How to generate board plot/image in Eagle

Question

I designed my own PCB in Eagle so I have both the schematics and the board files.

I would like to generate a figure like this one made for Arduino board in order to include it in the user manual that I'm writing.

Do you think it is possible to do that in Eagle? If not, it is possible to do this by using my Eagle files as input for another software?

I tried to disable the displaying of top and bottom layers, but what I obtain is a black/white board with the components enclosure and it is not as good as the figure above.

Thank you a lot,

Answer 1

There isn't a way to do this directly in Eagle. That image was drawn in a graphical design package, not in a PCB editor. It's a cartoon, not a mechanical drawing.

About the farthest you can get is the DXF export capability in Eagle. If you show key parts such as the board outline, holes, and top silk layers, you can have Eagle save a DXF file which can be imported into a graphical editor (Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, GIMP, Inkscape, etc. {italics are free}).

The imported DXF file will be interpreted as a vector graphic, allowing you to easily edit it in your editor of choice. Tidy up and add the desired colourings.

Answer 2

You might not be able to achieve that but you can hide some layers (top, bottom, vias, dimensions, and etc) from the display panel and then print the resulting image. It will be very close to what you need.