Advanced PCB Analysis (DFM report)

After your design files are imported, CircuitHub automatically performs Advanced PCB Analysis to verify and refine your board's manufacturing specifications.

This analysis uses CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) processing and DFM (Design for Manufacturability) checks to extract precise fabrication data directly from your board layers. The goal is to ensure your board specifications accurately reflect what will actually be manufactured. IPC-2581 will get this analysis during EDA import. This step runs in the background and requires no action from you.

What happens during Advanced PCB Analysis?

Once the design import completes, your board's fabrication data (Gerber layers, drill files, and stackup information) is sent for CAM processing.

The system analyzes the board layers to determine accurate manufacturing parameters.

Board specification refinement

When the report is received, CircuitHub automatically updates the board specification with CAM-verified measurements.

This ensures the board specifications used for quoting and manufacturing are based on the actual design data rather than initial estimates extracted from the EDA files.

If a quote already exists, it will be cleared and recalculated so pricing reflects the refined board specifications.

What board parameters are updated?

Some parameters are automatically refined based on the CAM analysis.

Automatically updated fields

These fields are replaced with values extracted directly from the manufacturing data:

• Board width and length
• Number of layers
• Minimum trace width
• Minimum pitch
• Minimum hole size

These fields will be disabled until the full analysis is finished, at which point you will be able to edit the fields if needed and place an order.

How long does Advanced PCB Analysis take?

EDA Import

The design import typically completes within a few seconds to a couple of minutes, depending on the complexity of the board.

Advanced PCB Analysis (DFM + CAM)

Runs automatically in the background and typically completes within a few additional minutes. IPC-2581 will also get the full Advanced PCB Analysis during EDA import.

What happens when the analysis finishes?

Once the analysis completes:

• The board specification may be refined with CAM-derived measurements
• Any existing quotes are automatically recalculated
• The DFM reports are attached to the project revision
• You can edit all fields and place an order

You do not need to wait for this process to finish before continuing to review your project. But you need to wait for the analysis to finish to be able to place an order. This usually takes a few minutes but could take up to 20 minutes.