Stop guessing: Why it’s time to move from Gerber to IPC-2581.

Innovation in electronics continues at lightning speed, yet manufacturers still rely on PCB design data transfer methods from the 1980s. The industry default, the Gerber format, was designed for photoplotters. But while today’s design tools contain highly intelligent models rich with connectivity, stackup, component and netlist data, the handoff to manufacturing strips away that intelligence. The result? Designers and manufacturers are forced to play a time-consuming game of Guess My Design Intent. The consequences are unnecessary iterations, wasted effort and delayed new product introduction (NPI). There is a better way: IPC-2581, the open, intelligent and tool-neutral standard for PCB design data exchange. Inside a PCB design tool, the board definition is rich and complete, with:

Read more: What Is Intelligent Design Data Exchange?