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Compare FAB 3000 vs PCB Preflight Free Viewer
Compare the full CAM feature sets across our software products with comprehensive side-by-side specifications.
Feature Comparison
See which features are available in each product
*FAB 3000 includes everything in PCB Preflight and more!
General:
User Friendly & Intuitive Gerber Viewing environment.
Open and View Workspace files (*.wrk)
Save Workspace files (*.wrk)
Print to Printer
Print to PDF
Generate Realistic Photo Preview
NEWSupports: Rigid, Flex, and Rigid-Flex PCBs
64-bit Architecture (Windows / Linux)
PCB Sales/RFQ Tools
NEWModify all Objects Properties & Attributes
NEWInteractive PCB Stackup Viewer
Import:
Gerber, NC Drill, Rout, HPGL, ODB++, IPC-2581
Import CAD and CAM aperture lists
Import ODB++ and IPC-2581 Components
DXF / DWG (Best importer available)
DXF / DWG Advanced Options (Join, De-Embed, Merge, and more).
Part Centroid File
BOM File
Netlist (IPC-D-356 / IPC-D-356A)
Image (Bitmap, Tiff, PNG, Jpeg)
Matrix File (*.fm6)
Postscript / PDF
High Resolution Bitmap
Footprint Library
3D STEP File
3D STL File
GDS-II (Stream)
Export:
Gerber (RS-274D, RS-274X, Fire9000)
HPGL
NC Drill
DXF / DWG
ODB++
IPC-2581
NC Rout/Mill
GDS-II (Stream)
High Resolution Bitmap (output over 2GB)
X/Y Part Centroid File (used for various pick & place machines)
BOM File
Postscript
Footprint Library
3D STEP (for Enclosures, Documentation, Analysis)
3D STL
GDS-II (Stream)
Design Rule Check (DFM / DRC):
Minimum Checks: Pad Size, Trace Width, SMT Pad Width, Annular Ring, and more.
Minimum Clearances: Copper to Board Edge, Outer Layers, Inner Layers, Track-Track, Track-Pad, Pad-Pad, Drill-Copper.
Drill Checks: Minimum Size, Double Hits, Pads without drills, Plated Drill without Pads, Touching Drill Hits. Minimum Clearance: Plated drill to copper, Unplated Drill to copper, Drill hole spacing.
Silkscreen Checks: Silkscreen over Mask
Mask Checks: Find Undersize and Missing Mask Clearances.
Plane Checks: Minimum Annular ring, Minimum Clearance, Minimum Width
Advanced Signal Checks: Same Net Clearance, Hole Registration, Find Redundant Pads, Find Unconnected Lines, Features Connection, Verify Text features, Find Acid Traps, Find Nonfunctional Pads, Find Net Discrepancy, Find Antennas, Copper Sliver Check.
Advanced Drill Checks: Find Drill-Plane Shorts
Advanced Silkscreen Checks: Find Silkscreen over Copper Text, Silkscreen clearance to board edge. Minimum Clearance: Sikscreen-Copper, Silkscreen-Drill, Silkscreen-Rout, Silkscreen Line-Line, Silkscreen Line-Pad, Silkscreen Pad-Pad.
Advanced Mask Checks: Find Mask Slivers, Find Solder Bridges, Detect Partial Clearances. Minimum Clearance: Mask-Rout, Draw-Draw, Draw-Pad, Pad-Pad.
Advanced Plane Checks: Minimum Thermal Airgap, Minimum Thermal Spoke Width, Minimum Plane-Rout Clearance, Find Starved Thermals, Find Power-Ground Shorts, Find Negative Plane Thermal Conflicts, Find Drill-Plane Registration Issues.
Assembly/Part Checks: Minimum Clearance between Components, Minimum Component Height, Find Overlapping Components, Find Invalid Ref Des, Find Invalid Component Rotation, Detect Footprint Pad Registration.
SMT Stencil Checks: Minimum SMT Stencil Pad: Width, Annular Rings, Aspect Ratios, Area Ratios, Volume. Minimum Clearances: SMT Pad to board edge, SMT Pad to SMT Pad, and more.
Browse and pinpoint each DFM/DRC violations.
Generate DFM Report (as PDF, CSV, Text, and Microsoft Excel).
Manage Multiple DFM Checks simultaneously.
Editing / Modification:
Unlimited Undo / Redo
Edit (Move, Copy, Rotate, Delete, Flip, Scale, Explode, Array, Stretch, Split, Attributes, Vertex, Trim, Boolean, and more).
Edit Layers (Alignment, Merge, Delete, Add, and more).
Add (Flash, Trace, Polygon, Wide Path, Rectangle, Arc, Circle, Text)
Add (Text & Multi-Line Text)
Add (Dimensions)
Composite Layer Editing (Build, Flatten, & Separate)
Convert Draw to Flash (Interactive)
Convert Selected Objects to Custom Aperture
Convert Selected Objects to New Job
Edit/Modify existing Custom Apertures
Film Wizard (Optimize & combines layers for film output)
DeEmbed (Detect Islands & Holes)
Chamfer
Fillet
Boolean Operations (OR, AND, XOR, Subtract)
Edit In Place (Individually edit Inserts in place)
Find Components
Convert Draw to Flash (Selective & Automatic)
Fabrication Tools:
Copper Area Calculation
Silkscreen Optimizer
Copper Pour
Etch Compensation
Pin Hole Elimination
Remove Pads (Isolated/Stacked)
Redundant Line Removal
Teardrop Creation
Grow / Shrink (Enlarge or Reduce Objects)
Remove Covered Data
Generate Paste Layer
Create Drill Layer (PTH)
Convert Gerber Layer to Drill
PCB Panelization (Fiducials, Tooling Holes, Venting, Labels, Coupons, and more).
NEWSwap/Flip PCB Layers (used in Panelization)
Panel Wizard (Create both Fixed Size and Optimized panels)
Netlist:
Netlist Extraction (handles Blind/Buried Vias & Split Planes)
Netlist Report (as PDF, CSV, Text, and Microsoft Excel).
Query Nets
Measure Net to Net
View External Nets
Apply External Nets Names
Netlist Comparison
Edit Nets
Netlist Table
Find Net Shorts
Advanced SMT Stencil Tools:
Homebase Pad Conversion
C-Pad Conversion
Split Pads
Scale Pads
Pad Pitch Adjustment
Heel and Toe Edits
Add Epoxy Bars
Bow tie Pads
NC Editor:
Full-Featured NC Drill & Rout Editor
Add Drill: Hole, Slot (G85), Circle (G84), Text Horizontal (M97), Text Vertical (M97).
Add Rout: Path, Slot, Circle Clockwise (G32), Circle Counter-Clockwise (G33).
Add Rout Tab(s)
Change Rout Path Direction
Convert NC Layer to Gerber
Convert Gerber to NC Layer
Assembly/Components:
Add Components
Insert Components
Footprint Detection Wizard
Silkscreen Detection Wizard
Assembly Analysis
Centroid Table Modification
BOM Table Modification
Generate and export Part Centroid File
Generate and export BOM (Bill of Materials) File
Footprint Browser (View & Organize all footprints)
Utilities:
Physical Comparison between Layers
Graphical Comparison between Layers
Layer Scale X/Y (Scale layers using separate X and Y values)
Physical Comparison between Jobs
Graphical Comparison between Jobs
Polygon Conversion (Convert overlapping objects to a single polygon)
Join Wizard (Close & fill open boundaries)
Custom Applications:
Create, Load, and Run Lua Scripts & Binary Applications
Debug Apps
Built-In App Editor (Edit & run while inside FAB 3000)
Buy, Sell, and Write Custom Lua Apps for FAB 3000
3D Environment:
Create Physical 3D Layer Stackup with Z-Base and Thickness.
Flatten 3D Solids to 2D Geometries (polygons & flashes)
Generate 3D representations of Components with Heights (allow Mechanical CAD to verify PCB with board & component heights).
Remove Vias from Metal Areas.
Create separate 3D assemblies for Drill and Dielectrics.
Ready to upgrade to FAB 3000?
Experience the full power of professional PCB CAM software with advanced editing, DFM checks, panelization, and manufacturing output creation.