Extract text from PCB netlists and data files (IPC)
To convert IPC data files to another format, you need Autodesk EAGLE or other Cad software.
To convert other file formats to the "PCB Manufacturing Data" file type, you need software like Autodesk EAGLE or a similar tool.
The .ipc file extension primarily represents a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) electrical test netlist formatted according to the IPC-D-356 standard. These files store bare-board testing data, including component coordinates, drill sizes, top/bottom layer definitions, and test points. They are generated by electronics design automation (EDA) software like Autodesk EAGLE and Proteus. A secondary but critical use case is the Apache Arrow IPC format, a highly efficient memory-mapped binary data structure used by the Apache Arrow project for high-speed data analytics.
The problem with PCB .ipc files is that they rely on rigid, legacy column-based text formatting. While technically readable in a text editor, interpreting the raw coordinate data without expensive CAD CAM viewers is extremely difficult for non-engineers. Similarly, Apache Arrow .ipc files are binary and completely inaccessible without a specific programming environment (such as Python, R, or C++), making quick data inspection impossible for the average user.
To share PCB netlists with stakeholders or manufacturers who lack CAD tools, convert the .ipc to TXT or CSV for readable tabular data, or PDF for fixed-layout archiving. For Apache Arrow files, converting to CSV or .Parquet makes the data universally accessible for standard data science workflows.
Convert.Guru analyzes your IPC file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted GBR, JPEG, TXT, PDF, SDOCX, LYT, NGB-DS3, NGB-TAA and BNS files.
If you want to convert IPC file to BNS, CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT or DB, you can use Autodesk EAGLE or similar software from the "PCB Electrical Test Netlist" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to IPC, try Autodesk EAGLE or another comparable tool in the "PCB Electrical Test Netlist" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our IPC converter.