EFA CAMverse › PADS viewer
Format guide · PADS Layout ASCIIReceived an .asc file from PADS but don't have PADS installed? EFA CAMverse opens PADS Layout ASCII natively – no cloud upload – and shows layers, components, nets, copper pours and 3D. As one of the very few viewers that read it at all.
PADS Layout ASCII – the complete layout in readable text form.
PADS Layout ASCII (“.asc”) is the text-based exchange format of the PADS PCB layout tool (originally PADS PowerPCB, today Siemens EDA). It describes a complete PCB – stackup, decals, placed components, netlist, routed traces, vias, copper pours, holes and text – via a section-based ASCII schema (*PCB*, *PART*, *ROUTE*, *POUR* …).
The first line (“!PADS-POWERPCB-V…”) states version and unit. The format serves the low-loss exchange of a complete PADS layout between tools and its archival in readable form.
Download for free and install – a native Windows application (10/11, 64-bit), free to use as a viewer.
Open the layout file directly – the version in the magic line is evaluated (PowerPCB V3 up to PADS VX), unit included; version-dependent fields are handled accordingly.
Toggle layers, highlight nets with a double-click, inspect components, measure distances – and switch to the 3D view with one click. Entirely without PADS.
Toggle every layer and control transparency – the stackup comes straight from the file.
Placed components with references and the complete netlist – with bidirectional highlight on double-click.
Routed traces, vias and copper pours (*POUR*) are rendered – the layout appears as in the original.
View the board in space – with components as 3D bodies, rotate and zoom freely.
Precise distance and geometry measurement right in the layer view.
A native Windows application – no cloud, no upload. Your layout data stays on your machine.
Assembly views & variantsFrom the component data in the .asc file, EFA CAMverse generates the assembly print itself, component by component – instead of merely displaying a supplied drawing. That is why your customer's variant can truly be reproduced: components deselected for a variant are never drawn in the first place and disappear completely with body, pads and labelling – in 2D as well as 3D. More about assembly →
Pass on as GenCAD 1.4Read the PADS layout and export it as GenCAD 1.4 – real conversion, not just viewing. Feed assembly, test and AOI environments that expect GenCAD straight from the .asc file. All features →
Two kinds of .asc files!There are two different “PADS ASCII” files with the .asc extension: the full layout supported here (magic “!PADS-POWERPCB”) and the much simpler PADS-PCB netlist (header “*PADS-PCB*”). The latter is not a layout file and is deliberately not loaded – EFA CAMverse distinguishes both by content.
No official specificationThere is no publicly published standard for PADS Layout ASCII – the interpretation is based on carefully derived grammar and sample files. Exotic variants may hit limits; common PowerPCB/PADS files are rendered completely. That is precisely why native .asc support is a rarity among viewers.
And when the next customer delivers something else: EFA CAMverse also opens eight more PCB/CAM formats – in the same tool, with the same way of working.
EFA CAMverse is free to use as a viewer – unlock advanced features whenever you need them. Native on Windows, your data stays local.
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