Creating Printed Circuit Boards with a INKJET Printer

Step 3 Prepare Your PCB Transparency for the Solder Side

The presensitized PCB board that I used was 4" x 6". My actual circuit is roughly 1.25" x 1.75" so I was able to get a total of 8 boards from one presensitized board.

In Photoshop, I opened up the solder side .PS file and the copied my single circuit design to a new 300 dpi 4" x 6" file. I then laid out a grid, and just copied and pasted the design over and over to fill in the grid. This gave me a nice even layout to print.

TIPs:

• If you don't have Photoshop. GIMP is a nice open source alternative!
• In order to make sure I tape down the design the correct way, I always add a label to the top in normal view to the mirrored image. This way I know that the mirrored side is facing upwards. I usually just title what the circuit is.

To print. Take the textured 3M transparency sheet and load it into your printer with the white strip going into the feeder. When printed, let it sit for a minute or two to be sure the ink has dried. Then tape it to the underside of the acrylic sheet.