Data Formats
The NEK Engineering Department supports the latest in computer and CAD technology. Adobe Illustrator, Electronic Workbench 5.0, MS Office, and other computer software applications are in use at New England Keyboard. Computer Data formats preferred and/or acceptable by our Engineering Departments are as follows:
**All ITAR and EAR files must be in a .zip format and encrypted before sending to NEK.**
Mechanical Engineering Data
- AutoCAD: AutoCAD 2d drawing file formats (.dwg, .dxf, .dwf, .dxb) are preferred for CAD drawing transfers. Save non-AutoCAD drawing files in .dxf format. .pdf format drawings can be used for review or quote only.
- AutoDesk Inventor: 3d formats (.stp, .step, .iam, .idw, .ipt) are preferred. Other formats may be usable — please contact NEK.
We maintain all current releases of AutoCAD and AutoDesk Inventor.
Electrical Engineering Data
- Multisim 10.1: (schematic design)
- Ultiboard 10.1: (routing) Gerber and other PCB photo-plotter files may be acceptable; however, some conversions might not be guaranteed to be accurate. Please, check with NEK prior to submitting these file formats.
Graphic Artwork
- Adobe Illustrator CS6: Adobe Illustrator file formats (.ai) are preferred for graphic file transfers. ALL fonts should be converted to “OUTLINE” prior to submitting to NEK, or the font files must accompany the Illustrator files.
- Corel Draw 10 /12 (.cdr): Secondary program — Adobe Illustrator format is preferred.
- It may be problematic to generate production artwork from the following file types due to quality, non-standard fonts, and conversion problems.
- Adobe Acrobat files (.pdf), unless generated by Adobe Illustrator — “not all .pdf converters are created equal”
- AutoCAD drawing formats (.dwg, .dxf)
- Encapsulated Postscript/Postscript (.eps, .ps)
- Other formats (.jpg, .bmp, .tif, .wmf, .pcx, .psd, .gif)
