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GBR2TIFF.EXE Program

Many OEM’s do not need the level of control that calling the gbrplt.dll offers because using it directly requires quite a lot of expertise. If your application uses TIFF or BMP output you can use the GBR2TIFF.EXE application that we provide. The work required to move the pixel data from memory to a standard format on disk is done by GBR2TIFF.



flow chart showing how gbr2tiff calls gbrplt.dll


GBR2TIFF Command Line Syntax

gbr2tiff.exe

 gbrfile(s)
 
   {-apt:aptfile | -274x} 

     [-xf xformfile] 

       [-ram:R]

         [ -tiff:outputfile | -bmp:outputfile | -ps2:outputfile | -bitmap:outputfile  ]

           [other_options]  




 where

 gbr2tiff                      the gbr2tiff program

 gbrfile                       the Gerber file to be ripped



-apt:aptfile                   the name of the aperture list (assuming that
                               the input file is RS274D. There is no need
                               for an .apt file in the input is RS274X)

 -274x                         indicates input file is a 274X file


 -xf:xformfile                 optional; name of an ascii file contain
                               transform parameters for mirroring, rotation
                               and scaling.

 -ram:R                        use R as the raster buffer size (Mb)


The following output types are available (outtype:filename) Select one:

 -tiff:outputfile              output file in 1 bit tiff; uncompressed

 -pack:outputfile              output file is 1 bit tiff; packbits comp.

 -ps2:outputfile               output in Postscript II (uncompressed)

 -cps2:outputfile              output is Postscript II RLE compression

 -bmp::outputfile              output in Windows BMP (monochrome)
                 
 -bitmap:outputfile            output is raw bitmap (uncompressed)

 -atf:outputfile               output is custom for Automatech


[other options]                if on command line override xform file

-units:                        {inch | mm} specifies xformfile units 
                               with the exception of Resolution (DPI) 
                               which is always in inches 
                               (aliases -inch, -mm)

-dpi:DPI                       specifies DPI setting (alias -DPI#) 

-enhanced                      turns off enhanced mode; allows bitmap copy 
                               operation for faster RIP speed (default is 
                               enhanced RIP precision)

-inverse                       output polarity is reversed


-super:[8 | 16 ]               super sample output (-tiff only)

-color[:2 | 16 | 256]          set BMP output to 2, 16, or 
                               256 greyscale modes (BMP only)

-color[:black | red | green | yellow | blue | magenta | cyan] 

                               set Postscript II color (Postscript II only)

-greylevels:L,H,D              specify min grey value to be L, max value to be H, 
                               and that of drill files to be D (only valid for -super:16)

-add {GerberDrillFile}         add GerberDrillFile to base image (to be used in 
                               conjunction with -super:16 and -greylevels)


-asizeup:X                     size aperture info up by X units


-round:{best | up | down | none}      used with pixel subsampling; sets
                                      which rule to use

-stroke:{best | left | right | none}  controls adjustment of stroked 
                                      objects.

-flatness:N                    arc chord error is not to 
                               exceed N pixels

-rotate:A                      rotate image A degrees (alias -rA) 
                               (when using -imagesize -rotate:auto is valid)

-scale:X[,Y][@P,Q]             scale data by X and Y in the x 
                               and y directions respectively 
                               (optionally about the point P,Q) 
                               (default: X = Y) (alias -sX)

 -shift:X,Y                    translate data by X and Y 
                               (incompatible with -wplot)

 -xmirror:X                    reflect data about the line x = X 
                               (-wplot implies simple X mirror, i.e. -mirror:x)

 -ymirror:Y                    reflect data about the line y = Y 
                               (-wplot implies simple Y mirror, i.e. -mirror:y)

-step:Nx,Ny,Dx,Dy              arrays data in an Nx by Ny rectangular 
                               array with spacing of Dx and Dy

-image:X,Y                     rasterize data in the window from the origin
                               to X,Y (incompatible with -wplot)

-imagesize:X,Y[,x,y]           dimension of image is X,Y. if the offsets x,y 
                               from lower left are not specified, the image 
                               is centered.

-wplot x0,y0 x1,y1             rasterize data in the window from x0,y0(LL) 
                               to x1,y1(UR) (incompatible with -image)

-pause                         don't run right away, wait for user intervention.

-status                        run visibly.

-logcalls                      record the calls to setupFunc to plot.log
                               for debugging purposes.

-nopad                         do not pad tiff output to the nearest byte.

-noplot                        do not create any output, rip data only;
                               for debugging purposes.

-scanonly                      do not create any output, scan 
                               input GERBER file only

-usedisk                       create TIFF packbits from raw bitmap image 
                               on disk (for use with -pack)

-aw                            autowindow data (overrides -wplot parameters).

-margin:X                      provide a border of X units (used in conjunction 
                               with -wplot or -aw).

-dothreads                     run a single thread at a time

+dothreads                     run multiple threads at a time

-maxt:N                        run at most N threads at a time



Engine Arguments               arguments that follow -engargs  do not affect 
                               GBR2TIFF but are passed to the gbrplt.dll
                               argument list.

-engargs

  -blowup:N                    generate an arithmetic exception after N counts

  -msgcbs                      suppress popups and make use of 
                               message callbacks instead

  -keep                        do not delete file droppings

  -logmem                      report memory statistics to plot.log

  -loglibs                     log library usage to plot.log

  -oem:ID                      use ID for keyless operation

  -maxstrip:N                  allow N ATF strips (default: 6)


Additional Command Line Examples for gbr2tiff


Example 1

Using gbr2tiff.exe to convert our sample Gerber file to compressed TIFF format at 1000DPI. The aw command line option is used to tell the software to calculate the extents automatically.

C:\WCAD\GBRIP\gbr2tiff.exe icsxseed.gbr -274x -inch -aw -pack:output.tif -dpi:1000


Example 2

Using gbr2tiff.exe to convert a window (lower left at 0,0 and 5,6 as top right) from a Gerber file to compressed TIFF format at 1000DPI.

C:\WCAD\GBRIP\gbr2tiff.exe icsxseed.gbr -274x -inch -wplot 0,0 5,6 -pack:output.tif -dpi:1000


Example 3

Using gbr2tiff.exe to convert multiple Gerber files in one command.
In this case, we will create a text file with the list of Gerber files we want to rasterize. One file name per line.

test_0.gbr
test_1.gbr
test_2.gbr
test_3.gbr
test_4.gbr
test_5.gbr
Then we create a batch file that will execute the gbr2tiff, reading the gerber file names from the text file.
C:\WCAD\GBRIP\gbr2tiff.exe @layers.txt -274x -mm  -bmp:0.bmp -dpi:45000 -inverse
In this example, the program will create 6 different BMP output files, at 45000DPI and it will also reverse each of the BMP files.




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