BRD File

What are BRD files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a BRD file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your BRD files.

What is a BRD file?

BRD files have multiple uses, and BorderMaker Project is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

BorderMaker Project

BorderMaker Project is a saved configuration file for BorderMaker, a free image-processing tool used to add borders, text, watermarks and resize batches of pictures. It holds all settings that define how photos should be decorated and processed, so entire projects can be saved, reused or applied consistently.

This file is written by BorderMaker itself when creating or saving a project. It preserves user preferences such as source folder, destination folder, whether to recurse into subfolders, overwrite behavior, output image format, quality, border thickness on each side, rounded corners, auto-rotate using EXIF data, watermark positioning, text titles, date format, transparency and other visual options. When reopened in BorderMaker, the settings are applied and then BorderMaker reads image files, decorates and outputs the processed images.

Internally the file is an XML-text file beginning with an XML declaration (version="1.0", encoding="UTF-8", standalone="yes") followed by a root element named borderMaker. It contains many configuration tags or attributes such as TITLEPREVIEWBRIGHTNESS, DESTINATIONFOLDERENABLED, OUTPUTFORMAT, JPEGQUALITY, MAXIMUMWIDTH, MAXIMUMHEIGHT, BORDERWIDTHS, FLATTENFOLDERS, ALLOWRELATIVE, POSTCOMMANDENABLED, FILLTRANSPARENCY and others. These internal identifiers allow BorderMaker to parse and apply specific visual, output and file system settings.

How to open BRD files

Important: Different programs may use files with the BRD file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your BRD file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different BRD openers which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 24, 2026

All known file formats using extension .BRD

While BorderMaker Project is a popular type of BRD-file, we know of 5 different uses of the .BRD file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

EAGLE Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Drawing

The .brd is a CAD file created by using EAGLE. EAGLE, short for Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor, is an application primarily used in designing printed circuit boards that are used in many electronic devices and gadgets.

Normally, it is a layout or a blueprint generated to serve as a guide for the actual manufacturing of boards. BRD stands for "board". In other words, the .brd format is found on template files used in designing the circuitry of various devices. The .brd files can be also saved in Excellon drill format. CAM machines (computer-aided manufacturing machines) can recognize the Excellon drill format because the .brd file even when it is already converted contains data for CAE (computer-aided engineering). Therefore, the CAM can actualize the design of the .brd file and create a finished product.

KiCad Pcbnew PCB Layout

KiCad Pcbnew PCB Layout (.BRD) is the legacy ASCII text-format used by KiCad, versions 4.x and earlier, to store the full printed circuit board layout. It includes component placements (footprints), copper copper layers, silkscreen, solder masks, board edges, tracks, vias, zones and design-settings. This format was generated by KiCad's PCB editor (pcbnew) during design of circuit boards.

Files in this .BRD format are created when you save or export your board in an older KiCad project. Newer KiCad versions (since KiCad 4.0) still read these legacy .BRD files but do not write them by default: instead they use .kicad_pcb with the newer "s-expression" format.

Technical details: legacy .BRD files start with an ASCII header such as "PCBNEW-BOARD Version … date …", then use section blocks marked by identifiers like $GENERAL, $SETUP, $TRACK, $ZONE, $MODULE, $ENDMODULE, $ENDBOARD. Units may be in 1⁄10000-inch or in millimetres (floating point) depending on version. File contents include information about layer count, track widths, pad sizes, net names, board outline and graphic segments.

BRD opener for Windows

We have identified one BRD opener that is compatible with this specific type of BRD file.

Landrex/Testlink PCB Layout

Landrex/Testlink PCB Layout is a board-view file format used by the Landrex Test_Link viewer software to describe the physical layout and pin-network associations of a printed circuit board. It provides a simplified representation of where each component's pins are located, the identifier of each pin and part, and which network (signal) each pin belongs to. Its primary purpose is board-level diagnostics and repair rather than enabling full PCB design, routing, or manufacturing.

This format is written by Landrex's Test_Link (Testlink) toolset or similar viewer programs. Once created, the file is used by board-view viewers that display the board outline and allow inspection of pins, components, and signal nets. It does not generally include detailed part or pad outlines, internal routing layers, thickness, trace geometry, or manufacturing-grade design data.

Every file in this format begins with a fixed 32-bit binary signature: the first four bytes at offset zero are hexadecimal 23 E2 63 28 (ASCII roughly "#.c(") which identify it as the Landrex/Testlink .BRD layout format.

Softdesk AdCADD Border Sheet

We know that one BRD format is Softdesk AdCADD Border Sheet. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of BRD files. Remember, different programs may use BRD files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about BRD file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.