I'm considering using a PCB manufacturing house to make me some boards. Since you have to pay, I'm trying get my PCB designs correct but will unavoidably have to go through a learning process. My concern is that this process will be expensive as I design a board, send it off, see the mess that comes back and so on till I get it right.
In KiCAD the plot menu has about 10 options x several layers which equals a lot of combinations and perhaps cost. It also will take time as boards go back and forth to the manufacturer. If that manufacturer is in say China, that's even more time.
It would be very useful to have a reference file(s) that is formatted to industry norms. I've looked at some manufacturer's web sites ard they all seem short on helping newbies even though they are intended for hobbyists. They seem far from friendly and warming. The issue seems to be that one size fits all. KiCAD can produce a PC motherboard, and some of the PCB manufacturers can make one. I want a circuit that blinks a single LED with a DIP timer chip and a couple of mounting holes.
I would expect it to have correctly laid out tracks. Some mounting holes, perhaps logos /graphics on the board. Correct sized component holes. Just the basics really to cut my teeth on and save a lot of needless waste. We all have to learn to walk before we can run.
Do such reference files exist? Where is my "Hello World" PCB example?
Just to be crystal clear, I'm not asking for recommendations for cheap PCB manufacturers. I'm asking for reference layouts of how I should layout to industry standards whilst being a hobbyist.
Best Answer
I would say "Hello World" is more related to the usage of the EDA tool so that you can create boards according to tool's rules and processes which would validate properly in the tool and have correct Excellon and Gerber files as output. I use EAGLE, and it has several examples. As you have already chosen the tool, just search something like "KiCAD usage guide for newbies" over internet.
As to manufacturing standard, they are relatively simple, every manufacturer should have requirements listed on their websites. To name those coming to my mind:
In general, start with defaults if you do not have really special requirements - e.g. high power, high EMI requirement, high-frequency etc.
Respected manufacturers always check and validate manufacturing files before production, and return back to you for corrections and suggestions if they may have issues during producing. In general it is their business and making board which will not make well will harm their reputation heavily.
Competition on the PCB manufacturing market is really high (you can find dozen of such firms in China), thus I doubt you will have problems if you will choose one using word of mouth or positive feedback on the internet.