FlatCAM: Free and Open-Source PCB Cam

Why?

PCB milling, also know as mechanical etching, is the fastest, cleanest, high-performance and economical PCB prototyping process today.

What is this?

FlatCAM lets you take your designs to a CNC router. You can open Gerber, Excellon or G-code, edit it or create from scatch, and output G-Code. Isolation routing is one of many tasks that FlatCAM is perfect for. It's is open source, written in Python and runs smoothly on most platforms. Check out the features list.

News

• 10/18 - Sorry for the slow news... 8.4 is out! Tons of fixes.
• 02/21 - Large update to the manual.
• 02/13 - FlatCAM 8.2 released. Stability and minor upgrades.
• 01/02 - FlatCAM 8 is finally here. See all new features.
• 01/02 - The Issue Tracker is now public.

Learning FlatCAM

FlatCAM is nicely documented, including the manual and tutorials. See the following to get started:

Contribute!

Prototyping electronics is exciting and fun. And so is writing software like FlatCAM. Free software like FlatCAM expand the posibilities of the maker/hardware hacker immensely. You can be part of it! Share your interest in the Discussion Group to get started!

Some features...

Viewer

Visualize Gerbers, Drill files, and G-Code. Know exactly how your machine is going to make your PCB.

Isolation Routing

Create toolpaths to cut around your signal traces. Use multiple passes for wider gaps. Clear arbitrary areas of copper.

Double-Sided

Make double-sided PCBs quickly with a specialized built-in tool that allows you to invert your layers and create alignment guides.

Power Features

A TCL console provides the ultimate flexibility for users to automate and implement their own features.

Manual

Detailed documentation including in-depth coverage of features as well as quick-start tutorials.

Community

Many people are usign FlatCAM and are eager to help you with your project.

from Hacker News http://flatcam.org/