As a side note, it appears its not just JLCPCB doing this.
PCBWay also seem to support this service, not sure how they suggest doing it though
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I opened some example, modified silk screen color for some components and did export.
Here are the results:
Gerber_PCB1_2_2024-04-10.zip (2.7 MB)
FCBS is some binary file
Exactly how I anticipated in my opening post … thank you to have got and posted this 
EDIT: I wrote a comment asking what should we do with KiCAD … just to better understand the process.
Gerber X2 can contain G04 Comments.
Color can be declared in the G04 Comment.
Not all vendors do color and can have their own Gerber Readers that look for embedded content, such as Color.
Vendors may also prefer/accept alternate ways of defining Color.
Thus, User would need to Ask Vendor what/how they want Color defined in the Gerber.
It’s a Text file so, User can add the Color text as needed if software does not publish it.
Interesting so it means that inapplications like KiCAD may be present a switch as option when one is exporting Gerber (?) … so it’s asked: “does it contain colors?”
When I open the silkscreen in a text editor I am unable to find any reference to colors. Looks like it’s being stripped.
Did you follow these instructions?
- Colored characters can be provided through simulated effect diagrams and reference alignment map (for easy alignment with PCB), without the need to be designed in Gerber files. If designed in Gerber files, they should only be placed on the silkscreen layer and annotated with colors.
- Overall effect files of colored boards support the following file formats: PDF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, etc.This method requires a positioning diagram/reference diagram
Sounds like it will work if KiCad just adds an option to plot Reference Images to SVG and PDF with the board outline on top?
Or you can edit an SVG and add an image to it in Inkscape right now.
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All the Colorful data is in Fabrication_ColorfulTopSilkscreen.FCTS and other files. Of course they don’t convert the image to CMYK and shove it into Gerber comments.
I just asked JCLPCB: Kicad does Not support this yet.
Can I add the G04 Comment/Text to the Gerber or what do you recommend?
Example: G04 Laver Color=235*
Regarding Gerber’s and FCTS… At present time, JCLPCB has their own syntax/file rqmt’s.
Indeed it’s not specified how they consider the color information.
Also the girl I spoke with, this morning, told me similar things but it looked like she had to ask to somebody else …
From what I understand, it seems that a white color is given all over the PCB, tehn the silk screen is printed above it and then the colored stuff.
Certainly to manage Pictures in correct and more comfortable way KiCAD should also have other improvements: the management of the Z-Axis in SVG and the possibility to resize imported pictures by handles (like on any other application that uses images). Just 2 things (that however they were asked long ago, much before anything like that could be imagined).
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It doesn’t seem to be a very new idea … it’s something was boiling into the pot since a while
Here another one
And here the NVIDIA logo:
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PCBway answered this
I asked some example because to me not only is not so clear, but I have not clue how to indicate colors where it’s impossible to distinguish sections, and to the other side: there is huge room for errors.
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That’s a typical answer from those large cheap manufactures. Almost like a politician, superficially answering the question without actually giving the wanted information.
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Needles to say that I asked examples to PCBway but from that moment on, they simply vanished.
JLCPCB was more clear about.
So I wrote directly to PCBway in a very disappointed way after the superficial answer first and the no-answer in a second instance.
Here below what I got.
Missing information about the orientation.
of course I asked it and aksed also for an “example project” just to be 100% sure to have got all what we need. Till now no answers. In case they send something I will let you know.
About JCLPCB: they have a totally different way.
Once they will finish to play with their toy (EasyEDA) , we will see what to do with KiCAD to comply.
Hi Tormy,
Sorry for this, next time you can email me for any question directly, I’m more then happy to offer help.
I believe I could offer experience advice and info.And for the multicolor silkscreen, we need:
- silkscreen pic under high resolution
- silkscreen pic need to keep the pads and annular rings away
- pic should be 1:1 rate for the PCB size
- PDF, jpec,png,tiff FORMAT available.
- Max size we can build is 270*470
- You need to select one solder mask color as base color.
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