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Can Drill Drawing Table
(Drill Symbols) Replace NC Drill Files?

PCB Drill table

“Drill Drawing Table”
What is drill drawing table? Drill drawing table is also known as drill drawing legend or drill table. The drill drawing table includes hole size, hole type, hole counts and so on. More importantly, each hole size of drill will be represented by a specific symbol or letter.

“NC Drill Files”
NC drill files stands for numeric control drill file which contains hole location, hole shape and hole size. NC drill files and Gerber file are two different files. Take “Altium Designer” for example, the outputs of design could be divided into “Gerber files” and “NC Drill Files”. If missing “NC Drill Files” during project evaluation stage, the production cost could be calculated but might be less accurate. However, the “NC Drill Files” is necessary once entering production phase.

So can “Drill Drawing table” replace “NC Drill Files”?
The answer is NO. Due to the drill drawing table can’t provide exact location of each hole. Without the coordinate information, the PCB manufacturer can’t set the drilling program for hole drilling. Thus, the “NC Drill Files” are required for PCB fabrication.