Centroid

The centroid, or pick-and-place file, tells us where every part goes: an X and Y position on the board, a rotation and a side, per designator. Together with the PCB data and the Bill of Materials it is one of the three things we build your PCBA from. We use it for SMT placement, by machine and by hand, and for the THT parts. There is no DeltaProto format for the centroid. Send the export of your CAD tool as it comes. Matching the columns and converting the units is our job, not yours.

Example

Click a column header to read what the column is for.

The example uses one of the many column names our import knows. The export of your own CAD tool is just as good.

Any export works

Export the pick-and-place file from your CAD tool as it comes. We know the exports of Altium, KiCad, Eagle, Ultiboard and FAB 3000 by their layout. Any other CSV, TXT or Excel export works too, from Allegro, Mentor, OrCAD, EasyEDA, JLCPCB or anything else, as long as the header row names the designator and the X and Y columns. We match the columns ourselves. If you want to know exactly what we read, see the column details.

Centroid from ODB++

An ODB++ archive is a good choice for the placements. It is a fixed format, so there are no column names, units or decimal separators to guess. We read the designator, position, rotation, side, package and even the outline of each part straight from the archive, in millimetres. What ODB++ does and does not contain for the BOM is on the Bill of Materials page.

A broken CSV still goes in

Something we see regularly: a CAD tool writes a comma inside a value without putting quotes around it, which a CSV file needs. A European decimal such as 1,5 mm, a thousands separator in a part number such as 16,000 MHz, or a comma in a description then splits one field in two, and every column after it moves one place to the right. An inch mark inside a quoted value, such as 10" AU, does the opposite and swallows the rows below it. We know these mistakes, so our import checks the structure of every delimited file before it reads it. It reports the affected rows and repairs them when there is only one sensible fix. Your file still goes in, and you do not have to edit it by hand.

Before you upload

One row per placement, with the designator exactly as it is in the BOM. X and Y are the centre of the part, not pin 1. Altium's Ref X and Pad X columns are ignored on purpose. Millimetres are the unit we work in. Mil and inch exports are converted when the file says which unit it uses. A decimal comma is fine. Include the side column unless the board is single-sided, and a rotation column in degrees. Test points, fiducials and mounting holes may be in the centroid without being in the BOM. We expect that.

From files to first sample

Do you have your three files? Fill out the calculator for a price in seconds and upload them. We analyse your data and send you our offer. After you order we build one sample first, so you can test it before we make the rest.