Gerbv — The Complete Guide: Free Checking of Gerber and Drill Files Before Fabrication
Gerbv is a viewer for printed-circuit-board fabrication files. You load all the layers together and check that what goes to the manufacturer matches the design — a simple last check that saves faulty boards. It grew out of the gEDA project and also comes as a library (libgerbv) that other programs can use.
Gerbv
gEDA / Gerbv developers
Viewer for Gerber RS-274X, Excellon drill and pick-and-place files — a last check before sending a board to the fab.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- RS-274X Gerber — all copper, mask and silkscreen layers.
- Drill files — Excellon, shown together with the layers.
- Pick-and-place — CSV component placement files.
- Stacked layers — a combined view with a colour per layer.
- libgerbv — a library for use in other programs.
When to use it
Before every board order, and whenever you receive fabrication files from someone else — whatever design tool created them. Gerbv is for viewing and checking only, not for editing the design itself. It is licensed under GPL-2.0 and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Related tools
For designing the board itself — KiCad. For an interactive parts list for assembly — InteractiveHtmlBom. For viewing Gerber files alongside chip layouts — KLayout.
KiCad
KiCad Development Team
Open-source PCB design suite, from schematic to fabrication files, with no limit on layers or board area.
Get it from the vendor
InteractiveHtmlBom
openscopeproject
Generates an interactive HTML bill of materials that highlights where each part sits on the board — a great aid for hand assembly.
Get it from the vendor
KLayout
Matthias Köfferlein
Viewer and editor for chip mask layouts (GDS2, OASIS) — fast even on huge files, with DRC, LVS and scripting.
Get it from the vendor
LibrePCB
LibrePCB
Modern PCB design with a unified component library — schematic, layout and fabrication files.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
Gerbv is a small, fast, useful tool for any electronics engineer who sends boards for fabrication — a one-minute check before ordering.