BatchPCB FAQ

It's a pretty simple concept. You submit your PCB design, we add your design to the batch of orders. When the batch is big enough (usually about 1 week), the batch is set off for manufacture. 10 days later, the individual boards are received by us. We then split the orders up and mail your order to you.

Please Note: 4 layer boards take a little bit longer to receive back than the 2 layer orders. Current lead times for 4 layer boards are 5-6 weeks. If we can get the word out that cheap four layer production is available here that will go down but for now please be aware that the lead times are different.

4 layer boards should be ordered on a separate order from two layer boards (since we have to ship them separately).

You can get as few as one board. Boards can be as small as 0.5" square. Prototype PCBs are usually messed up anyways - we've made enough bad PCBs to teach a class on How to make green coasters. Why pay for 5 of something that probably won't work? At BatchPCB we believe in cheap prototype PCBs for everyone!

Please remember that these are prototype PCBs. Electrical testing is not done on your prototype. This means there may be errors with the PCB.

Be sure the preview your gerber files before submitting (read below). We will have to cancel your order if your drill file does not line up with your copper layers. It is also important to have the drill holes in the design before submission. We simply do not have enough time to spend providing "drill hits" for every design.

$10 setup fee (per order - appears as a handling fee), 2 layer - $2.50/sq. inch 4 layer - $8.00/sq. inch

What are the PCB rules and limits?

Note: These specifications are at the request of our manufacturer.

Boards can be as small as 0.5" (~12.7 mm) square.

2 or 4 layer boards - 0.062" FR4 material
2 Layer sizing:
- 8mil (~0.2 mm) spacing minimum
- 8mil (~0.2 mm) traces minimum
- 20mil (~0.5 mm) minimum drill size
4 Layer sizing:
- 6mil (~0.15 mm) spacing minimum
- 6mil (~0.15 mm) traces minimum
- 13mil (~0.33 mm) minimum drill size
- No blind/buried vias
500mil (~12.7 mm) maximum drill size
All drill hits are plated through
No internal routes, no v-scoring, only drill files are sent to the fab house
Board is routed to the indicated border (very clean edges, you can get creative with the shape as well!)
Soldermask both sides
1oz Copper
No limit on the number of vias
No limit on pads or components
Multiple designs, multiple copies are allowed!
Any size up to 10x15", measured in inch increments (254mm x 381mm)
Minimum billable size 1x1" (smaller boards are allowed but rounded up)
Your design can be any size - 1 inch is the minimum

$10 setup fee (shown as a handling charge) - $2.50 per square inch for 2 layer designs, $8.00/sq. in. for 4 layer designs.

How much is shipping and can I combine my orders with Sparkfun?

It depends on your location - actually shipping in the US can be quite cheap (USPS First Class is cheap and reliable for non-international orders, we do not recommend it for international shipping). Basically international shipping is just expensive. However, occasionally an option is momentarily unavailable so you can try reloading the page or check back a little later if you don't see an option that has been there before or that you think should be there.

You can check the prices for your location on Shipping options page of the check out - its the first page. You can choose shipping options there and the shipping charge will be immediately updated for your choice. You don't have to complete the order to check out what the charges for shipping will be. You can also select a different address on this page to compare shipping to different locations.

Be sure that your address is correct - if it is not complete, eg. missing the postal code (AKA. zip code) and normally you would need one the shipping module will not return any options. Since we get live estimates from the shipping service the address you check out with must be valid to give you a quote, so the address must be valid.

Sorry, we do not combine BatchPCB orders with Sparkfun orders.

Note: Some of the fields are optional - for instance, people in Denmark will not need the "State/Province" field. Others may not need the zip code, county, suburb, etc. These are provided for those places that need them - if your address does not you can leave them empty. Minimally you need at least a name, a street address, a city and a country.

What do the order statuses mean?

Pending - We are waiting for payment confirmation from PayPal.
Paid - Payment has been confirmed and the panel is in line to be panelized.
Panelized - The order has been laid out on a panel.
Processing - The panel has been sent for production and we are waiting for it to return.
Packaged - The order has been packaged and is waiting for shipping.
Shipped - The package has been shipped.
Problem - Check your email! There was a problem with your order.

Why does my order status say "Passed"?

Erm, you are looking at your designs - the order status is under "My Account" => "View Orders"

How long does it take to get my order?

Cheap and fast don't play well together. If you need your design fabbed in 24 hours - use another board house. We like Advanced Circuits for great quality boards in 1-5 days.

Since we are combining designs on a panel (that's why we can do it cheaply) we have to wait until a panel fills and then send it to production. After that we get a big box of designs back and we sort them out and ship them as soon as possible. The average time from when you place your order to when it arrives at your door is about 3 - 4 weeks

Time line example for BatchPCB:

You submit your order, successfully pass the DRC, and pay on Tuesday the 4th (day 0)
The next batch of orders leaves on Friday the 7th (3 days so far)
The panel of orders is fabricated in 11 days (14 days so far)
The individual PCBs are shipped to BatchPCB in Colorado via DHL 3-day (17 days so far)
We then ship your order out same day via USPS Priority Mail 3-days (20 days so far)

So you see, best case is about 15 business days (or 3 weeks), while the long end of the scale is around 20 (about a month). It also depends on when you order and when the batch gets sent off. This a very small operation and although we would love to be big enough to be able to pay someone to work on the weekends, we aren't quite there yet - so it is better to order early in the week if you are in a hurry!

Also, if there is a holiday in China - expect delays. Expect delays around Christmas, New Years, and Lunar (Chinese) New Year. Orders placed in late December and January tend to take a bit longer than usual.

If Homeland Security decides the "heavy brick" PCB package needs inspection, expect a 1 day delay.

If you order first class mail, shipping may take an extra 10 days. We recommend USPS Priority Mail for all PCB shipments. It's cheap and fast.

This all sounds worse than it really is! As we develop projects, we always get at least one PCB design onto the week's batch panel. While one design is being fabbed, we have new PCBs for another design already arriving from a previous batch - we always have new PCBs to play with!

Why does my drill file look wrong when I upload?

The images generated for identification during upload are only for convenience - they are not related to panelizing the design which is done from the original uploaded gerber files. The drill format is assumed to be 2:4 - so if you used 2:3 the holes will not look right. Normally this is not a problem - we can load most any format.If there is at least an image for the drill file then usually it is ok - if no drill file image appears there may be a problem; check to make sure that the drill layer is exported to NC Drill (text) format and not a something like a binary file.

At any point that we find a problem processing a design order we will always contact you to resolve it - if it cannot be fixed we will happily cancel and refund the order.

Why do the bot images look strange?

The images generated by the bot and sent in the DRC check emails are purely for reference and in the case of a failed DRC they try to show where the error or problems were. They are not related to panelizing the design which is done from the original uploaded gerber files.

PCBs are really this cheap?

Actually, PCBs can cost as little as $0.05 per square inch on larger production runs. But fab houses really hate doing short runs. There are some huge setup fees associated with every PCB order. So we've found a fab house over in China that is willing to work with our flexibility in return for a chance at a larger volume customer.

Of course you'll design the next greatest widget! Gold Phoenix hopes you'll use them for your production run of PCBs.

What do I get for these prices?

We only offer one service at this time: PCBs with soldermask both sides and silkscreen both sides. The minimum trace width for 2 layer designs is 8mil with 8 mil spacing, for four layer the minimum is 6mil. You get a professionally routed board (no shearing or rough edge boards), in pretty much any shape you want.

$10 setup fee. There are no minimums.

Can I use any software?

Yes, you can use any software you like! However, your software has to be real PCB software capable of outputting Gerber RS-274X and NC Drill files. What's a gerber? Gerber is the industry standard format for plotting machines, NC drill is the format for drilling machines.

We've seen designs from all sorts of packages including:

Protel
Eagle - (Free version available) Tutorial
PCB - (Free, Open Source)
FreePCB - (Win32, Free, Open Source)
KiCAD - - (*nix, Free, Open Source)
Orcad
PCad
Target
Boardmaker
Circuit Maker
WinBoard
Many others also work!

We cannot accept proprietary formats like:

Express PCB
Pad2Pad

How do I order my PCB design?

It's not too bad actually. The first time is always the most painful. Submitting new designs is a breeze.

Create a user account so that we can link the order to you
Upload a zip of your gerber files
From there, you will be asked to identify your layers
Submit your design to the DRC bot and wait for an email
You will receive an email within 5 minutes letting you know if your design passed DRC
If your design is ok, the size of your PCB is automatically calculated and you can then add your PCB design to your cart via a link in the DRC email
You can either increase the number of copies, add more designs to your cart, or you can simply checkout

We use a simple cart interface with shipping calculated at checkout. We accept all major credit cards and paypal.

How can I be sure the gerber files are ok?

Be sure the preview your gerber files before submitting. We will have to cancel your order if your drill file does not line up with your copper layers.

Download gerbv, ViewMate, install, and take a look at your own gerber files. We use gerbv when we need to just check designs - this is the best way to make sure that we can panelize your design. If they don't look right, or layers do not line up, or if they don't import at all, stop, fix your output settings and open the gerbers again. If you cannot get your own files open under gerbv or ViewMate then we certainly won't be able to.

Frequent problems that you should avoid:

1) Problem : Gerber files don't line up. The gerber files are mirrored or flipped around.

Solution : Make sure when you output your layout to Gerber RS-274-X format that you do not mirror the layers.

2) Problem : Drill file does not line up:

For whatever reason, everything is correct, but the drill file does not line up with the other layers.

Solution : Change the origin of your layout to the corner of board so that the drill coordinates line up with the x and y coordinate of your design.

3) Problem : Drill file does not include tool size or is some unknown format : We only accept NC Drill Files. This is normally a file that ends in .DRL, .TXT or .DRD and looks like this:

If your file is missing the T01C0.787... etc. we cannot use it. These are the drill sizes and are required. Note: some software will include "inline" tool sizes - which means that they are not in the "header" information at the top of the drill file but are scattered through the file just before the tool is used. This is also ok - but they must be somewhere!

If your file comes up in non-readable form, we cannot use it. This is common for DRD files of a different format - they are binary files specific to the software that created them. We can only use text files.

Solution : Figure out how to make your PCB software output an Excellon/NC Drill file with 2.4 trailing format. There are lots of packages out there and we cannot cover them all. Open your own drill file and check to see that the drill sizes are included at the top of your file. 2.4 trailing is what we use, but any format (2:3 leading, 1:5 none, etc) is OK! If it can be imported, we'll get it imported - however you may notice that the drill file looks strange during the upload since 2:4 is the default for rendering the image.

You may want to checkout our support forum to see if other customers have had similar problems : http://www.sparkfun.com/cgi-bin/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=16

4) Problem : Drill file coordinate system not recognized : We only accept NC Drill Files. Your drill file must contain x and y coordinates and a format specification (ie. what units the coordinates and sizes are in). This is commonly a problem with files ending in CNC or ASC.

This file has two problems. It is missing the drill file sizes and it has incomplete X and Y coordinates.

Solution : You must force your PCB layout software to export a full NC Drill file including drill sizes and explicit coordinates. 2.4 trailing is what we use, but any format (2:3 leading, 1:5 none, etc) is OK! If it can be imported, we'll get it imported.

See this forum topic for more information : http://www.sparkfun.com/cgi-bin/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1093

5) Problem : DRC Failure - traces/pour are too close. The minimum trace width is 8mil. The minimum distance from trace to trace and trace to pour is 8mil. We cannot run your design if you violate these minimums. We cannot run your design 'as is'. We cannot change things for you.

Solution : Please be sure to set your software to a 10mil minimum spacing, clearance, trace width, ground pour, etc. This will guarantee that your gerbers will pass our DRC. If you need to go smaller to 8mil, be aware that your design may fail our DRC. Some software packages export gerber vectors in odd ways such that the 8mil distances become <8mil.

Note: Occasionally the DRC fails on things like rotated pads or polygon fills - in this case your design might be ok. Please check carefully and if you are pretty sure the DRC has made a mistake you can contact support and ask if the design can be manually passed.

Can I get more than one copy?

Of course! You can get as many copies as you need! At checkout, you will be given the option to enter any quantity of any design in your cart. You can also reorder designs at any time - simply go to the PCB Designs page in your account and add them to the cart. If you would like to share the design there is a link on the design view that you can email to people so that they can order a copy made as well.

How do I indicate the shape of my board?

This is normally done with an outline layer, or a silkscreen layer. You can use any method you want but please use one! Something as simple as a rectangle on the top overlay (aka. silk) layer is great! Note: you can also make the outline in a copper layer (this is a trick mentioned in the SparkFun tutorial - but be sure the outline is at least 8mils thick! Otherwise the design will fail since the DRC doesn't know that this is not a trace.

Multiple humans will be looking at your design and will let you know if we are unable to figure out the board shape. This may place your design on hold and cause added delays or it may result in you receiving a board that is not cut as you expected! So, an outline is strongly recommended.

Can I route really exotic shapes?

Eh, kinda - you can be pretty creative but don't go crazy. You are charged for the largest square enclosing your design (a circle has less area than a square) but feel free to add rounded corners, odd shapes, etc,

We've seen some 'Pac Man Ghosts' and a frisbee or two go by. But please avoid really complex cuts. Note: we do not currently offer internal routes (these are odd shaped cut outs within the border of your board). However, we have seen people fake it with overlapping drill hits - no guarantees for sucess but it has been done.

How do I use Eagle?

Checkout the mass of tutorials on SparkFun:

Why don't you have a phone number?

We've struggled to streamline this service as much as possible. We love our customers and our customers love us, but we cannot keep the service cheap and answer phone call support questions like 'What's a gerber?' Sorry! All questions must be through email.

Do I need to worry about the security of my design?

No. We do not share your designs with anyone and they are only accessible for purchase by you (unless you have published the design). If you are very concerned, you can always apply for a patent first. We are trustworthy and we deal only with a trustworthy manufacturer. BatchPCB is not in the PCB design business, that is, we don't produce PCBs - we are here to make it possible for people that do.

What is the DRC-Bot?

DRC stands for Design Rule Check. The DRC Bot runs on the BatchPCB server checking incoming designs to see if they meet our minimum requirements. Remember - 8mil traces with 8mil spacing (6mil for 4 layer boards).

The Bot is good, but not great. It cannot detect errors such as mirrored layers, drill file problems, missing layers, or if you run traces to the wrong pins on an IC. If your design gets through the DRC Bot there is still the chance that your order may be put on hold by a human if there are problems. And there is also the chance that your board still has flaws it could not detect - the idea is to catch obvious bloopers and ensure that the design meets at least minimum manufacturing specs.

Ok - so what's a gerber?

If you are totally new to the PCB world, you've got some reading to do. There are many design packages out there that will help you lay out your Printed Circuit Board (PCB). We recommend Eagle as it's fairly popular, cheap, and decent to use.

Once you've captured your schematic and created a PCB design, you'll need a way to submit your design to us. All PCB packages will have to ability to output RS274X format gerber files. These are large text files that contain the line information about your design. Since this is the universal format, we don't care what you used to create your design, we can manipulate your gerbers.

You will need to output the following files to gerbers. We've also included the common Eagle and Protel file extensions but your files may be different:

Top Copper Layer (*.cmp or *.gtl)
Top Solder Mask (stc or gts)
Top Silkscreen (plc or gto)
Bottom Copper Layer (sol or gbl)
Bottom Solder Mask (sts or gbs)
Bottom Silkscreen (pls or gbo)
Drill File (drd or txt)

Do you need all these files? No - you only need to include relevant files for your design, but extras or empt y layers are also ok - you can also simply select unused files during the upload. At a minimum we expect a copper layer and a drill file and an board outline in a silk or outline layer is strongly recommended.

Can I put multiple designs in the same board/layout?

Yes you can - but we don't recommend this. The fab house will not separate the boards - you will need to cut them apart yourself. If this is what you want that's fine - but you have been warned. In the past people did this to get a better deal as each design was rounded up to the next inch - we are no longer rounding up (except for the first inch) so this won't save you anything now.