From KiCad to Fabrication: How to Order Custom PCBs in Pakistan

Messy breadboards with rat-nest jumper wires are the number one cause of intermittent faults during external FYP jury evaluations. Transitioning your schematic to a professional double-sided printed circuit board (PCB) immediately boosts reliability, noise immunity, and presentation score.

Modern open-source tools like KiCad 8 make professional board layout accessible to every student with zero licensing fees.

To keep your PCB fabrication within standard student pricing tiers, ensure your layout adheres to standard 2-layer parameters:

• Minimum Trace Width / Clearance: **6 mil (0.1524 mm)** • Minimum Via Drill Size: **0.3 mm (via diameter 0.6 mm)** • Maximum Board Dimensions: **100 mm × 100 mm** (fits in standard lowest-tier pricing) • Surface Finish: **HASL with Lead or Lead-Free** (lowest cost and easiest for hand soldering)

Your fabrication house needs standard Gerber and Excellon drill files, not your `.kicad_pcb` source file. In KiCad:

1. Go to **File → Fabrication Outputs → Gerbers (.gbr)** 2. Select: Top/Bottom Copper (F.Cu, B.Cu), Solder Mask (F.Mask, B.Mask), Silkscreen (F.Silks, B.Silks), and Board Outline (Edge.Cuts) 3. Click **Generate Drill Files (.drl)** and choose 2:4 decimal format, millimeters 4. Compress all output files into a single `.zip` archive

Ordering an individual 5-board prototype from international fabricators usually costs $2 for the boards, but $25 to $35 for DHL/FedEx shipping plus local customs clearance.

TECHLO offers **Consolidated Batch Fabrication** for Pakistani universities. We pool board designs from multiple student FYP groups into a single consolidated bi-weekly panel shipment, dividing the freight cost and clearing customs locally so you get production-grade boards at student-friendly rates.