Difference between revisions of "How to put a Logo on a PCB in Altium"

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===Preparing Your Image===
 
===Preparing Your Image===
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Coming Soon!
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The idea behind preparing your image is that whatever goes on the PCB can really only be a two-toned image (ie: black and white).  As a result, to get the best looking PCB image possible, you need to do a little image work up front to ensure that your image works with the import process.  You can use a number of image processing programs to do this work.  The instructions below are provided for GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) version 2.6.  GIMP is a cross-platfrom, free and open-source image manipulation program similar to Photoshop.  Visit the official [http://www.gimp.org GIMP Website] to learn more about it or download a copy.
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#Select your starting image.  The best starting images are 2D images with only solid colors (ie: no gradients).  For this example I'll use a fairly "ideal" image.  You can make others work, it just takes more hands-on detail work.  To begin with I've chosen this dashing picture of our beloved plumber/hero, Mario.<br />[[File:Mario1.png]]
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#Open GIMP and Open our Mario image using the File->Open dialog (or by hitting Ctrl+O).
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#Firstly, lets try to convert this image in one step.
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##Select Image->Mode->Indexed... from the menu bar.
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##Choose "Use black and white (1-bit) palette" radio button and click "Convert"
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#*This process essentially converts the image to gray-scale, puts a threshold somewhere and says "everything lighter will be White, everything darker will be Black".  In this case the image lost a lot of detail (not to mention there are a few blemishes represented by white dots in the black fields.  This doesn't look good so we're going to help the Converter make better decisions.<br />[[File:Mario2.png]]
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#To maintain contrast we'll lighten the areas we want to become white that previously got thresholded to black
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#Choose White (or any light color such as Yellow) for your foreground color
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#Select the Bucket Fill Tool (Shift+B)
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#Fill in areas, such as his Blue overalls, that you'd like to end up being White.
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#*Pay attention to, and use, the "Threshold" option under the Bucket Fill Tool Options.  I ended up using a Threshold of 125 for the Blue and Red areas and a Threshold of 50 for the Brown boots.
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#*I left his face and hair alone because it turned out the way I wanted to the 1st time.  You could fill these without any negative consequence.<br />[[File:Mario3.png]]
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#Now convert the image to 2-tone again
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##Select Image->Mode->Indexed... from the menu bar.
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##Choose "Use black and white (1-bit) palette" radio button and click "Convert"<br />[[File:Mario4.png]]
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#This looks much better but there are a few blemishes that we'd like to fix since the resulting logo will be, potentially, used many times.  Using GIMP's Pencil Tool we can fix any errant black or white dots.<br />[[File:Mario5.png]]
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##Select the Pencil Tool (N)
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##Choose a "Circle (01)" 1 pixel Brush from the Pencil Tool Options
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##Choose White (or Black) as the foreground color
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##Fix any areas you don't like<br />[[File:Mario6.png]]
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*That's it! We're now ready to move on to the next step to import our prepared image into Altium.
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===Importing the Image into Altium===
 
===Importing the Image into Altium===
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##Once the conversion has completed click the "Exit" button
 
##Once the conversion has completed click the "Exit" button
 
#Now you have a Logo built out of Top Overlay lines!  You can get it onto your chosen PCB via Copy/Paste or make it reusable by reading the next section.
 
#Now you have a Logo built out of Top Overlay lines!  You can get it onto your chosen PCB via Copy/Paste or make it reusable by reading the next section.
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===Making your Imported Image reusable===
 
===Making your Imported Image reusable===

Revision as of 09:24, 18 May 2016

This guide will explain how to take a Logo (or other simple image), that is in a digital format (BMP, JPG, PNG, etc), and turn it into a 2-tone Silk Screen Overlay in Altium Designer. The guide was created with AD10 but the process should be similar for other versions of Altium.

Assumptions

The Guide

Preparing Your Image

The idea behind preparing your image is that whatever goes on the PCB can really only be a two-toned image (ie: black and white). As a result, to get the best looking PCB image possible, you need to do a little image work up front to ensure that your image works with the import process. You can use a number of image processing programs to do this work. The instructions below are provided for GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) version 2.6. GIMP is a cross-platfrom, free and open-source image manipulation program similar to Photoshop. Visit the official GIMP Website to learn more about it or download a copy.

  1. Select your starting image. The best starting images are 2D images with only solid colors (ie: no gradients). For this example I'll use a fairly "ideal" image. You can make others work, it just takes more hands-on detail work. To begin with I've chosen this dashing picture of our beloved plumber/hero, Mario.
    Mario1.png
  2. Open GIMP and Open our Mario image using the File->Open dialog (or by hitting Ctrl+O).
  3. Firstly, lets try to convert this image in one step.
    1. Select Image->Mode->Indexed... from the menu bar.
    2. Choose "Use black and white (1-bit) palette" radio button and click "Convert"
    • This process essentially converts the image to gray-scale, puts a threshold somewhere and says "everything lighter will be White, everything darker will be Black". In this case the image lost a lot of detail (not to mention there are a few blemishes represented by white dots in the black fields. This doesn't look good so we're going to help the Converter make better decisions.
      Mario2.png
  4. To maintain contrast we'll lighten the areas we want to become white that previously got thresholded to black
  5. Choose White (or any light color such as Yellow) for your foreground color
  6. Select the Bucket Fill Tool (Shift+B)
  7. Fill in areas, such as his Blue overalls, that you'd like to end up being White.
    • Pay attention to, and use, the "Threshold" option under the Bucket Fill Tool Options. I ended up using a Threshold of 125 for the Blue and Red areas and a Threshold of 50 for the Brown boots.
    • I left his face and hair alone because it turned out the way I wanted to the 1st time. You could fill these without any negative consequence.
      Mario3.png
  8. Now convert the image to 2-tone again
    1. Select Image->Mode->Indexed... from the menu bar.
    2. Choose "Use black and white (1-bit) palette" radio button and click "Convert"
      Mario4.png
  9. This looks much better but there are a few blemishes that we'd like to fix since the resulting logo will be, potentially, used many times. Using GIMP's Pencil Tool we can fix any errant black or white dots.
    Mario5.png
    1. Select the Pencil Tool (N)
    2. Choose a "Circle (01)" 1 pixel Brush from the Pencil Tool Options
    3. Choose White (or Black) as the foreground color
    4. Fix any areas you don't like
      Mario6.png
  • That's it! We're now ready to move on to the next step to import our prepared image into Altium.


Importing the Image into Altium

  1. Download the Altium Example Scripts from here.
  2. Extract the Scripts folder to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Altium\AD 10\Examples\" (or whever your Altium Examples folder is located)
  3. Run the PCBLogoCreator
    1. If you're going to be using this script a lot, load the PCBLogoCreator.PRJSCR Script Project into your Altium Workspace. This can be done in 1 of 2 ways:
      • Navigate to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Altium\AD 10\Examples\Scripts\Delphiscript Scripts\PCB\PCB Logo Creator" and double click "PCBLogoCreator.PRJSCR".
      • Start Altium, select File->Open... and navigate to PCBLogoCreator.PRJSCR and click "Open".
    2. If you only want to use it sparingly you can do the following:
      1. Start Altium
      2. Click the "DXP" button in the upper left corner & select "Run Script..."
      3. Click "Browse" in the lower right and navigate to the PCBLogoCreator.PRJSCR file. Select it and click "Open".
  4. Now, regardless of which method you just chose to use do the following
    1. Click the "DXP" button in the upper left corner & select "Run Script..."
    2. Click "RunConverterScript" and hit "OK"
  5. Now a new PcbDoc should have opened and a "PCB Logo Creator" dialog box appeared.
    1. Click "Load" and select the .BMP file you prepared above.
    2. Select the "Board Layer" (I recommend Top Overlay for most purposes).
    3. Select the "Scaling Factor" (you're going to have to experiment with this but 1000 mils = 1 inch).
    4. Choose any check box options you want (typically you won't need any).
    5. Hit "Convert" & wait a bit.
    6. Once the conversion has completed click the "Exit" button
  6. Now you have a Logo built out of Top Overlay lines! You can get it onto your chosen PCB via Copy/Paste or make it reusable by reading the next section.


Making your Imported Image reusable

  1. At this point you should a .PcbDoc with a Top Overlay instance of your Logo
  2. Hit Ctrl-A (to highlight all objects on the .PcbDoc)
  3. Hit Ctrl-C (to copy everything to the clipboard)
  4. Click somewhere near the center of the logo
  5. Open up an existing (or create a new) .PcbLib
  6. Right click on the "Components" Pane under the "PCB Library" Tab
  7. Select "New Blank Component"
  8. Click in the main PCB window & hit Ctrl-V & click to paste everything into the Component
  9. Double click the "PCBComponent_1" in the "Components" Pane and give it a meaningful "Name" and "Description"
  10. Save the .PcbLib

References

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