> Barry Darnell I deleted the answers given by another user regarding this subject, but the jest of it was that you needed to provide more information. I will have to agree with that statement and add what we have been doing. If you cad system can use different vias, I have a via_018 and a via_018_tnt. The first one has all the normals defined for drill hole, solder mask, and padsize and so on. The second item does not have any solder mask defined for the pad. I use this via for almost all of the layouts. When the board is complete, I find/pick all my test point vias, and change them to the via_018. BTW the via_018 is named for the drill size i.e. .018 dia. We were using dry film for these boards with tented vias but the board house has added to their normal process, the per-plugging of the holes on the tented vias as a separate step and it has become so popular that they don't charge extra for the process. They do however, try to discourage the use of the dry film and stick with the LPI mask. We don't use ATE for our boards but I still use the tented vias for the soldering part of the equation, you know, bridging..... Just wanted to put my $.02 in to the pot.. Scott Decker Electronics Designer AKA: PadMasterson Ext. 322 Hamilton Company Reno. NV Ph. (702)-858-3000 FAX. (702)-856-7259 *************************************************************************** * TechNet mail list is provided as a service by IPC using SmartList v3.05 * *************************************************************************** * To unsubscribe from this list at any time, send a message to: * * [log in to unmask] with <subject: unsubscribe> and no text. * ***************************************************************************