I’m preparing a pcb with MX switches with through-hole mounting, but the 3D viewer seems to have a quirk when displaying the through holes. I’m trying to figure out if this is an error on my part or just the regular 3D visualization. As you can see in these images, the holes display as if behind a green film when the board is viewed from the front, but seem to display correctly when seen from the bottom.
The mask is turned off for the front, turning this on should lead to correct fabrication? I guess it doesn’t have any actually difference in the fabrication, since there can’t be solder mask over an empty space?
The 3D viewer is simply a viewing tool that has no affect on the actual product.
PCB mfg’s know how to handle mask/adhesive/etc layers.
If wanting something specific, contact them and/or put the info on the drawing.
Actually it will matter a great deal. You should have mask turned on for both front and back for THT holes. Otherwise on the layers that have mask turned off you won’t have the copper pad showing. Also, the solder mask material is applied after holes have been drilled and plated. So you may get solder mask material either bridging the hole making it more difficult to insert the component leads, or even worse you may have solder mask material inside the hole leading to even more fit issues as well as not allowing good solder flow into the hole.
I see, that makes sense, it’ll lead to a hole drilled with the film over the top of the hole if I don’t modify it. I was re-reading the repo, it’s actually done on purpose by the creator:
Topside soldermask to prevent solder overflow and improve appearance
I think there’s a risk of covering the inside of the hole with the mask when installing the switch, so I’ll follow your advice and just remove the solder mask from both sides of the hole.
