturing, sustainability, and, of course, tariff negotiations. We have a milestone anniversary to celebrate as well, with Dan Beaulieu about to publish his 1,000th column. When does Dan even sleep? Here’s to hoping that we have 1,000 more weeks of "It’s Only Common Sense."
New Episode Drop: MKS’ ESI’s Role in Optimize the Interconnect
08/26/2025 | I-Connect007In this latest episode, Casey Kruger, director of product marketing at MKS’ ESI, joins On the Line With… host Nolan Johnson to share how CO₂ laser technology delivers faster, more accurate vias in a smaller, more energy-efficient footprint.
PEDC Call for Abstracts Deadline Extended to Aug. 31
08/20/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamThe second Pan-European Electronics Design Conference (PEDC) will take place Jan. 21-22, 2026, in Prague, Czech Republic. The call for abstracts deadline has been extended to Aug. 31. Organized jointly by the German Electronics Design and Manufacturing Association (FED) and the Global Electronics Association (formerly IPC), PEDC serves as a European platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and innovation in electronics design and development.
How Good Design Enables Sustainable PCBs
08/21/2025 | Gerry Partida, Summit InterconnectSustainability has become a key focus for PCB companies seeking to reduce waste, conserve energy, and optimize resources. While many discussions on sustainability center around materials or energy-efficient processes, PCB design is an often overlooked factor that lies at the heart of manufacturing. Good design practices, especially those based on established IPC standards, play a central role in enabling sustainable PCB production. By ensuring designs are manufacturable and reliable, engineers can significantly reduce the environmental impact of their products.