PCBWay now offers designers the chance to print any color image on the PCB they design
Printed circuit boards are often overlooked by the very consumers they work so hard to serve, and that’s fine because they are not meant to stand out – in fact, they are usually hidden away inside the device somewhere. PCBs provide essential functionality to the device they are embedded into. Therefore, they tend to be whatever colors the PCB manufacturer offers.
And until now, the overwhelming majority of PCBs have been green in colour. That is because of the solder mask – almost every manufacturer uses the green standard solder mask.
The main reason is that green is thought to be be the most functional color: you can have white text on it and it will show up well, while still protecting the circuits underneath.
Blue is a reasonably popular color for solder masks, so is red, though much rarer than even blue. Other colors are also used, even black or white, but until now, not much has been considered about colors of solder masks – just the functionality.
Now, specialist printed circuit boards manufacturer PCBWay has decided to offer customers multi-colored printed circuit boards, and it’s probably the only PCB manufacturer to do so – we don’t know of any others anyway.
And it’s not just random different colors on the PCB: if you’re a PCB designer, you can ask PCBWay to print high-quality, full-color images onto your printed circuit board.
Check out the images and videos on this page to see how complex you can make your image. These images show a cartoon version of a young man working at a laptop computer (also shown above). The colors are many and varied, and rich in tone. The image is really vivid and pleasant to look at.
You don’t have to use an image that is similar on any printed circuit board you ask PCBWay to produce for you: your design can be completely different and use many or as few colors as you like.
Here’s a free image we took off one of our other websites – from the Geometry-Design.com shop, actually. (You can download any from the website, many of them are free.) It’s an abstract or geometric design, but yours doesn’t have to be.
Your image can actually be a company logo – either yours or client’s logo. Or anything else you like.
PCBWay explain why they are offering this unique service. “Nowadays, traditional PCB printing technology can no longer meet the aesthetic requirements of modern circuit board production,” the company says on its website.
“To better fulfill customers’ design needs, we are pleased to announce that PCBWay has introduced UV printing equipment.
“This equipment utilizes UV-curable inks to achieve high-quality image printing on various materials, including fiberglass boards, metal substrates, ceramic substrates, flexible boards, and rigid-flex boards.”
PCBWay goes on to describe in detail everything you need to know to get yourself the snazziest PCB possible.
Prerequisites for Ordering
Maximum size for a single piece: 270 x 470 mm.
Selection of background solder mask color required.
Design Specifications
Drill holes, traces, soldermasks, and outline designs must comply with specifications.
Avoid placing colored characters in areas with solder mask openings, such as surface-mount pads or through-hole pads.
What kind of files should be provided for color printing?
Much more detail can be found on PCBWay’s website, but here, we will give you the first method they describe.
Visit PCBWay.com for the full lowdown on how you can create an entirely original PCB design.
