Accessing and Using Adafruit PCB Design Files

published September 20, 2021, last edited August 20, 2024
last major update July 21, 2023

posted in Adafruit Products Tools Community Support Breakout Boards

Beginner

Project guide

Board Layers

When the board file first opens it may look like a mess. There are numerous layers used for the board definition, things like the copper, holes (drills), silkscreen (labels), etc. You can selectively turn these on/off to clean up the view.

To bring up the Layers dialog, click the layers icon in the upper left corner of the board layout window.

The Visible Layers dialog can be used to turn layers on/off.

To turn on/off an individual layer, left click with mouse button in the eyeball column. If the eyeball is shown, the layer is visible.

Multiple layers can be selected by dragging with left mouse button, using <CTRL>+left button, and/or <SHIFT>+left button.

Then use the Show Layers and Hide Layers buttons to turn on/off all selected layers.

Layers Explained

Here are several sources of information that explain what each layer is.

An Introduction to Layers in Eagle

Every Layer in Autodesk EAGLE and What You Need to Know About Them

Eagle Layers Explained

Custom Art Silk Screen Layers

These layers typically end up being something other than the standard tPlace and bPlace layers. Scroll down and look in the 200 range for layers with names like 200bmp.

Page last edited March 08, 2024