We routinely remove pads as long as our customer approves. Removal of these pads may also speed up aoi inspection (less sites to look at), and can help decrease the amount of shorts caused at the innerlayer stage, where you have a un-used pad next to a trace. Ron Hayashi Toppan Electronics, Inc 619-695-2222 [log in to unmask] ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################