ExpressPCB Helper

7/3/2013

I use ExpressPCB for a lot of projects. In fact I'll be teaching a class on ExpressPCB at Microchip's 2013 Master's Conference in August. One thing I've wanted for a while is a way to import an image into ExpressPCB so I can put a logo on my boards. Well one of the members (ljbdeshler) of the ExpressPCB Yahoo group has released a free application that does this in a clever way.

It converts a 48 x 48 pixel bitmap image into line segments and then when you click inside your ExpressPCB board it runs a macro that draws the image like you were drawing it yourself with a mouse. The application is new and can be a little tricky to use at first but I was able to add a Great Cow Basic Cow Symbol to a Board.

You can size the image before drawing also and below are three sizes I made of the same bitmap file. After it's drawn you highlight the whole thing and then change the width of the line segments to fill in the image. I like the 1/2 size the best.

Below is the 1/2 size logo added to a CHIPINO board layout for a possible Great Cow Basic CHIPINO custom board. You can clearly see the logo in the center of the board and it's pretty clear its the Great Cow Basic Symbol.

I'm working on a better set of logos but I thought I would share this with my readers since this has many potential applications.

It will even draw components and traces based on a .dxf file. I haven't had any luck getting that to work yet but he has a clear example and Youtube video showing the features. The download is on a CNET site that wants install a bunch of crap on your PC so I've included a clean link here to the latest copy I downloaded.

Download ExPCB Helper Here

8 Comments

Mike Barnes

9/2/2015 07:47:57 am

ExPCB helper is perfect for what I am looking for.

I tried importing a bitmap with ExPCB ver 1.2 and ver 1.3 into ExpressPCB ver. 7.0.2 without luck.
It appears to open the options menu a second time before trying to draw, putting the cursor in the wrong location for drawing.

Any ideas?

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About Chuck

Chuck has been programming with PIC Microcontrollers since there were only five devices. Now there are over 700 and growing. He also has a lot of fun 3D printing designs using his Davinci 3D printer and TinkerCad software. In this series of blog posts and occasional videos on his YouTube Channel he tries to help you get started with electronics and 3D printing.

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