How to make an aperture in the solder mask

This project shows how to make an aperture in the solder mask to expose anything that would normally be covered by it.

Open this project in the PCB Editor and play with the elements to understand how they are created. The 2D or 3D Viewer can also be used to see the effect of the various elements

In EasyEDA pads are normally set to create their own apertures in the solder mask on the relevant layers so that the copper is exposed for plating and soldering. Everything else is normally covered by solder mask.

Tracks can be selectively exposed by using the Expose Copper button which creates an aperture in the solder mask around the selected segment(s) of track. Note however, that when Tracks (and other objects) are converted to Pads then they are automatically exposed but beware doing this in a PCB rather than in a footprint because this may generate DRC errors in the PCB Design Manager.

To create an arbitrary shaped aperture in the solder mask all that is required is to draw a track, arc, circle solid region or other shape directly in the relevant solder mask layer(s).

• The results should always be checked using the FOSS Gerber Viewer gerbv (or equivalent).