Can we place silkscreen inside the footprint for through hole PCB? I guess it eliminates "visual congestion". What are the problems associated with it??
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\$\begingroup\$ Anything you put inside the footprint won't be visible once the component is installed. \$\endgroup\$– Dave TweedJun 13, 2013 at 11:02
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\$\begingroup\$ For manual placement I prefer to put the component value inside the footprint (I must see it while populating), and the component identification (R12 etc) outside, because I want to see those when troubleshooting. Note that neither reason is valid in an automatic production environment. \$\endgroup\$– Wouter van OoijenJun 13, 2013 at 11:27
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1\$\begingroup\$ By "inside the footprint", do you mean right on a solder pad, or in a pad-free area between the pads? \$\endgroup\$– Anindo GhoshJun 13, 2013 at 12:01
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\$\begingroup\$ I mean in pad free area.. \$\endgroup\$– BasheerJun 14, 2013 at 6:32
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2 Answers
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You can put silkscreen markings anywhere you want on a board. There is nothing special about being "inside" a footprint of a particular part. It is quite common to put markings inside the board area of a part. Just keep in mind that these will be covered up when the part is installed, so such marking are only of use during assembly or when looking at a bare board.
Silkscreen should never cover pads, but every board house I have used automatically clips the silkscreen layer to only where there is soldermask. It's not good to rely on this since registration may not be as tight as the clipping. Don't do it yourself, which leaves the board house clipping as a extra layer of protection against screwups.
answered Jun 13, 2013 at 11:06
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\$\begingroup\$ I don't understand the last section. Can please elaborate more? Actually, I want to hide the designators (like part type) after installing/soldering the component. Is there is a chance to cut off the silkscreen layer if it prints on solder mask? \$\endgroup\$– BasheerJun 14, 2013 at 6:39
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Basheer: What we call "silkscreen" in PCB jargon is just white paint. You never want this white paint on a pad, since it insulates and gets in the way of flowing solder. Most board houses will automatically not put the white paint on pads, even if you screw up and specify some there. They guess that a pad is any place with copper but without soldermask. However, don't rely on that. Do it right yourself and don't specify the paint on pads. \$\endgroup\$ Jun 14, 2013 at 12:31
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Yes you can and I've done it many times. I guess the only problem associated with it is the obvious that you won't be able to read the designators once components are placed over the top, so maybe consider that for connectors and other items where you'd still like them to be visible after the board is populated.
