Fiducial marks

Fiducial marks Bruce

Fiducial marks consist of a copper pad and a soldermask opening. The clear zone is the size of the copper fill opening (if copper fill is enabled). A fiducial on a paste mask layer will have the same size as on the copper layer.

Fiducial marks may be added to the panel frame and/or adjacent to each board in the panel. It is not possible to place fiducial marks within the outer contour of any board in the panel.

Panel fiducial marks

Panel fiducial marks are added to the panel frame relative either to the outer corners of the frame or to the center of the panel. Typically, one would place fiducial marks near three of the panel’s four corners.

Board fiducial marks

Board fiducial marks are added to the space between boards relative to the corners or center of each board's bound box. The bound box is the rectangle defined by the board's maximum width and height. The center of a board fiducial may not be placed more than 10mm inside of the bound box. Board fiducials are typically only used for boards needing a high level of precision due to ultra-fine pitch components. It is usually sufficient with one fiducial mark per board.

Note: Board fiducials may not be placed within the contour of a board. If you need to place fiducials within a board, this should be done in the Import module prior to publishing the single-board product.

Creating fiducial marks

  1. Select the desired layers, sizes and shapes for the fiducial marks.

  2. Select either Panel or Boards and then select the corners (of the panel or boards) at which fiducial marks are to be placed.

  3. For each direction (x or y), select Corner or Center anchoring. Then specify the distance from the corner/center of the panel to the center of the fiducial mark.

  4. Click on the Place button to create the fiducial marks. Repeat as necessary.

Removing fiducial marks

To remove all fiducial marks, click on the Clear all button.

To remove individual fiducial marks, click on the Remove button (so that it is “down”) and then click on the fiducial mark to remove.