From files to a unit in your hands.

P.1

Before you upload

Ten minutes here saves a revision later.

Steps

1. 01Export the board outline with edge cuts on its own layer. The fit check reads the outline first.
2. 02Openings in a case are cut only for connectors placed in the designer. A board file carries no connector positions, so the check cannot test openings for it. Place each connector in the designer, or check each opening by hand.
3. 03Know your tallest part. The stack height check counts only the standoff, the board, and the tallest connector placed in the designer. A board file gives no part heights, so its stack height is not checked. Measure anything taller by hand.
4. 04If you have a case already, upload the STL or STEP. If you do not, the designer builds one around your board.

P.2

The fit check

Read the measured number next to the required one.

Steps

1. 01FailA FAIL means a measured number is outside its limit, for example a board larger than the cavity or an opening off center from its connector by more than the tolerance. Fix it before ordering. It is the cheapest fix you will make.
2. 02WarnA WARN means the report found something to look at, such as a tight clearance, a hole off its standoff or an undersized opening. A check it could not run is marked NOT VERIFIED. Read the line and decide before you order.
3. 03Not verifiedA NOT VERIFIED means the check did not run on what you gave it, so nothing was measured there: openings for a board file with no connector positions, part heights a board file does not carry, or the inside of an STL case. Check that point by hand, or place the parts in the designer and run the check again.
4. 04An STL shows only the outside of a case, so the report says the interior is unknown and compares outside sizes only. A STEP gives an estimate of the inside from an assumed wall thickness, and the report marks it as an estimate. Only a case made in the designer is measured exactly.
5. 05Run the check again after every change. Each run is its own fit check, and each report is kept, so you can compare.

P.3

The quote and the review

You see a rate card estimate in seconds. A person confirms it before anything is committed.

Steps

1. 01The instant estimate is priced from your project: boards, a case made in the designer, a service line, and a fixed operator review line. Parts and assembly are priced only when a board file lists the parts, so a board made only in the designer, or a Gerber outline, has neither line. A case uploaded as STL or STEP is not priced.
2. 02When you approve, the order goes to a Safegrows operator. They check the files, the verdict on your latest fit report if you ran one, and the price, and pick the shop. The fit check is a separate order, not a line in the build estimate.
3. 03If something is off, the operator sends it back with a note and a revised number, and you approve again.
4. 04Once the operator approves, the shop sees the job. You see every stage move in your order history.

P.4

During the build

Fabrication, assembly, testing, shipping. Each stage lands in your history with a note.

Steps

1. 01Fabrication is the boards and the case. Assembly is parts placed and the unit cased. Testing is power on and a photo record.
2. 02You will not be asked for decisions mid build unless a part is unavailable. Then you get the cheaper alternative suggestions.
3. 03Shipping adds tracking to the order. Delivered closes it.

P.5

Your design stays yours

Your projects open only for you and Safegrows operators.

Steps

1. 01A shop sees only what is shared for its job, after the operator review, and nothing from your other projects.
2. 02Files you upload, and boards saved from the tscircuit board editor, are encrypted at rest when encryption is switched on. Designs made in the designer, the geometry read from your files, fit reports, and generated fab files are not encrypted yet.
3. 03The board editor routes on our servers. Text to CAD runs server side with the vendor's training opt out on.