Adding Soldermask to a PCB Layout

In PCB design, soldermask is a thin polymer layer that is applied to the top and bottom of
boards and helps to prevent any unwanted connections between closely spaced pads or traces.
This tutorial will show you how to add soldermask to your board. This tutorial assumes that you
have already created the art files for the TOP, BOTTOM, and OUTLINE. If not, please refer to the
tutorial called Exporting Gerber files from Cadence on the Embedded Systems Design
Resources blog.

Figure 1: Manufacture > Artwork.

After you have completed designing your PCB layout in PCB Editor, open the Artwork Control
Form dialog box by going to Manufacture on the main toolbar and selecting Artwork, as shown
in figure 1.
 Figure 2: Artwork Control Form dialog box.

The Artwork Control Form dialog box will open up, as shown in figure 2.
 Figure 3: Add manual.

Right click any of the folders in the Available films section and select Add Manual, as shown in
figure 3.

Figure 4: Naming the new file.

Name the new file SoldermaskTop (or something to that effect), as shown in figure 4, and
click OK.
 Figure 5: Selecting the subclasses.

The Subclass Selection dialog box will pop open. Expand the DRC ERROR CLASS, PIN, and VIA
CLASS files and check the box next to SOLDERMASK_TOP, as shown in figure 5. Click OK.
 Figure 6: Undefined line width.

Back in the Artwork Control Form dialog box, make sure that the File name under the Film
options section says SoldermaskTop. Put in 0.1 for the Undefined line width, as shown in
figure 6.
 Figure 7: Create the artwork file.

Now, follow the same steps to create the soldermask for the bottom of the board with the
same subclasses. Once you have added the files for the soldermask for the top and bottom,
make sure that the box next to the files are checked and click the Create Artwork button, as
shown in figure 7.
 Figure 8: Success.

If you have followed all the steps, you should now have successfully created the artwork film
for the soldermask for the top and bottom of your board.