Homebrew PCBs

Hi!
 
Does anyone know of a Freeeware or cheap PDF editor that I can use
to flip the file contents to convert the image to Mirror image.
My prnter driver does not have the ability to print in mirror image.
 
73
mike

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Try pdfsam, pdf editor, or open office. Or Just google Open Sourc e PDF Editor.

-- 
If you ask me if it can be done. The answer is YES, it can always be
done. The correct questions however are... What will it cost, and how
long will it take?

On Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:21:37 -0800 (PST), you wrote:

>Hi!
> 
>Does anyone know of a Freeeware or cheap PDF editor that I can use
>to flip the file contents to convert the image to Mirror image.
>My prnter driver does not have the ability to print in mirror image.
> 
>73
>mike
>
>[
Get CutePDF; it's free. Installs as a virtual printer.

When you are ready to print, select CutePDF as the printer.
Select printer properties => Advanced => PostScript => Mirror Output Yes

Keith Bowers WB4LSJ- Thomasville, NC

Hi Mike,

I suggest using the Inkscape vector graphics program.  It is
open-source, runs on Windows, Linux, Mac etc.

  http://inkscape.org

I have also used a commercial vector graphics program - an old version
of Adobe Illustrator which I bought years ago.

PDF files vary considerably and it is possible that one or both of these
programs may not do exactly what you want - in that there may be errors.

If you have any trouble with a PDF editor producing not-quite-right
results, an alternative approach may be to render the PDF to a bit-map -
which itself might introduce errors.  For instance the similarly open
source Gimp bitmap graphics program can open a PDF and convert it to bitmap:

  http://www.gimp.org

From this you can easily rotate, flip, copy and paste etc. without any
errors.  I think there are also various free (beer, not source) and
shareware Windows programs which will convert PDFs to TIFF (bitmap).

I can't remember now which of these I used.  However, I had a situation
with my Proteus ARES PCB software:

  http://www.labcenter.com

where I wanted multiple (tiled) copies of a small single-sided PCB image
with small dots for the hole centres to help with drilling.  If I used
its inbuilt Gerber editor to do this, the dots would disappear.  I
recall using the draft mode to get the dots.

The answer was to export a single copy of the board as a PDF and use one
of the above programs to replicate it so the laser-printed phototool had
12 copies.

  - Robin     http://www.firstpr.com.au/pcb-diy/

On 2013-01-16 12:21 PM, michael tenore wrote:
> Hi!
>  
> Does anyone know of a Freeeware or cheap PDF editor that I can use
> to flip the file contents to convert the image to Mirror image.
> My prnter driver does not have the ability to print in mirror image.
>  
> 73
> mike

PDF viewers and print-to-PDF printer drivers for Windows.


Hi Keith,

Thanks for pointing out:

  http://www.cutepdf.com

I have been using the free (as in free beer, not free open-source)
Bullzip PDF Windows printer driver which produces good PDFs from any
application:

  http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php

I tend not to use Adobe Reader for reading PDFs.  It is a regular source
of security problems, by which browser getting a PDF file from a website
and handing it straight to Adobe Reader (which typically displays it
within the browser window).  A properly crafted PDF can exploit security
vulnerabilities (I understand these are numerous and new ones are found
and exploited very often) in Adobe Reader to gain control of the
computer.  I also find Adobe Reader is very slow to open the print
dialogue (Windows XP, with a bunch of printers) and that for some files,
at least with the Brother laser printers here, after a certain page all
the characters will be garbled to other characters.

A well known alternative is:

  http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/

which I used for a while and still have installed, along with a
regularly updated copy of Adobe Reader.

For web browsing and for opening PDFs from the Windows file manager, I
use the free open source Sumatra PDF, for Windows:

  http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/free-pdf-reader.html

It opens files from the browser in its own window, not in the browser,
which can be a best if I want to know the URL of the PDF - but that can
be found in the browser's history.  Its print capabilities are not as
sophisticated as those of Foxit or Adobe Reader, but it has easy
commands to open the PDF file in those readers.  For instance, Adobe
Reader and I guess Foxit can be used to fill in PDF forms, which Sumatra
PDF can't.  Sumatra PDF's author Krzysztof Kowalczyk responds rapidly to
bug reports via the Bug Tracker system.  He makes his very latest
version immediately available - and he can update the program several
times a day.

There's no way of knowing how secure Sumatra PDF is, and it is possible
that hackers could find and exploit problems better because they have
the source code.  However, it is less used and therefore I guess less
likely to be exploited by attackers.  This is merely "security through
obscurity", but it is perhaps some advantage in what I think is a
globally persistent and disastrous situation with Internet-connected
computer insecurity:

  http://mailman.anu.edu.au/pipermail/link/2013-January/099126.html

  - Robin     http://www.firstpr.com.au/pcb-diy/

If you use Eagle you can Mirror in the print section

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 15, 2013, at 5:21 PM, michael tenore <wb2lcw@...> wrote:

> Hi!
>  
> Does anyone know of a Freeeware or cheap PDF editor that I can use
> to flip the file contents to convert the image to Mirror image.
> My prnter driver does not have the ability to print in mirror image.
>  
> 73
> mike
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

If you have a gerber file then translating to bmp file or something else, then you might want to consider using a product called ViewMate.

I like it. I can view gerber files, drill files, make some edits.. And it can tile your design, mirror, rotate, create negative image...

Do a search for ViewMate. If you are cheap, get their free version.

Smilingcat

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, michael tenore  wrote:

>
> Hi!
>  
> Does anyone know of a Freeeware or cheap PDF editor that I can use
> to flip the file contents to convert the image to Mirror image.
> My prnter driver does not have the ability to print in mirror image.
>  
> 73
> mike
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

I had to do this just the other day. I used GIMP to flip the image and then print it.

GIMP is free and I already had it installed. 

Neither Foxit, Sumatra or Adobe Reader would let me print mirrored.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, michael tenore  wrote:

>
> Hi!
>  
> Does anyone know of a Freeeware or cheap PDF editor that I can use
> to flip the file contents to convert the image to Mirror image.
> My prnter driver does not have the ability to print in mirror image.
>  
> 73
> mike
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>