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Core concepts
Soldermask
The green (or black/red/blue) lacquer covering the board, with holes only where pads need solder.
How it looks
Real image: CORE3588, rendered by KiCad from our board file
Soldermask on CORE3588, top side, 6 x 5 mm. The green lacquer covers everything except the pads.
- 1Olive: coating over copper (here a track).
- 2Darker green ring: coating over bare board, no copper underneath.
- 3A window in the coating: the gold pad is exposed so it can be soldered or probed.
How it works
Where it fits
Mask sits between the copper and the silkscreen. The windows are in the Gerber mask layers; the finish on the exposed pads is ENIG or HASL.