Greg, Do not EVER remove the lands from the outer layer. The pads are necessary during the plating process. Removing pads will prevent plating solution from getting in the holes. Even with a dot pattern to allow plating, the quality of the plating will be horrible and non- reliable. This is one of the main reasons for a minimum annular ring requirement. With good process control of plating, normal stresses will not effect hole reliability Regards, Norm Einarson Printed Circuit Technology