Essential Guidelines for Designing Clear PCB Legend Texts

Feb 25,2020

PCB silkscreen or PCB legend text is an important part of PCB manufacturing or assembly. These texts are included with the sole purpose of information exchange. The PCB legend text printing is performed under certain guidelines, which were discussed in detail in the previous post. This post focuses on a few design guidelines to be adhered to.

Important Factors to Consider When Designing Readable Legend Texts for a PCB

Silkscreen printing involves various small steps, which must be accurately followed to derive the desired results. It doesn’t matter, whether you are creating a legend text from the scratch or editing the existing text, here are a few key points that you must pay attention to:

• Maintain the same orientation for texts throughout the board. For instance, if you are considering a text for reference designator, brand information, part type or part number or any other information, ensure that they have the same orientation. It is always recommended to set the text from top to bottom. This makes an easy reading experience for a user.

• Overlapping texts is one of the common problems faced by PCB manufacturers. When the PCB design layout is designed, the component is moved or rotated on the layout. Reference designator codes of the components also rotate or move with them as they are associated with the components. In such cases, editing the legend text becomes important. So, it is always recommended to check and move the component reference designator to the correct position.

• Legend printing can be performed on both sides; however, it is always recommended to limit it to one side. This will help you cut down your printing costs by at least half.

• Use standard colors and shapes for marking. This makes legend text printing inexpensive as well as readable.

• Measure spaces to accommodate common printing errors. Perhaps, a few mils space is enough as this will help reduce the possibility of errors.

• Do not place the silkscreen text on all four directions. This will lead to confusions when the PCB is undergoing repair.

• The legend text must be placed such that they do not overlap the vias; else, the texts will fail to serve the purpose.

• Avoid placing the silkscreen text on a high speed signal track because this will lead to dielectric losses, which will further affect the impedance value.

Every PCB manufacturer follows a unique style and pattern when it comes to legend text printing. However, you need to check with them before sharing Gerber files and other design files. Creative Hi-Tech is one of the leading manufacturers of printed circuit boards in the US. The company provides printed circuit boards to aerospace and satellite, industrial electronics, computer and business electronics, and various industries. The experts at the company possess an extensive experience in PCB manufacturing and assembly. The silkscreen printing can be customized to meet your application requirements.

Related Blog Post :

• A Focus on Important Guidelines for PCB Legend Text Printing