Gerber File
Overview
File format
A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
used by printed circuit board
Printed circuit board
A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...
(PCB) industry software to describe the images of a printed circuit board (copper layers, solder mask, legend, drill holes, etc.). The Gerber format is the de-facto industry standard for printed circuit board image transfer.
There are two versions. RS-274X ("extended Gerber") is the most commonly used today. The previous version was a subset of EIA RS-274-D ("standard Gerber"); it is deprecated and is largely superseded by RS-274X.
The Gerber format was developed by and named after Gerber Systems Corp., a subsidiary of a company founded by Heinz Joseph “Joe” Gerber
Joseph Gerber
H. Joseph Gerber was the founder of the Gerber Scientific Instrument Company.Born in Austria in 1924, H. Joseph Gerber showed an early fascination with technology. By the age of eight, he was building radios and circuit breakers...
.
The format is now controlled and owned by Ucamco
Ucamco
Ucamco develops PCB CAM software and laser photoplotters.Through Barco's earlier acquisition of Gerber Systems Corporation, Ucamco has inherited the intellectual property and the management of the Gerber format widely used in the design and manufacturing printed circuit boards....
through its acquisition of Gerber Systems Corporation.
The RS-274X Gerber format, also known as extended Gerber or X-Gerber, is a 2D bi-level vector image description format.
