# DIY Front Panels with PCB **URL:** \ **Category:** DIY STUFF\ **Created:** [January 28, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121 "2020-01-28T03:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Jos](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jos/32/151_2.png) [@Jos](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Jos)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 12:09am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121/63 "2025-01-15T00:09:41Z")
> [@Kelaifu](#): > > Not immediately obvious No, indeed. Can you explain how you got to this result? So this is no silkscreen, but what is it then? ---
**Author:** ![Kelaifu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/46a35a/32.png) [@Kelaifu](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Kelaifu)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121/64 "2025-01-15T01:12:12Z")
It’s just solder mask and copper, with the copper getting tinned during fabrication as usual. There is a .1mm gap between the copper and the mask edges where the base fr4 is exposed which seems to add some definition. This also works nice on text. ---
**Author:** ![analogoutput](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/analogoutput/32/29663_2.png) [@analogoutput](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/analogoutput)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121/65 "2025-01-15T01:38:05Z")
Are you saying each one of those dots is a slightly different size in the mask and copper layers? How did you achieve that? ---
**Author:** ![Kelaifu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/46a35a/32.png) [@Kelaifu](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Kelaifu)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121/66 "2025-01-15T02:34:02Z")
Yeah, that’s correct. I basically put the image on both cooper and mask layers, but I added a border to the image in the mask using Photoshop before importing it into the kicad image editor. However I have since found a way to do this in kicad but can’t remember the terms off hand. I’ll update when I get home from work. ---
**Author:** ![Kelaifu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/46a35a/32.png) [@Kelaifu](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Kelaifu)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121/67 "2025-01-15T14:14:30Z")
the options i was refereing to are the edit text and graphhics options under the edit pulldown in pcb editor ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/lookmumnocomputer/original/3X/0/8/08c9ab233f9ecafcd2e9bfad3a1428c13c180f6b.png) This is a very useful tool for playing around with graphics and text in the copper layer. Although it’s not exactly what it says on the tin, you can add the 0.1mm to the mask layer by selecting the layer and adding 0.1 in the text thickness setting ---
**Author:** ![Jos](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/jos/32/151_2.png) [@Jos](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Jos)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121/68 "2025-01-15T21:59:27Z")
I’m not sure I understand what I’m seeing yet. What makes the white color? Is that the color of the PCB-material? ---
**Author:** ![Kelaifu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/46a35a/32.png) [@Kelaifu](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/u/Kelaifu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121/69 "2025-01-16T00:39:19Z")
the white is the mask layer. The exposed PCB material isnt really visible in the photos, but in reality it makes everything more defined. I’ll try take a better photo later. [Previous page](https://lookmumnocomputer.discourse.group/t/diy-front-panels-with-pcb/121.md?page=3)