Get the Most Out of Your Printed Circuit Board by Choosing the Right Color

It’s not always easy to find the right color for printed circuit boards. When different colors are required for different PCBs or when different companies need different colors for their PCBs, it can be tough to get it done with some perfect hue. Luckily, there are some manufacturers that offer colored PCBs according to our needs like like green, blue, black, red, and white. Customized hues or company colors can also be created according to need.

What is a PCB?

A PCB or printed circuit board is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks, or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate.

Why you should go for a PCB for doing your Hobby Project?

The single biggest advantage of a printed circuit board over a breadboard is that it’s permanent. It can be used many times and will hold all the connections between different components precisely in place even when other parts are removed or replaced.

A PCB is also much more convenient for building large projects. While wires are fine for small, temporary circuits, they become cumbersome when trying to build something substantial. Wires can be pulled loose by accident or tugged on enough that the connections come apart over time.

How are PCBs made?

There are different methods for making printed circuit boards. Some of the most common include chemical milling, photo-etching, and electroplating.

Chemical milling begins with a sheet of fiberglass-epoxy laminate that’s coated on one or both sides with an acid-resistant substance called etch resist. The board then passes through a series of machines that use lasers to cut the copper traces according to a design diagram.

Photo-etching begins with an adhesive film printed with the pattern for all conductive surfaces on one side and protective material on the other. The different parts are then exposed to ultraviolet light through a photographic mask, which burns away unwanted areas of the film and allows the remaining material to be etched in an acid bath.

Electroplating occurs when a metal or alloy solution is electrolyzed into individual particles that form on electrodes as different ions within liquid, called the electrolyte. This process deposits one layer of conductive material at a time onto non-conducting surfaces such as fiberglass circuit boards.

How PCB gets its color?

The different materials used in different colored printed circuit boards require different manufacturing techniques. For example, white PCBs may be made using photo-etching whereas black is usually formed by applying a solder mask to chemically milled or electroplated copper traces. The color blue can be achieved either by photo-etching, where different layers are exposed to different wavelengths of light through a mask or by using an inkjet printer.

PCB Color and Solder Mask

Soldermask is the coating on a PCB that protects exposed copper traces from being soldered by mistake. Solder mask also defines different areas of conductive pathways and spaces between different components according to color, allowing for different portions of a circuit board to be selectively electrically connected through solder joints during assembly.

PCB Color and Silkscreen

Silkscreen is a different layer of material, usually white or black ink that’s printed over the solder mask to clearly define different areas of conductive pathways and spaces between different components. Silkscreen can also be used on top of colors like blue to make different color schemes for different portions of a circuit board during assembly by printing silkscreen of different colors.

How different Color PCBs can be useful?

Different PCBs with different colors can be used to distinguish between different projects in the same system or they may make it easier for people working on one project to tell which components are which.

Different colors can also be useful when different companies have different needs. For example, if different parts are used in different locations or the same board is recycled over and over again for different projects, it may make sense to use a company color rather than standard PCB colors like green, blue, black-red, and white. Customized hues or company colors can also be created according to need.

Custom PCBs or different color PCB boards may cost a little more than standard green, blue, black, red, and white but they are well worth it for the advantages that different colored printed circuit boards provide. Having different components readily identifiable at all times is much safer as well as less time-consuming.

Different colors can also be used to make different PCBs more comfortable for people with different color-blindness. For example, red and black are easy for those who have trouble distinguishing the standard green from the standard brown or blue from grey.

How to make Different Color PCBs for your DIY Project?

Recently, we created yellow-colored pumpkins for Halloween decorations. And believe it or not, these are actually PCBs. Yeah, it’s crazy but true! Let me show you what we will need and then give you the step-by-step process to make one yourself.

For this project, we used Altium designer to design the PCB and got our PCBs manufactured from PCBWay.

PCBWay is a PCB manufacturer specializing in PCB prototyping, low-volume production, and neat and tidy PCB assembly and you can create a variety of PCBs with different specifications. We will look into it in a second. 

To order our PCB from PCB way, go to the PCBWay website and fill in the basic board details in the instant order form. From there we will be directed to a form where we can provide more elaborate board details. Under advanced PCBs, you can customize your PCBs. 

Now update the board information in the PCB specification screen. I want to give the orange color to these PCBs,  so I chose the orange color for the solder mask.  

In PCBWay, we can select a variety of color PCBs such as purple, black, orange, and even create transparent PCBs by selecting a transparent solder mask. 

Also, I chose a black silkscreen instead of white. Perfect. On the next screen, we should be able to upload the Gerber file and submit it for review. Once the review is completed, all that is left is to add to the cart, make payment, and wait for the PCBs to arrive. 

Once you get all the components and the PCB, it’s time for you to solder them together. Solder all the components onto the board and make sure to check the polarity of the components. After soldering the PCB looks like this.

Conclusion

When it comes to printed circuit boards, different colored PCB boards should not only work better but may also be more aesthetically pleasing as well. Different colors can not only help you to tell different components apart but they may make it easier for your eyes and mind to focus on what’s important.

Different colored printed circuit boards like green, blue, black-red, and white are great options when choosing different color PCB boards depending upon different needs of different people different companies different locations, and different projects.