Quilter gives you the ability to generate layouts that utilize stack-ups and fabrication rules sourced directly from fabricators.
A fabricator profile contains information about the stack-ups and fabrication rules that a PCB manufacturer supports and that Quilter will use when exploring layouts intended for that fabricator.
Fabricator profiles consist of:
Stack-ups, which define the physical parameters of your board, such as layer count, copper weight, and key material properties impacting physics calculations.
Fabrication rules, which determine the geometric limitations of the particular fabrication service that the fabricator will use to manufacture your layout. Examples include minimum copper trace width and clearances.
Each candidate that Quilter explores references a stack-up and fabrication rule set supported by the fabricator, as defined by the fabrication profile. We refer to this intersection of stack-up and fabrication rulesets as a "compile target."
Explore the links below to learn more about Quilter's pre-supported Fabricator Profiles:
American Standard Circuits (ASC) – Coming soon
Stack-up FAQs
What are stack-ups?
What are stack-ups?
Stack-ups refer to the arrangement of layers comprising a printed circuit board (PCB). These layers include:
Signal layers
Ground planes
Power planes
Dielectric layers
Prepreg layers
Fabricators can support a combination of standard and custom PCB stack-ups, utilizing different materials that optimize for the specific performance and fabrication requirements of the board you are building.
Quilter works closely with these fabricators to define and utilize a range of standard stack-ups when generating its PCBs.
How does Quilter choose stack-ups?
How does Quilter choose stack-ups?
Each design that Quilter creates specifies a particular stack-up and related material properties to explore different routing options and perform the necessary physics calculations for proper impedance-controlled signals.
Quilter's standard stack-ups are pre-defined in collaboration with our preferred fabrication partners, including OshPark, JLCPCB, MacroFab, and more. Each stack-up also has a corresponding set of compatible fabrication rules to ensure that each design we produce can be manufactured by the chosen fabrication partner.
Can I use my custom stack-up?
Can I use my custom stack-up?
Right now, Quilter doesn't support custom stack-ups, but we're working on adding this feature soon. If you or your team plans to use Quilter for work, please let us know so we can add your custom stack-up to our repository in the meantime.
Can I tell Quilter which copper layers should be used for ground, signal, or power?
Can I tell Quilter which copper layers should be used for ground, signal, or power?
Not right now. We also intend to support this through our custom stack-ups initiative.
What if I want to build my design with another fabricator?
What if I want to build my design with another fabricator?
Unless you've specified impedance control constraints, the design Quilter generates for you should be compatible with any fabricator that supports the layer count and design rules you've specified.
That being said, our stack-up profiles were chosen because they're widely used. If you have impedance control constraints, you can probably find a similar stack-up at your preferred fabricator.
Fabrication Rules FAQs
What are fabrication rules?
What are fabrication rules?
Fabrication rules are a set of geometric requirements that are applied to candidates to ensure that the candidates that Quilter generates are manufacturable and electrically complete.
Quilter packages the following set of fabrication rules in design rule "profiles" that are utilized to explore the viability and performance of various layout candidates:
Minimum trace width
Minimum trace clearance
Minimum drill hole size
Minimum annular ring size
Minimum edge-to-copper clearance
How does Quilter use fabrication rules?
How does Quilter use fabrication rules?
Quilter uses design rules in two important ways:
1/ To explore the possibility space for your design
When Quilter starts a layout job, it commissions a range of candidates by starting Quilter offers a range of stack-ups from various fabricators, along with a variety of minimum design profiles. These profiles span from very aggressive (with trace widths as small as 3 mil) to more conservative (with trace widths as large as 10 mil).
This allows Quilter to determine the design rule set that strikes the best balance between completeness, manufacturability, and performance for your specific design.
During the candidate review process, we automatically recommend complete candidates that pass all physics rule checks (PRCs) using the most conservative design rules for selection.
2/ To ensure that candidates are free of design issues
Quilter defines design rules that meet the minimum fabrication specs for each of our fabricator partners. This ensures that every candidate we generate can be successfully manufactured by that partner.
Quilter's DRC engine performs design rule checks throughout the candidate generation process. We also run a final ECAD-native DRC check on each complete candidate before delivering it to the Candidate Reviewer for final selection.
How does Quilter decide which fabrication rules to use?
How does Quilter decide which fabrication rules to use?
Quilter's design rules have been defined in partnership with top fabricators and can be bucketed into a few different groups:
"Minimum" design rule profiles
These design rule profiles are based on our partners' minimum fabrication capabilities. They are typically available only with boards that have larger layer counts and usually involve higher costs and longer lead times.
Example: Oshpark (5 mil traces), JLCPCB (3.5 mil traces), MacroFab (3 mil traces)
"Standard" design rule profiles
These design rule profiles are based on minimum fabrication capabilities for "standard"-level services. They are more conservative and typically support lower-cost, quick-turn fabrication services and boards with fewer layers.
Example: Oshpark (6 mil traces), JLCPCB (5 mil traces), MacroFab (5 mil traces)
"Common" design rule profiles
For most designs, you should avoid designing to minimum requirements. These design rules are fully supported by all our fabrication partners. Quilter will always recommend candidates with the most conservative design rules that are also 100% complete and contain 0 DRC or PRC (physics rule check) violations.
Example: 8 and 10 mil trace widths/clearances
Can I choose which fabrication rules Quilter uses to generate my layouts?
Can I choose which fabrication rules Quilter uses to generate my layouts?
Although you can't stop Quilter from considering candidates with specific stack-ups or design rule profiles right now, you can easily use the global candidate filters at the top of the Candidate Review page to find candidates that use your preferred design rules.
Can I define or upload custom design rulesets?
Can I define or upload custom design rulesets?
Not right now, but we're planning to add this feature to the product soon. For now, just send us a note through the chat box at the bottom right of our site, and we'll do our best to get it added to the app for you.