Lay out

After importing artworks or creating shapes in EagleWorks, it is time to lay them out in the draw area. You can duplicate the selection as an array, or do nesting.

There are two kinds of arrays in EagleWorks, a concrete array, and a virtual array which includes only the original, the real copy and nothing but the layout information of the duplications.

Click Copy Matrix in the pulldown-menu Draw or click on Draw Bar to generate a concrete array.

Set the number of columns in XNum and the number of rows in YNum, set the column space in XSpace and the row space in YSpace. Click and to change the extending direction and the pattern of the processing sequence of the duplications. If you want the software to calculate how many columns and rows can be put in a specific area, click Bestrew… and set the size of the area.

All the duplications in a concrete array are independent with each other, and you can select and edit one or some of them separately.

Click Virtual array in the tab Work of System Work Plat to generate a virtual array.

The settings for a virtual array are sort of similar with the settings for a concrete, but the best part is that you can even change the settings after generating, e.g. change the number of columns or rows, change the column or row space, etc.

There are two column space settings, the value at (X, space1) set the space between the duplications on an odd column and the next, and the value at (X, space2) set the space between the duplications on an even column and the next. The row space settings are sort of same. For example, we set 2 at (X, space1), 0 at (X, space2), and 2 at (Y, space1), 0 at (Y, space2), then we get a 2mm gap between column 1 and 2, between column 3 and 4, no gap between column 2 and 3, between column 4 and 5, and a 2mm gap between row 1 and 2, between row 3 and 4, no gap between row 2 and 3, shown as below.

There are offset settings for getting a more compact layout and saving materials, the value at (X, Dislocation) set a horizontal offset on all even rows, and the value at (Y, Dislocation) set a vertical offset on all even columns. We usually adjust the space between rows or columns at the same time to accommodate duplications in an area as compact as possible. For example, we set 22 at (X, Dislocation), then we get a 22mm horizontal offset on row 2 and 4, shown as below.

And there are mirror and flip settings also for a better layout, the option at (X, H) and (X, V) mirror and flip duplications on all even rows, and the option at (Y, H) and (Y, V) mirror and flip duplications on all even columns. And we also usually adjust the space between rows or columns at the same time. For example, we check the option at (X, H), then we get the duplications on row 2 and 4 mirrored, shown as below.

In the example below, we check the option at (Y, V), then we get the duplications on column 2 and 4 flipped, shown as below.

Click and Bestrew… for the same functions as for a concrete array.

There is essentially one and only one real copy of the shapes in a virtual array, and the array is by default a group which can not be split up. You have to select the real copy to select the whole array, and all edits being done on the real copy will be applied to all the other virtual duplications too.

By default, all the duplications in a virtual array appear the same way as the real copy, costs a lot of calculation time and resources in case of a large number of complex shapes. Uncheck Show Array in the pulldown-menu Config to let the software show only a placeholder for a virtual duplication to improve the overall performance.

Sometimes, it is hard to figure out the best layout solution, or it just costs you too much time to do that, nonetheless, there comes the nesting function which is essentially an AI version of the virtual array function.

Click Nesting in the pulldown-menu Tool or click Nesting in the tab Work of System Work Plat brings up the nesting dialog.

The best way to do nesting is to set only the safety space between each duplication and the area to fill, and enable all the optimizations, then click Full frame to let the software figure it out on its own.

After getting the layout solution, click Actual array or Virtual array to carry it out as a concrete or a virtual array.