Fan of bare printed circuit boards showing multilayer, gold-plated, black mask, and flexible constructions

What the board configurator prices, and what an engineer decides.

Illuminious is a U.S. NPI engineering company. Standard PCB fabrication covers rigid FR-4 and aluminum-core boards, and this page is the capability sheet for what the board configurator prices without an engineer's involvement. Engineered in San Francisco. Prototype builds, DFM and mass production in our own factory in Shenzhen. Upload your files, get a free engineering review, and pay only the official quote that review publishes.

You choose layer count, material, copper, finish and feature size in the configurator. Whether that mix can be built together is what an engineer settles before the boards are made. The table below shows where the configurator stops and the engineer starts.

Configure it online, or send the job to an engineer. Online, you get a live supplier price, a published tier, or an official quote prepared by a specialist within 24 hours on business days, depending on the service. Engineering review is free either way and comes before you pay.

Payment: Official price after free review
Review target: Within 24 hours on business days after you submit

Talk to an engineer Get instant quote

No CAD yet? Our design team can take it from a sketch or a spec.

The configurator opens with this configuration preselected. An engineer reviews every order. Account required; engineering review is free and comes before payment.

Which board features can the configurator price on its own?

Checking a construction is supported before preparing files
Comparing standard against advanced board requirements
Understanding which choices trigger engineering review
Planning a build where fabrication and assembly are quoted together

Typical orders: Prototype through production quantities. Capacity and lead time for a given construction are confirmed in review.
Accepted files: A Gerber fabrication archive is required. Add a BOM and centroid or pick-and-place file when assembly is selected. Drawings, stack-up notes, programming files, and test instructions upload to the same project.
Payment basis: Official price after free review
Not ready to configure?: How PCB manufacturing worksHow PCB assembly works
Preparation workbook: Download the intake workbook

The choices that decide the part.

Each of these is a real configuration decision with a cost and a consequence, not a feature list. Where one of them constrains another, engineering review is the step that resolves it.

Board construction

Standard FR-4, high-Tg FR-4, or aluminum core, at 2 to 12 layers, 5–600 mm per side, in finished thicknesses from 0.6 to 2.4 mm. Ten and twelve layers route to engineering review.

Finish and copper

HASL, lead-free HASL, ENIG, or ENEPIG, with 1, 2, or 3 oz outer copper and green, black, blue, red, white, or yellow solder mask. ENEPIG and 3 oz copper route to review.

Feature capability

Minimum trace and space of 0.15 mm (6 mil), 0.125 mm (5 mil), or 0.10 mm (4 mil), plus controlled impedance, gold fingers, and castellated holes as declared features. The 4 mil band routes to review.

Assembly scope

None, SMT, through-hole, or mixed, on one or two sides, with Illuminious-sourced, consigned, or mixed parts supply. Mixed technology routes to review.

What the configurator prices, and where review takes over.

PCB capabilities capability bounds
Parameter	Supported range
Base material	FR-4 standard, FR-4 high Tg, or aluminum core.
Layer count	2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 layers. Ten and twelve route to engineering review.
Board size and quantity	5–600 mm per side, 1–100,000 boards, 1–50 designs per panel or order.
Finished thickness	0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0, or 2.4 mm.
Surface finish	HASL, lead-free HASL, ENIG, or ENEPIG. ENEPIG routes to review.
Outer copper	1, 2, or 3 oz. Three-ounce copper routes to review.
Minimum trace and space	0.15 mm, 0.125 mm, or 0.10 mm. The 0.10 mm band routes to review.
Declared features	Controlled impedance, gold fingers, and castellated holes.
Assembly	SMT, through-hole, or mixed, on one or two sides, with Illuminious-sourced, consigned, or mixed parts supply.
Beyond these bounds	HDI, microvias, blind and buried vias, rigid-flex, low-loss laminate, and backdrill are the Advanced PCB & PCBA route.

Each row is a configurator option, and every option marked 'routes to review' is one where an engineer looks at your specific design before a price becomes official. That is not a caveat bolted on afterwards — it is how the order flow is built.

Boundaries

Selecting a combination in the configurator is not a manufacturability approval — review confirms the construction as a whole
HDI, blind and buried vias, controlled impedance, rigid-flex, and heavy copper belong to the Advanced PCB route, not this one
Component substitutions are never made silently; every alternate is proposed and approved

How is a standard board price built?

Priced live. Engineering review is free and happens before payment, so nothing is charged to reach this figure. Priced live from supplier quotes for fabrication, SMT, through-hole and mixed assembly on one or both sides, and components, including castellated holes and edge plating. UL marking, gold fingers, assembly with BGA, QFN or parts with a pin pitch under 0.5 mm, other options suppliers do not quote online, and anything a supplier does not price at the moment, such as parts without a priced bill of materials, are quoted by a specialist within 24 hours on business days. Engineering review confirms the vendor quote before payment.

Board area, layer band, quantity, and base material
Copper weight, surface finish, mask, and minimum feature size
Declared features: controlled impedance, gold fingers, castellated holes, electrical test
Assembly setup, placement count, technology mix, and parts-supply model
Programming, functional test, inspection, packaging, and requested lead time

What engineering reviews

Customer approvals may include

Any proposed component substitution
Any changed material, finish, panel, or production file
Any itemized price or lead-time revision

Fabrication package completeness and whether the board outline is unambiguous
Whether the layer, material, copper, finish, drill, and feature set is manufacturable together
Panelization, tooling, and DFM risk
Annular ring, drill-to-copper, and minimum feature margins against the declared class
BOM, placement data, component availability, polarity, and test scope when assembly is selected

Free review first. Keep every later decision explicit.

The fabrication archive you upload is the revision that gets priced and reviewed. Replacing it creates a new revision rather than editing the paid one, so the package that was quoted and the package that was built are always the same.

Create your account
Verify your email before the persistent quote workspace opens. Every file, estimate, message, and payment stays attached to that account.
Configure and upload
Provide service-specific inputs and place technical files in private project storage. Saved drafts remain available across sessions.
Free engineering review
Submit the configured cart at no charge. A reviewer checks the exact file and specification revision, then prices it or opens a documented question or correction request.
Official quote
Review publishes an itemized quote with lead time and a validity window. That is the binding figure; anything shown earlier was a preliminary estimate.
Accept and pay
Accepting opens payment rather than charging you. Lead time is counted from settled payment, and any later itemized revision needs your approval first.
Produce and deliver
After all commercial, technical, and customer gates are complete, the project moves through the service-specific production or design milestones.

Commitments the order system actually enforces.

Price, then engineering review

The online figure prices the construction you declared. A reviewer then reads the actual Gerber package for DFM risk and either confirms it or sends an itemized revision to approve.

Fabrication data stays private

Gerbers, BOMs, and placement files live in per-project storage reached through short-lived authenticated links, tied to your account rather than an email thread.

Review target

Standard board projects are targeted for review one business day after you submit them. Review is free and precedes the official price.

Answers before you upload anything.

How do I know whether I need Standard or Advanced?

If your board is 2–12 layers of FR-4 or aluminum core with through-hole vias and the feature sizes above, Standard is the route. The moment you need HDI, microvias, blind or buried vias, rigid-flex, low-loss laminate, heavy copper beyond 3 oz, or backdrill, it is Advanced — that route exists because those constructions need deeper process planning, not because they cost more.

What does 'routes to review' actually mean for my order?

That an engineer examines that aspect of your design before the price becomes official. Review is free and happens before you are asked to pay. It can confirm the price, ask for information, propose an itemized change, or tell you the design cannot be built as drawn.

Can Illuminious source the components?

Yes. Select Illuminious sourcing, consigned parts, or a mixed model. Availability, lifecycle risk, and any proposed alternate are confirmed during review, and no substitution is made without your approval.

Is the amount at checkout final?

The free engineering review comes first. Depending on the service you see a live supplier price, a published fixed price, or a price from a specialist within 24 hours on business days, and nothing is charged when you submit. After the review we publish an official quote with an itemized total, lead time and a validity window, and that is the amount you are asked to pay. Accepting the official quote opens payment rather than charging you. If a later correction changes scope or price, you see an itemized revision and can approve, question or decline it. We never silently charge an increase.

How is my fabrication data protected?

Your technical files are stored in private project storage and accessed through short-lived authenticated links. Files, prices, replacements and approvals stay tied to your account and keep their revision history.

Price a standard board against these capabilities.

Configure the construction, upload the fabrication package, and a reviewer checks it for DFM risk before you are asked for an official price.

Three lead-time tiers, each with its trade on the line: Economy lengthens the quoted target range and takes a discount line; Standard is the quoted target range at the quoted price; Express shortens it and adds an expedite line. You see the line before you commit, and every range is a target, not a promise.