Ah yes, I use Eagle too.  I did see the tCream and bCream layers in  
there, but so far the stencil companies have asked for only the gerber  
files, and AFAIK the Cream layers are not part of the Gerber standard  
file set... are they?  But yes, these layers seem so much more logical  
to use for creating a stencil.

I will use the "standard" squeegee method to apply the paste.  The  
fours holes are far in the corners, so they should be out of the  
squeegee's way.

Cheers,
-Neil.



Quoting Wouter van Ooijen <wouter@voti.nl>:

>> I'm about to order my first stencil directly (rather than thru CEM),
>> but have a few Q's, which I've not been able to get properly answered
>> from a couple stencil companies.
>
> You did not mention which PCB software you use :(
>
> Solder paste mask is a separate gerber file.
>
> In Eagle (the PCB software I known) solder paste is a separate layer.
> SMD components have the appropriate shapes in this layer, but you can
> draw in this layer if you want.
>
> I dunno how you apply your paste, but for my method anything rising
> through the stencil would be a no-no.
>
> --
>
> Wouter van Ooijen
>
> -- -------------------------------------------
> Van Ooijen Technische Informatica: www.voti.nl
> consultancy, development, PICmicro products
> docent Hogeschool van Utrecht: www.voti.nl/hvu
>
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