I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching and writing about the centroid file and about CAD library footprints. One of the challenges in this industry is that somethings that are “standard” really aren’t all that standard. That’s why we emphasize following IPC guidelines when creating library components.

Well, a few things have changed since we started doing this a decade ago. For one, some of the enhanced manufacturing file formats (as opposed to the 1970’s vintage Gerber format) have become more prevelent. Those new formats are a very good thing.

Most CAD packages can now output either ASCII formatted CAD data or ODB++ format data. Those file formats have all of the data that would otherwise be found in the centroid and Gerber files. They also have more accurate data. If you can get one of those formats out, go ahead and send it to us. We can also take plain old Eagle CAD .brd files. If in doubt send one of these newer files along with the centroid and Gerbers. We’ll use the file with the best data and, we may be able to simplify the file preparation you have to do with future jobs.

And speaking of the Centroid, don’t worry so much about the rotation column in the Centroid file. You can consider rotation to be optional now. You don’t need to check the rotation, nor do you need to remove it.

Duane Benson
Who will win? Godzilla or Centroid? Maybe the Smog Monster?