The Basic Process

When you order a PCB from a fabrication house, an engineer specifically trained in PCB fabrication lays out all of the necessary steps needed to make the PCB and sends the steps to the production floor.  As the project moves from station to station and step to step, the complete design slowly takes shape.  Some PCBs can be made in a dozen steps, and others require hundreds of steps.  Each additional step in the process increases the material cost or the time required to make the PCB,  and every step increases the risk of failure and the overall cost of the PCB.

This is the mockup of the first page of a multi-page traveler.

All PCBs are a bit different -- but there are a few processes that are common every board.  Depending on the board requirements, these steps can be performed in a different order or repeated for certain features.