Export Gerber to PCB: vias and THT pads

[rob]

I have exported a Gerber set to PCB, and I’m fiddling about how to get vias and pad holes. I think that it depends on the correct layer to assign as “holes” file. The only holes file in the set is a drill spec, which is not suitable. I “managed” to get vias on each edge of a line segmented text in both copper layers that are written at exactly the same location, but circles on both copper sides on the same location are kept as such.
In the docs, the term “flash” is used. Well, a circle is a flashed item in Gerber.

Upon comparison of a typical Gerber output by pcbnew and the external Gerber set, I see no Gerber version in the header. The %…% lines mainly consists of ADDxxR lines, for sure embedded aperture definitions.

The Gerbers are dated 01/2015. Hence I think that a conversion in a newer format could solve the issue. Any suggestions regarding tools or scripts are welcome.

[paulvdh]

Reverse engineering KiCad project from Gerber files

The goal of this reverse-engineering tutorial is to re-create a complete KiCad project from partial information assuming the only information available is a schematic in some readable, (but not EDA form, such as a .pdf or a .png picture), and a set of gerber files. The Gerber files will create a PCB with much PCB information missing, however, using this method is easier than re-designing a PCB from scratch, and can also be extended to any other program that creates Gerber files. What is “resc…