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Over 30 decades of service
The photoplotting service provided by Photo Data and JD Photo-Tools is the largest in Europe, and perhaps the world.
Since 1969, it has developed from a simple plotting and photography business, into a full engineering support service to manufacturers throughout Europe and the UK. Taking this role very seriously, the group are constantly exploring new ways to develop and utilise new processes which enhance their service.
Developing custom built software not only speeds up the engineering process, but also provides much needed manufacturing rules and continuity. By constant investment in the latest plotter technology and front-end software, Photodata has maintained its edge at the forefront of plotting technology.
As well as the standard tooling service offered to manufacturers across Europe, the group also produces high-resolution photoplots (up to 128,000 dpi) and the largest plots available (up to 3 metres). |
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Our plotting service is the main core of the business, and just one of which we excel at ! We offer a very fast and flexible service for all customers, with late cut-off times and early morning deliveries. Imaging from Plot Ready data is welcomed, but we also welcome full tooling of data prior to plotting.
We have 5 photoplotters installed. Our main imager is a Barco Silverwriter, which can handle films up to 30" x 24", with a resolution up to 20,000 dpi. Minimum features of 25 microns are attainable, but high resolution plotting with features down to 2 microns is available if required via our photomask department.
All films are fully inspected and bagged separately prior to dispatch, which will usually be carried out within a couple of hours of receipt of data, with even faster services available for more urgent work !
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Photoplotting is where the service began and it is still where the service meets many of its toughest demands. Data arrives at all times of the day and night - this data must be processed fast and efficiently, accurate films produced, and delivered to the door of the manufacturer promptly and with minimum fuss.
PCB Tooling
Our tooling services are an integral part of our plotting procedures. During the tooling process, we can add Robber bars / Thieving bars, tooling targets, venting, etch coupons, as well as making sure the simple things are correct such as Pos/Neg polarity, Emulsion surface, profile , DRC, layer identification, date codes etc.. This tooling can be written into scripts used by our GerbTool CAM software, enabling a fast and repeatable process. We can also edt, manipulate and optimise various drill and rout formats. more
DXF / Autocad Plotting
We specialise in plotting from Autocad systems, and can handle many forms of data and plot them at high resolution. Files may be supplied in either Autocad or DXF for us to process, or preferably you may supply other suitable formats directly. Our expertise can help clean drawings up prior to plotting, ensuring true polyline joins and fills. This service is available for front panels, PCB's, microwave circuits, chips etc.. We also specialise in plotting from GDSii stream data, allowing us easy interface with the semiconductor industries. more
CAD Translations
We are able to post process from many different CAD systems and formats. This is available as a service, with a charge per file, or we can supply the software for you to process yourself in-house.. Most post processing is free where the customer goes on to order photoplotting from the files. CAD formats supported include DXF, DWG, EasyPC, Boardmaker, Cadstar, Vutrax, Protel, Orcad, Allegro, PCB Turbo , GDSii, EGS, IGES etc etc
Postscript Plotting
We can plot directly from generic Postscript files directly to our plotter, giving very accurate images with fine features, ideal from pages created on desk top publishers. Plotting may be single or even full colour separations, and we can image upto 128,000 dpi or films upto 3m long, making it ideal for graphic applications.. As well as postscript, we can also take many PC graphic formats such as bmp, tiff, pcx, gif, jpg , corel draw etc... more
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