Tool definitions

The tools in the selected file are listed in the middle of the tab. The Manuf. size is the tool diameter that will be used in production. This is rounded from the Orig. size (the tool diameter specified in the input file) to the nearest 0.05mm (or 0.01mm for very small tools). Tool diameters are shown in the unit of measure selected at the bottom right corner of the Drill tools pane.

The Tool number is the tool identifier in the drill file. If Plated is checked, then holes drilled with this tool will be plated. Count is the number of drill holes in the file to be drilled by that tool.

To modify a tool diameter, click on the diameter in the Manuf. size column and type the desired size. Press the Enter key to finish editing. Pressing enter again allows you to modify the diameter of the next tool.

You can copy all tool definitions to the tool list in one operation. To do this, locate the drill report file in the file grid, right-click and choose View file. Select the rows of text which contain the tool definitions, rightclick and choose Copy. Then right-click on the tool list and choose Paste tool sizes from clipboard.

Pasting tool sizes makes the following assumptions:

• One tool definition per line of text
• Individual parameters in each line must be separated by spaces or tabs
• If a parameter contains 'T' followed by an integer value, that will be the tool number. Otherwise, the first integer value found in the line will be the tool number.
• If the tool number was specified with a 'T' then the tool diameter will be the first numeric parameter found in the line. Otherwise, the tool diameter will be the first numeric value after the tool number.
• If the tool diameter contains 'mm', 'mil' or 'inch' then that text will determine the unit of measure for the tool diameter. Otherwise, currently selected unit of measure will be used.
• If a parameter of 'N', 'NTPH' or 'no' is found, then the tool will be marked as unplated.

Note: A hole will not necessarily be plated just because the tool is specified as a plated tool. The hole must also be surrounded by copper pads on the top and bottom layers in order for the plating process to be successful. The manufacturer enlarges plated tools slightly to compensate for the plating thickness. Therefore, “plated” holes without copper pads will be slightly larger than if they had not been marked as plated.