Shapes¶

Shapes are the building blocks of PCBmodE. Here’s an example of how a definition of a path type looks like:

{
  "type": "path",
  "layers": ["top, "bottom"],
  "location": [3.1, -5.667],
  "style": "stroke-width:1.2;",
  "d": "m -48.3,0 0,-5.75 c 0,-1.104569 0.895431,-2 2,-2 0,0 11.530272,-0.555504 17.300001,-0.5644445 10.235557,-0.015861 20.4577816,0.925558 30.6933324,0.9062128 C 10.767237,-7.4253814 19.826085,-8.3105055 28.900004,-8.3144445 34.703053,-8.3169636 46.3,-7.75 46.3,-7.75 c 1.103988,0.035813 2,0.895431 2,2 l 0,5.75 0,5.75 c 0,1.104569 -0.895431,2 -2,2 0,0 -11.596947,0.5669636 -17.399996,0.5644445 C 19.826085,8.3105055 10.767237,7.4253814 1.6933334,7.4082317 -8.5422174,7.3888865 -18.764442,8.3303051 -28.999999,8.3144445 -34.769728,8.305504 -46.3,7.75 -46.3,7.75 c -1.103982,-0.036019 -2,-0.895431 -2,-2 l 0,-5.75"
}

This will place the SVG path defined in d shown as stroke with width 1.2 mm at location [3.1,5.667]. The shape will be placed on the top and bottom layers of the PCB.

Shape properties¶

Fills and strokes¶

By default PCBmodE assumes that a shape is a ‘fill’ without a ‘stroke’. If the shape you want to place is a ‘fill’ there’s no need to tell PCBmodE that. But if you’d like to place a ‘stroked’ shape, then you need to add:

"style": "stroke-width:<width>;"

just like adding a CSS property. PCBmodE will only pay attention to stroke-width in the style property; all the others will be discarded when the SVG is extracted.

Buffer to pour¶

buffer-to-pour defines the distance from the edge of the filled or stroked shape to a pour. This overrides global settings defined in the board’s JSON, or PCBmodE’s defaults if those are not defined locally.

Location¶

Location is defined as an x, y coordinate

"location": [<x>m <y>]

The location definition is relative to the hierarchy. So if you’re defining a pad, the location is relative to the footprint’s center.

Default: [0,0].

Layers¶

A list of which layers to put the shape in

"layers": ["top", "bottom"]

Even if the shape is placed in a single layer, it needs to be defined as a list

"layers": ["bottom"]

Default: ["top"].

Rotation¶

Default: 0.

Scale¶

Default: 1.

Shape types¶

You must define a shape type with each shape definition.

Rectangle¶

{
  "type": "rect",
  "width": 1.7,
  "height": 1.7,
  "radii": {"tl": 0,
            "tr": 0.3,
            "bl": 0.3,
            "br": 0.3}
}

type: rect: place a rectangle
width: int/float: width of the rectangle
height: int/float: height of the rectangle
radii (optional): dict: radius of round corners tl: top left radius, tr: top right radius, bl: bottom left radius, br: bottom right radius,

Circle¶

{
  "type": "circle",
  "diameter": 1.7,
}

type: circle: place a circle
diameter: float: diameter of circle

Path¶

{
  "type": "path",
  "d": "m -48.3,0 0,-5.75 c 0,-1.104569 0.895431,-2 2,-2 0,0 11.530272,-0.555504 17.300001,-0.5644445 10.235557,-0.015861 20.4577816,0.925558 30.6933324,0.9062128 C 10.767237,-7.4253814 19.826085,-8.3105055 28.900004,-8.3144445 34.703053,-8.3169636 46.3,-7.75 46.3,-7.75 c 1.103988,0.035813 2,0.895431 2,2 l 0,5.75 0,5.75 c 0,1.104569 -0.895431,2 -2,2 0,0 -11.596947,0.5669636 -17.399996,0.5644445 C 19.826085,8.3105055 10.767237,7.4253814 1.6933334,7.4082317 -8.5422174,7.3888865 -18.764442,8.3303051 -28.999999,8.3144445 -34.769728,8.305504 -46.3,7.75 -46.3,7.75 c -1.103982,-0.036019 -2,-0.895431 -2,-2 l 0,-5.75"
}

type: path: place an SVG path
d: path: in SVG this is the d property of a <path>

Text¶

Covered in Text.