Example:
Does this drawing has a technical name?
I see that people usually call these drawings "PCB". But, PCB is physical object, physical implementation of circuit, isn't it? Is these kind of drawings really called "PCB", or do they have a special name?
I would also call the drawing you show a "PCB layout", as it obviously isn't the PCB object. But like Wouter already indicated the definition of a PCB contains a lot more information that the copper pattern shown. First, this is just one layer, there could be a second copper pattern on the top/bottom side (for PTH the default copper layer is bottom, for SMT it's top), and inner layers, up to about 20 in the extreme.
In general you won't find a drawing that includes tracks/pads and drillings, because that's already too much information for one drawing. The drillings drawing will show a series of different markers, like +, x, T, etc, for different hole diameters. Usually you'll have 1 drill drawing, since the hole will go through all layers in most cases. If you have the wallet for it you can have blind or buried vias, and the the drilling will be different for each layer.
My drawings start with the board outline, and that's often a pretty boring drawing, as it can be just a rectangle, but also a more complex outline like this one
is possible. Each of the component layers will have
So "PCB layout" is only part of the drawings, and in many cases should be called "PCB layout top" or "PCB layout bottom".
The picture you show is the copper side (bottom layer copper) of a PCB. It shows the copper (and the outline). It does not show the drills as such, only the absence of copper that suggests drills at certain places. A real drill picture could for instance also show drills at the corners that are not surrounded by copper.
There are many more layers, for instance in rough order of probability:
I think the word you're looking for is Gerber:
The Gerber format is a file format used by printed circuit board (PCB) industry software to describe the images of a printed circuit board (copper layers, solder mask, legend, drill holes, etc.). The Gerber format is the de-facto industry standard for printed circuit board image transfer.
Gerber files are actually ASCII text files:
G75*
G70*
%OFA0B0*%
%FSLAX24Y24*%
%IPPOS*%
%LPD*%
%AMOC8*5,1,8,0,0,1.08239X$1,22.5*%
%ADD10C,0.0080*%
D10*
X000281Y000835D02*
X002472Y006196D01*
M02*
But programs used to view Gerber files create images like this one you've shown and this one:
The programs create those images for human consumption. But the ASCII is read just fine by the CAM Machines used to create the PCBs.
From What is a Gerber File?:
In many ways, Gerber is the electronics world's equivalent of PDF. This odd little format, a hybrid machine control language and image, is a core component of the electronics manufacturing supply chain.
I would call it a "[PCB] layout". It's still somewhat a general term, but applies to your picture better than just "PCB".
It's called a layout. Or a PCB layout. Or a PCB design. Specifically, it's a copper layer from a design. I don't know what else you would call it.
This is an old question, but I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the term artwork. Artwork is the traditional term for the actual graphical pattern to be printed and etched to a circuit board or an integrated circuit.
Nowadays it's old-fashioned and most people simply call it the "PCB layout". But artwork is still a valid, unambiguous term that is recognized by most people in the industry.
For example, an old advertisement in an electronics trade journal (1998) says:
The designer needs to send the CAD data in Gerber format, which is done by rurming the CAD data through a Gerber post processor and outputting the data in Gerber format. A net-list, with drill files usually in Excellon format, will specify the apertures and will be used to drive the NC machines. Drawings or artwork for each layer of the PCB will be used by the photo-tooling machines to expose copper for the tracks. Gerber data is typically provided in vector format, but today raster plotters can rasterize vector data.
I guess the usage of this term declined as most people find that calling a piece of electrical design a work of art is somewhat strange [1], but the word actually has a technical sense. Merrier-Webster Dictionary defines it as...
Artwork: (2)(b) material (such as a drawing or photograph) prepared for reproduction in printed matter.
I think the term originated from the printing industry.
[1] Well, I acknowledge that creating layouts for high-speed, precision, space or layer restricted devices can certainly be an art, but most circuit boards are not that unusual.
