Re: gEDA-user: PCB minimum plated hole

[sdb@xxxxxxxxxx (Stuart Brorson)]

> If I am designed a board that is meant to be portable (i. e. anyone in
> the world can send it to his local fabhouse) what should I load into
> vendor manufacturing rules?

Any PCB designer knows the design rules of his preferred PCB fab(s).
It's his job to know this kind of stuff. 

You typically get this kind of info by either browsing the PCB
vendor's website & look for their manufacturing rules/capabilities, or
you call their sales department and ask for the design rule document.
You then take that document and use its parameters to load up the DRC
rules in PCB.

The PCB fab industry is roughly segregated into three tiers, from
worst to best.  It's important that you, as a PCB designer, know the
characteristics of your target fab, particularly if your design is at
all aggressive (i.e. small via holes, narrow traces, tight
clearances).  

Stuart