Question 1

What file formats does the viewer accept?

Accepted Answer

Gerber RS-274X and X2, Excellon drill files, ODB++ archives, and IPC-2581 XML. ZIP, RAR, 7z, and TAR(.GZ) archives are auto-extracted. Pick and place CSVs from KiCad, Altium, Eagle, JLCPCB, and generic exports are detected automatically when present in the archive.

Question 2

How does the thermal simulator work?

Accepted Answer

Place heat sources on the canvas as point, rectangle, or circle, set the power density, ambient temperature, and convection coefficient, and the solver computes the steady state temperature across every copper layer and dielectric. Vias are modelled as thermal conductance between layers. You can scrub through layer slices to see how heat moves through the stack.

Question 3

What does the impedance calculator compute?

Accepted Answer

Two things. The Stackup Editor gives a live Z0 readout for a configurable reference trace width on the actual stackup you build. The Impedance Probe runs a real electromagnetic simulation of any trace you click and reports its characteristic impedance. Microstrip, stripline, and differential pairs are detected automatically. Demo cases for microstrip, CPW, and stripline at 50, 75, and 100 ohms on FR-4 and Rogers are included for validation.

Question 4

What does the EMI tool do?

Accepted Answer

Click an aggressor trace and a victim trace on the canvas. The tool computes the coupled line characteristic impedance, even and odd mode impedance, near end and far end crosstalk over a frequency sweep, propagation delay, and a time domain eye diagram at the data rate you specify.

Question 5

What does the antenna analyzer report?

Accepted Answer

Pick the antenna trace, the feed point, and a ground reference. The tool returns S11 (with a Smith-chart-style plot), input impedance, radiation efficiency, directivity, and a 3D radiation pattern. The substrate dielectric constant is taken from the stackup.

Question 6

Which DRC rules are checked?

Accepted Answer

Minimum trace width, minimum clearance, minimum annular ring, edge clearance from the board outline, acid traps, slivers, and isolated copper. Each rule has its own toggle and threshold. Click any violation to zoom to it; the canvas isolates the affected layer automatically.

Question 7

Can I compare two versions of a Gerber?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Load a second archive in the Diff tool. Layers are auto-mapped, and four views are available: A only, B only, overlay (B tinted cyan over A), and XOR (red for removed, green for added). Per layer added and removed area is reported in mm squared. Alignment offsets and rotation are configurable for boards that don't share origin.

Question 8

Are my files uploaded to a server?

Accepted Answer

No. Everything runs locally in your browser. Your design files never leave your machine.

Online Gerber Viewer with Thermal, EMI and Impedance Simulation