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fig said:
Guess who now has Illustrator? Yep. No idea how to work it, but I feel the power rushing through my fingers in anticipation of mind-blowing enclosure graphics........someday.....now, what the heck does rasta have to do with images?
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Started using illustrator about 2 weeks ago. Took me a moment to get rolling but the tutorial from @jeffwhitfield was of great help to me started and to figure out the basics. https://forum.pedalpcb.com/threads/...enclosures-for-uv-printing.10590/#post-105783

I emailed Spencer @amplifyfun and he was very kind in answering all of my questions. He sent out templates which I found being a good working platform so you don't start from scratch. It already as a PedalPCB layers with all the center point position loaded. It's quickly became an essential tool.

The thing I found useful about using indesign is that there are 1000's of tutorials available for just any function or subject you may need.

Other tools I found useful:

- Vector pack from OnTheRoadEffects that contains all the pedal hardware you may need http://www.ontheroadeffects.com/vectorpack/ . There website is not functioning right now but @jeffwhitfield might be able to help you with this ... I would share my files but they are corrupted ... sorry. The hardware images help me figure out where to position my text and artwork and give you a good feel.

- @dmnCrawler site and posts were also very useful. https://www.pachydermpedals.com/tutorials/templates/ was also very useful. It seamed more oriented for Affinity Designer users but found a lot of useful tips. I use his knob surrounds designs on a couple of my creatives so far.

- This was next level stuff for me but @gheorge77 posted a tutorial a while ago on different tools in AI to convert images to vector.

I would be pleased to help you further if you decide to go down the Illustrator path. My skills and experience is still limited but I'm starting to understand the basic functions/tools and I've found workflow that works for me.
 
While I do like Adobe Illustrator, I keep wanting to go back to Affinity Designer. The reason is the cost. Adobe is just too damn expensive and, frankly, I don't use it enough to justify the cost. Affinity is a one-time cost and is waaaaaaaaayyyy cheaper. Went back to using it after confirming with Spencer at AmplifyFun that he can take Affinity files. Converted a few of my designs to Affinity and created a few new ones as well. Granted, there are a few things that are still easier to do in Illustrator. Still, considering the cost of Affinity, I think I might stick with it for a while. :D
 
jeffwhitfield said:
While I do like Adobe Illustrator, I keep wanting to go back to Affinity Designer. The reason is the cost. Adobe is just too damn expensive and, frankly, I don't use it enough to justify the cost. Affinity is a one-time cost and is waaaaaaaaayyyy cheaper. Went back to using it after confirming with Spencer at AmplifyFun that he can take Affinity files. Converted a few of my designs to Affinity and created a few new ones as well. Granted, there are a few things that are still easier to do in Illustrator. Still, considering the cost of Affinity, I think I might stick with it for a while. :D
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The learning curve seemed a bit steeper with Affinity in order to meet Tayda's requirements so I ante'd up at least until I'm familiar with the process as a whole. I'll be leaning heavily on everyone's write-ups and tutes. @SYLV9ST9R has been very patient with me. All I did was answer questions of preference. He did the rest. That could become a habit quickly :oops: and I would quickly become a nuisance.
 
fig said:
The learning curve seemed a bit steeper with Affinity in order to meet Tayda's requirements so I ante'd up at least until I'm familiar with the process as a whole. I'll be leaning heavily on everyone's write-ups and tutes. @SYLV9ST9R has been very patient with me. All I did was answer questions of preference. He did the rest. That could become a habit quickly :oops: and I would quickly become a nuisance.
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Yeah, but after working with AmplifyFun, I'm kinda jumping ship from Tayda for UV printing due to the hassle of the white layer. At that point, doesn't matter what you use to do your art as long as it's decent. :D
 
jeffwhitfield said:
Yeah, but after working with AmplifyFun, I'm kinda jumping ship from Tayda for UV printing due to the hassle of the white layer. At that point, doesn't matter what you use to do your art as long as it's decent. :D
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I would probably have done that too, but the shipping up North makes it prohibitive. @fig, I'll always be there to answer questions, but I'm pretty sure you're going to be up and running in quickly.
 
jeffwhitfield said:
Yeah, but after working with AmplifyFun, I'm kinda jumping ship from Tayda for UV printing due to the hassle of the white layer. At that point, doesn't matter what you use to do your art as long as it's decent. :D
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I'll have to check them out as well, thanks!
 
Diving into SMD has brought many gadgets into play. Test/burn-in sockets for breadboarding, Hot-air stations, infrared rework ovens, solder paste and microscopes, etc. The newest addition is dull as dishwater, but exciting as ice cream......brb.......okay, so passives are passé' and a little dab with the syringe on each pad and pow (at least where 0803/0605 are used). ICs are a bit different. Drag soldering works well, but sometimes leaves a few bridges to be burned.

I bought a couple of stencils to give a try. I'm sure all of you know how stencils work, but I'll show you anyway because I already took the pictures, so pay attention!

One SOP-28 SS stencil courtesy of Proto-Advantage and one SOP-28 CH341a.

ebewHlc.jpg


Fit's fine...just fine.

pkdNhtr.jpg


Now you just align it over the pads...secure with a bit of kapton and you're ready to smear.

HzsFPOI.jpg


Next up....a break...then...swab the deck me hearties.
 
fig said:
Diving into SMD has brought many gadgets into play. Test/burn-in sockets for breadboarding, Hot-air stations, infrared rework ovens, solder paste and microscopes, etc. The newest addition is dull as dishwater, but exciting as ice cream......brb.......okay, so passives are passé' and a little dab with the syringe on each pad and pow (at least where 0803/0605 are used). ICs are a bit different. Drag soldering works well, but sometimes leaves a few bridges to be burned.

I bought a couple of stencils to give a try. I'm sure all of you know how stencils work, but I'll show you anyway because I already took the pictures, so pay attention!

One SOP-28 SS stencil courtesy of Proto-Advantage and one SOP-28 CH341a.

ebewHlc.jpg


Fit's fine...just fine.

pkdNhtr.jpg


Now you just align it over the pads...secure with a bit of kapton and you're ready to smear.

HzsFPOI.jpg


Next up....a break...then...swab the deck me hearties.
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That is a serious hack, man. Makes soldering way too easy. :P
 
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Got me curious though. I wonder if there's a way to convert an SMD chip to a through-hole...something that can be inserted into a socket. :D
 
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jeffwhitfield said:
Got me curious though. I wonder if there's a way to convert an SMD chip to a through-hole...something that can be inserted into a socket. :D
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Check out the “related products” under this stencil. Maybe those would work?

I emailed them to see which stencil would be the likely one for SMDing an FV-1 and he said:
“The PA0011-S is the correct adapter match. Please note, our stencils are designed for our adapters, so may not be a perfect match for your PCB”.
 
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FIg's Bench is getting messy today!

Back to the baking show...the Chip Quik solder paste applied and the stencil removed. The right side is a wee low, but no worries. The pads will draw the solder to them.

fT12r1A.jpg



The chip just needs to be positio.....oops...wrong chip!

zLI2O7Z.jpg


Hot dog! Looks great. No cleaning was done to the board.

Xvurpfk.jpg
 
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