Shape manipulation

Opening size adjustment

Stencil openings are adjusted as a percentage (by area) of the reference pad size. The reference pad is either the copper layer pad or the original paste mask data pad, depending on the selected Adjustment reference.

Specify the desired percentage prior to executing an adjustment operation. A negative percentage results in an opening that is smaller than the reference pad. Repeated opening adjustments are not cumulative.

You should first adjust all openings to the adjusted size that applies to the majority of openings. Then you may re-adjust individual openings by selecting them and applying the desired adjustment.

To adjust openings, specify the percentage, select Adjust all, Adjust selected top or Adjust selected bottom and then click on the Apply button.

Use the left mouse button to draw a selection rectangle around the openings to select. Only openings on the chosen layer are selected. The selection modes are described in the Graphic display section.

To undo all adjustments, adjust all openings to 0%.

Show Adjustments

As each opening size adjustment is carried out, the operation is added to the list of adjustments. Clicking on a row in the list causes all openings with the selected adjustment to be highlighted in the graphic display.

Corner rounding

Specify the desired radius for the corners of rectangular openings. You should specify a radius approximately equal to the radius of the solder grains in the solder paste.

Potential errors

Opening sizes are compared with the original paste mask layers for potential errors, such as openings that were already reduced in the original data or openings where the reference copper pad was not found. If a Potential errors button is enabled, click on the button and inspect the highlighted openings to see if there are any actual errors.