Gerber Compare in Altium 365

Note: This is an Open Beta feature, and we'd love to hear from our users on how it could be improved further and about any issues encountered.

How can you see the differences between two Gerber files?

1. Differences in a macro-level view

Changes are organized into groups with explicit identification on the screen that corresponds to areas of the board that were changed. Changes are displayed per layer.

A. Clicking on a group will display a compare view that highlights any differences between the two revisions. As you can see, each group has a number, which is the number of differences.

B. You can switch quickly between layers on the side panel (see Fig. 3 - Quick view of changes).

C. When you switch between different layers and revisions, the location and zoom settings are preserved.

2. Easy navigation between revisions

You can quickly switch between the old revision, the new revision (that features a full Gerber viewer), and the comparison screen, which shows the difference between the two Gerber files.

3. Quick view of layers that have changed

You don’t need to know which specific layer was modified beforehand—the software will check and display it on the screen with the number of changed areas.

All layers that are not modified appear in gray.

4. Color Coding of Changes

Gerber Compare has the ability to perform a graphical comparison; areas that have not been modified are gray. Red indicates the changes in the previous revision of the Gerber file.

5. Cross-probing capability

This feature also includes bi-directional cross-probing capability between the change on the side panel and the detail. Once you identify a specific change of interest, you can highlight relevant information about it.

6. Distance Measurement

The Distance Measurement tool reports the point-to-point distance, the X (horizontal) distance, and the Y (vertical) distance in both metric (mm) and imperial (mil) units. The Measurements panel provides quick access to these measurements. Its primary function is to help you compute the exact measurements to use in the PCB manufacturing process. 

How can you access Gerber Compare?

• The Releases tab in Altium 365: compare Gerber data between releases or against a locally generated file set.
• Project Releaser in Altium Designer: compare with previous releases as part of output preview steps.

How can you provide feedback?

Since the tool is in beta, your feedback is valuable to us. Feel free to share your ideas, comments, and suggestions about Gerber Compare through the following channels:

• Click the Feedback button located at the right-hand side of the view. A window will be presented with which to rate your experience (star rating), and then to elaborate, with the option to select an element of the interface to include with your feedback. Please supply your email address if you are willing to be contacted by Altium about your feedback.
• Through our forum: Altium 365 feature introduction: Gerber Compare (Beta).