RossWaddell wrote:I see two packages for 3mm LEDs in the SparkFun-LED.lbr library - LED3MM.pac and LED3mm-NS.pac. In the Description of the LED3MM-NS package it says this means No Silk; visually, it looks like the pads are smaller than on the other, but what does it mean by 'no silk'? Is that something I can see visually when in board design, or only when I generate the Gerber files?
Hi,
The 'silk' is the 'silkscreen', which is (typically) the white ink writing on the top and/or bottom surfaces of the PCB. The silkscreen typically shows part outlines, reference designators ('R1', 'C1', etc.), connector labels, identifying text, logos, etc.
A 'part' is generally made up the actual copper (and 'holes' if it's a thru hole component) that is found on the PCB, the soldermask, and the silkscreen. They are all independent, and not necessarily dependent on one another. For instance, frequently, I'll do a board prototype without soldermask and silkscreen (this saves $$), and then only add them for the final run of a board!
John