Inspection is only half the value of a Gerber viewer. The other half is showing other people what you found: the colleague who does not run CAD software, the client approving a board, the assembler asking where a connector sits, the design review that needs a picture of the stack as checked. Gerbv exports the view you have built to the formats those conversations need — PNG, PDF, PS and SVG among its documented export formats, which also include RS-274X, drill formats and DXF. Choosing well matters: each format serves a different audience, and sending the wrong one (a blurry raster where a vector was needed, a flattened image where layers mattered) quietly degrades the review. This tutorial gives each format its use case, covers the layered SVG option added in the 2.12 line, and outlines command-line export for repeatable documentation. Stack and colour your layers first using loading and aligning Gerber layers; Gerbv itself is on the download page with installation via the Windows installation guide and its platform siblings, and the viewer’s place in the workflow is summarised on our Gerber viewer page.
Before exporting: the export shows the stack you built
An export is a picture of a state, not of a file. Which layers are visible, which are hidden, what colours they carry and whether transparency is showing what lies underneath — all of that is baked into the output. So build the view deliberately before you export anything: for a review image, show the layers the discussion is about and hide the rest; for an assembly reference, pair the silkscreen with the relevant copper; for a registration record, show the drill layer over the copper as in viewing Excellon drill files. This is also where transparency and Cairo rendering earns its keep — a transparent stack exported to PNG or PDF lets a reader see three layers’ relationship in one image, which no single-layer export can. Name exported files after what they show (board, side, layers, revision) rather than accepting a default: six months later, the filename is the only caption the image will have.
PDF: the documentation and sharing format
Choose PDF when the image will be printed, archived, attached to a review record or read by someone whose tools you do not control. PDF is a vector format in this context: lines and pads stay sharp at any zoom, so a reviewer can magnify a dense connector area and still read it — exactly the property that makes it the right vehicle for design sign-offs and for the paper workflow in printing at 1:1 scale. Send a PDF when you want agreement on a specific view: it shows one interpretation, yours, with no viewer settings left to chance, and it does not hand over the manufacturing data itself — a distinction that matters for client and pre-release work.
PNG: the quick-look and presentation format
Choose PNG when the image will be pasted into a slide, a message, a ticket or a document and simply needs to look right at screen size. PNG is a raster export — a grid of pixels — so its quality is decided at export time by resolution: Gerbv’s command-line export documents a DPI option, and the principle applies however you export: a low-resolution raster of a dense board turns fine traces into mush, while an adequate resolution keeps pads and gaps legible. PNG’s virtues are universal compatibility and predictable appearance — what you exported is exactly what everyone sees, fonts, rendering surprises and scaling included. Its limit is the mirror of PDF’s strength: zooming in later reveals pixels, not geometry, so never make PNG the only archived record of a check that someone may need to re-examine closely.
SVG: the web and vector-editing format
Choose SVG when the image will live on the web or be opened in a vector editor. SVG is a scalable vector format, so a board view embedded in a web page or a wiki stays crisp at every display size, and individual elements remain editable downstream in tools such as Inkscape. Gerbv’s SVG export was reworked in the 2.12 line: v2.12.0 added a new optimised SVG export with optional Inkscape layers, and the documented --svg-layers option carries that into the export — layers from your stack can be preserved as layers in the SVG rather than flattened into one drawing. That matters more than it sounds: a layered SVG lets a reader toggle the drill layer or the silkscreen in their editor, reproducing the inspection you performed instead of receiving its flattened conclusion. If you publish board views — open hardware projects are the obvious case — layered SVG is the closest thing to publishing the inspection itself. When SVG is not the destination but a CAD drawing is, exporting a layer to DXF is the sibling workflow.
Command-line export: documentation that repeats itself
For boards that go through multiple revisions, exporting by hand each time invites inconsistency — a different window size here, a forgotten layer there. Gerbv’s export also works from the command line (the image export path is Cairo-based), and the man page documents the controls that make output repeatable: -x selects the export format, -o the output file, -D sets DPI for raster output, -W/-w set the window size, and -a enables antialiasing. A scripted export with fixed settings produces the same review images for revision C as for revision B, which is what makes visual diffs between revisions meaningful. PostScript (PS) rounds out the picture formats as the long-standing print-oriented option in the export list. The same command-line machinery also exports the data formats themselves — RS-274X and drill — which is format translation rather than documentation.
Which format, in one view
PDF for records, reviews and printing. PNG for slides, messages and quick looks. SVG for the web and for layered, re-inspectable vector output. PS where an existing print pipeline expects it. Whichever you choose, export the view you actually checked — layers, colours and transparency set deliberately — and keep the exported set with the board revision it describes. The export is the evidence of the inspection; treat it with the same care as the Gerber files on the Gerber viewer checklist.
Frequently asked questions
Which export format is best for a design review?
PDF. It stays sharp at any zoom, prints predictably, and shows reviewers exactly the stacked view you checked without giving them the fabrication data itself. Export separate PDFs for the top stack, bottom stack and drill overlay.
What is special about Gerbv’s SVG export?
Since v2.12.0 the SVG export is optimised and can preserve layers as Inkscape layers (the documented –svg-layers option), so readers can toggle layers in a vector editor instead of receiving a single flattened drawing.
Can I export the same views automatically for every revision?
Yes — export works from the command line with documented options for format (-x), output file (-o), DPI (-D), window size (-W/-w) and antialiasing (-a), so a fixed command produces identical review images across revisions.