Whether an individual or a company is looking for a high-frequency board manufacturer to prototype and produce high-frequency PCB boards, they need to provide the high-frequency board manufacturer with some documents required for board production. So, what documents are needed for high-frequency PCB proofing production?

Generally, high-frequency PCB prototyping production requires the use of Gerber files, drilling files, bill of materials (BOM), manufacturing drawings and assembly drawings, etc.

1. Gerber file

The Gerber file suffix is .gbr, which is a very important common file in PCB board making. It contains geometric information such as copper lines, pads, solder mask layers and silk screen layers for each layer of the PCB board. At the same time, the Gerber file also contains separate files such as top copper, bottom copper, solder mask layer, and silk screen layer for each layer of the PCB board.

2. Drilling files

The suffix of the drilling file is (.drl), which mainly provides drilling coordinates and size information for PCB boards. Drill files are generally generated in Excellon format (.xin) or as separate ASCII files.

3. Bill of Materials (BOM)

The BOM order is a detailed list of all components used in PCB board design. It contains a lot of information, such as part number, component value, description and quantity, etc. BOM distribution can ensure that the required components are correctly purchased and placed on the PCB board.

4. Center coordinate file

Center coordinate files, also called pick and place files, are provided in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format. The main function is to provide the coordinates and orientation information of each component on the PCB board to guide the position of the components on the PCB board, which is crucial for the automatic assembly process.

5. Manufacturing drawings

Manufacturing drawings are engineering drawings, which are for reference by PCB board manufacturers during the production process. It contains key information such as PCB board dimensions, drill hole dimensions, layer stack-up, tolerances, surface treatment and other manufacturing-related details.

6. Assembly drawings

Assembly drawings are additional information provided during the PCB board making process and include all special instructions, such as component placement details, reference numbers, directions, and assembly technicians, etc.