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:

• Connectivity (netlist: every pin, via, and trace is logically connected),
• Components (precise footprints and placements are specified),
• Stackup (layer counts, thicknesses, dielectric properties and impedance rules are captured),
• Vias and drilling (types, sizes and backdrills are defined), and
• Flex and rigid sections (structural intent is modeled).

Yet when Gerber output is generated, this intelligence gets fragmented into a dozen or more files: film records, drill data, pick-and-place files, BoMs and countless notes. Your manufacturing partner must painstakingly reassemble this “unintelligent” data to reconstruct what your design tool already knew. In contrast, IPC-2581 is an open, vendor-neutral standard for PCB data exchange. Unlike Gerber, IPC-2581 embeds intelligence directly into the data set, permitting features to be distinctly identified (e.g., distinguishing pins from vias and traces). This intelligence is critical to enabling AI-driven analysis, DfM checks and automation.

IPC-2581 data are generated intelligently, using the embedded information from the corresponding PCB design tool. IPC-2581 enables this intelligent, bidirectional exchange between designers and their manufacturing partners. It does this while protecting the design’s IP. There are three types of exchanges possible with IPC-2581: stackup-only exchange, DfM exchange, and secure design data exchange with manufacturing. Bidirectional exchanges are not possible with Gerber-based packages.

The Limitations of Gerber

Gerber has served the industry for decades, but its weaknesses are clear:

• Primitive representation. Layers are rendered as simple shapes and polygons, without understanding what a pad, trace or via is, creating ambiguity and misinterpretation during the transition from design to manufacturing.
• Multiple unsynchronized files. The Gerber data package consists of numerous files, each describing a different aspect of the board (layers, drill data, assembly drawings, etc.). These files can easily fall out of sync, leading to delays and errors as manufacturing teams struggle to reconcile discrepancies.
• Multiple master problem. It is common for dimensions on engineering drawings to disagree with those supplied in the Gerber data. With no single source of truth, teams must reconcile conflicting data sets, compounding the risk of errors.
• Netlist incompatibilities. Netlist files, often provided in IPC-D-356 format, regularly fail to capture intentionally shorted or open nets, leading to failed electrical tests or requiring additional manual intervention.
• Limited DfM. With no embedded intelligence, manufacturability checks are impossible until after reverse-engineering. This introduces significant risk, as manufacturability issues may go undetected until late in the process.
• Inefficient communication. Designers and fabricators spend weeks trading emails, PowerPoints and spreadsheets to resolve discrepancies.
• One-way handoff. No mechanism exists to exchange stackup data, technical queries (TQs) or incremental updates electronically.
• IP exposure. To send even a single stencil file, Gerber shares the entire dataset.

In short, Gerber is slow, error-prone and costly.

Why Choose IPC-2581?

IPC-2581 was created by the industry for the industry. It is:

• Open and neutral. No single company controls it, unlike proprietary formats.
• One file includes stackup, netlist, drill data, BoM, placement, artwork, impedance and specifications.
• Manufacturers report up to 30% reduction in pre-CAM processing time, accelerating NPI.
• Adopted by more than 120 companies worldwide through the IPC-2581 Consortium.

With IPC-2581, designers hand off exactly what they intended, no re-engineering required.

The continued reliance on Gerber data for PCB manufacturing represents a significant bottleneck in the age of intelligent automation. By embracing intelligent, bidirectional and open standards like IPC-2581, the industry can unlock the full potential of AI-powered workflows. This shift will deliver faster and more reliable production and improve communication, traceability and innovation across the product life cycle.

Key Advantages

IPC-2581 offers several distinct advantages over Gerber:

• Bidirectional stackup exchange. Designers and manufacturers can share impedance tables, materials and layer details electronically, eliminating manual transcription and reducing late-cycle surprises.
• Function modes for IP protection. Need to send only stencil data or an assembly package? IPC-2581 supports mode-based subsets (fabrication, assembly, test, stencil, DfM and user-definable modes). Your partners get all the data they need – nothing more.
• DfM and TQ exchange. Today, technical queries are exchanged using emails, spreadsheets and PowerPoint. This makes tracking and tracing issues for a particular board a part-time job for a person on each side (design house and manufacturing side) and often comes with a CYA attitude. Whoever makes a mistake pays for the scrap!

With DFx, the exchange is intelligent, contextual and traceable. All queries include the names of those who asked and answered the question. With AI, these data are usable for future improvements on both sides.

Instead of scattered email threads, IPC-2581 enables structured, traceable technical queries. Each question is contextual, named, and logged – data that can fuel future AI-driven improvements.

• Secure data transmission with IPC-CFX. Secure, complete design data are needed to build, assemble and test PCBs. As the technology of inspection and testing of assembled PCBs evolves, detailed design data are needed to facilitate advanced functionality, as well as to reduce the programming and preparation time for production. The issues of 1) the security of design data passed to manufacturing and 2) detailed design data needed to facilitate inspection and testing of assembled PCBs are at odds and remain unresolved for far too long. We have witnessed far too many instances of tampering, with the intent of introducing vulnerabilities into products as the design data are passed to manufacturing. For the first time, both issues are being addressed in one solution, with the combination of two standards from IPC.

Design data in IPC-2581 (DPMX) format can be securely exchanged through the internet directly with the manufacturing using IPC-CFX (Connected Factory Exchange). Once processed, data flow straight to machines, reducing setup and programming time.

Benefits Across the Supply Chain

For OEMs and design houses, use of PC-2581 means fewer surprises, faster time-to-market and reduced risk of scrap.

For fabricators and assemblers, it means less re-engineering effort, lower overhead and faster setup.

And for the industry as a whole, the switch is to a single, intelligent “source of truth” that evolves with technology and enables AI-driven automation.

Some manufacturers already charge premiums for Gerber-based handoffs because of the extra labor involved. Conversely, those adopting IPC-2581 report measurable gains in efficiency, yield and collaboration.

Conclusion

Gerber was right for the 1980s. But in an era defined by digital twins, AI and 5G, continuing to use unintelligent formats for PCB handoff is holding the industry back. IPC-2581 provides the intelligence, security and efficiency that modern electronics demand.

Electronics companies that embrace IPC-2581 are not just saving time and cost. They are also accelerating innovation, protecting IP and building stronger partnerships with their manufacturers.

It’s time to stop guessing. It’s time to move forward with IPC-2581.

Hemant Shah is an EDA veteran and chair of the IPC-2581 Consortium (ipc2581.com).