How to Keep the Costs Optimum During PCB Design Process

Time management and saving efficiently are two life skills that are constantly at battle with one another. Time and time again, the most frequent question asked of PCB Design services are, "What are your basic design rules?" Any Custom PCB design company knows that, in order to become better at what we design, we must adapt to become faster. Quality over quantity VS quantity over quality; the movement towards designing smaller and faster electronics means fabrication at a higher cost. We as consumers know what we give up if our matter of importance falls under the category of quantity or quality. Efficiency vs time. Higher costs vs budgeting. You simply can’t have both.

Whether you have inquiries about PCB design services, custom PCB design services, or questions regarding a specific custom PCB design company, this post is intended to clear up any uncertainty you may have.

Trace and Space

When we say trace and space, we are in fact referring to the size and spacing of PCB design services copper features. The copper trace is one of the biggest areas up for debate. But what is it exactly? In the short version, it acts as the wire in your connections. The copper trace is the line that connects facets to other facets. The larger the width the easier it is to manufacture, making a smaller width much more difficult to produce. 0.005 is an ideal minimum, but 0.007-0.008 would essentially ensure that the fabricator creates a state of the art board. Any width below 0.005 is only feasible with delicate care to help prevent future issues of copper features "shorting out".

Holes

Another area of importance when it comes to custom PCB design services are the exposed surface holes connected to traces in the design. With the progression of time, we have seen the ability to drill small holes increase greatly. By today’s standards, the finished hole is about 0.010, but if you are still able to use 0.015 or 0.020, the procedure itself and quality of the product will be more user friendly.

The size of the hole that is drilled into a board versus the finished hole size after copper plating is an important element to remember because of the size differences. (i.e. A 0.010 finished hole size may be drilled with a 0.012 drill bit.)

Pads

This materialistic element can be defined as the copper that borders around the hole at the top or bottom of the board. The purpose is to guarantee that the copper plate in the hole makes a strong attachment to the traces that are connected to the pad. The pad size should be at least 0.015" larger than the hole itself. (i.e. If the finished hole is 0.010", then the final size of the pad that hole specifically would be 0.025".

Spacing

Preferably, any copper used in your design should be no closer than 0.010" to the edge of the board. Any increase in size will put your copper at risk of being exposed after the board has been routed.