Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1401769
90 PCB007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2021 It serves as a debugging tool for the develop- ers of Gerber Job data, but more importantly, it allows users to exchange this information in a standardized manner even if your CAD system does not carry this data. e Gerber Job Editor is freely download- able. You define your job parameters with a nice interface, and this can then help you fab- ricate your job. Or, if the fabricator does not want to use the Gerber Job Editor, he can just look at the JSON file and he can read what's there. Unless he was Chinese, until now. Be- cause we had forgotten that China is the most important country in the world for PCBs. So it's all been in English until now. We received many requests from Chinese users, asking if we could provide a Mandarin interface. Of course, the data remains in English, because it's standardized work, but the interface is in Mandarin. Shaughnessy: So a Mandarin-speaker will at least know what's in the file package. Tavernier: Yes. e internal file data informa- tion remains in English. But the user interface can now be in Mandarin. Also, customer com- mands can be in Mandarin. People can add custom notes, as there are always things that are outside whatever standard we define. You can type it in any language. e Mandarin fea- ture was released just a week or so ago. Shaughnessy: e data itself stays in English, and I guess most of the manufacturers around the world have some facility with English if they're handling an international order. But this sort of facilitates it, right? Tavernier: Yes. If it's a Gerber Job File, then they can open the Gerber Job Editor and it will be in Mandarin. at helps because the people handling this data are also not necessarily the CAM operator. Shaughnessy: e files might be opened by an assistant, or an intern from a university. Tavernier: Yes. at's right. Actually, the Job Editor will probably be used first on the low-end boards, because for the high-end boards, those OEMs have money to waste on inefficient data handoff from design to fabrica- tion, but if you're selling a board for $5, how much money can you really spend on data in- put? Shaughnessy: Does the Job Editor handle any other languages? Tavernier: Yes—English, German, Japanese and Korean, and Mandarin. ese are all the im- portant languages for PCBs. Shaughnessy: Do you have any idea how many or what percentage of manufacturers in China are using Gerber? Tavernier: ey all use Gerber. Most manufac- turers only use Gerber. I know they sometimes Karel Tavernier