@hadimardanian/core

Turn a folder of Gerber / Excellon drill files into SVG previews of a finished PCB.

Works in Node.js (directory helpers) and the browser (pass File[] into read).

npm install @hadimardanian/core

Quick start — render a board folder

Point renderDirectory at a directory of fab files and an output folder. It writes:

• top.svg / bottom.svg — finished board composites
• one SVG per layer (e.g. F_Cu.gbr.svg)

import {renderDirectory} from '@hadimardanian/core'

const {layers, outputFiles} = await renderDirectory('./my-board', './out')

console.log(
  `Rendered ${layers.length} layers → ${outputFiles.length} SVG files`
)
// → out/top.svg, out/bottom.svg, out/<layer-filename>.svg …

Board composites only (skip per-layer SVGs):

await renderDirectory('./my-board', './out', {boardOnly: true})

Per-layer SVGs only (skip top.svg / bottom.svg):

await renderDirectory('./my-board', './out', {layersOnly: true})

Batch-render many boards

When each board lives in its own subdirectory:

import fs from 'node:fs'
import path from 'node:path'
import {renderDirectory} from '@hadimardanian/core'

const boardsRoot = './boards' // each child folder is one PCB fab set
const outRoot = './out'

async function main() {
  for (const boardName of fs.readdirSync(boardsRoot)) {
    const boardPath = path.resolve(boardsRoot, boardName)
    if (!fs.statSync(boardPath).isDirectory()) continue

    const outDir = path.join(outRoot, boardName)
    const {layers, outputFiles} = await renderDirectory(boardPath, outDir)

    console.log(
      `Rendering ${boardName}: ${layers.length} layers, ${outputFiles.length} files`
    )
  }
}

main().catch(error => {
  console.error(error)
  process.exit(1)
})

Example layout:

boards/
  clockblock/          ← Gerbers + drills
  arduino-uno/
out/
  clockblock/
    top.svg
    bottom.svg
    …
  arduino-uno/
    …

What goes in the input folder?

Pass the full fab set for one design: copper, soldermask, silkscreen, outline/profile, and drill.

• File selection is denylist-based (images, HTML, JSON, CAD reports, etc. are skipped). Odd Gerber extensions (e.g. .gm, .gm13) are kept.
• Layer type/side come from filenames (@hadimardanian/identify-layers).
• Unparseable files are soft-skipped by read().

Helpers (also exported):

| Function | Role | | -------- | ---- | | collectLayerFiles(dir) | Recursively list fab candidates | | shouldSkipLayerFile(path) | True for non-fab sidecars |

Step-by-step pipeline

If you need more control than renderDirectory:

import fs from 'node:fs/promises'
import {
  read,
  plot,
  renderLayers,
  renderBoard,
  stringifySvg,
} from '@hadimardanian/core'

const files = [
  'top-copper.gbr',
  'top-solder-mask.gbr',
  'top-silk-screen.gbr',
  'bottom-copper.gbr',
  'bottom-solder-mask.gbr',
  'outline.gbr',
  'drill.xnc',
]

const readResult = await read(files)
const plotResult = plot(readResult)
const layersResult = renderLayers(plotResult)
const board = renderBoard(layersResult)

await Promise.all([
  fs.writeFile('top.svg', stringifySvg(board.top)),
  fs.writeFile('bottom.svg', stringifySvg(board.bottom)),
])

read → plot → renderLayers → renderBoard → stringifySvg

In the browser, pass File[] (e.g. from <input type="file" multiple>) to read instead of filesystem paths.

API snapshot

| Export | Notes | | ------ | ----- | | renderDirectory(src, dest, options?) | Node: folder → SVG files | | collectLayerFiles / shouldSkipLayerFile | Node: fab file discovery | | read, plot, renderLayers, renderBoard, stringifySvg | Main pipeline | | BOARD_PALETTE, LAYER_COLORS | Fab / layer fill colors |

More detail: Usage Guide. CLI alternative: @hadimardanian/cli (tracer).

Built from

• @hadimardanian/identify-layers
• @hadimardanian/parser
• @hadimardanian/plotter
• @hadimardanian/renderer