It's been about 6 years since I last etched a PC board. The best results I got were from rub-on traces and pads that Radio Shack used to carry. Even those I had to touch up with permanent marker. 3M Scotch tape worked perfectly.
I tried a pre-sensitized positive photoresist board at school once. I used a CAD program with a flood-fill tool to design a beautiful new replacement board for a 13V/5A power supply, used the school's transparency machine to make a copy of the laser printout, and exposed it under a regular light bulb. Unfortunately the unexposed resist rinsed off about 3 seconds after the exposed
, sending me back to square one with the rub-on transfer,Scotch tape, and marker method. 
I haven't etched anything since, hoping for an easier (and still cheap) way to get more professional results.
I tried a pre-sensitized positive photoresist board at school once. I used a CAD program with a flood-fill tool to design a beautiful new replacement board for a 13V/5A power supply, used the school's transparency machine to make a copy of the laser printout, and exposed it under a regular light bulb. Unfortunately the unexposed resist rinsed off about 3 seconds after the exposed
, sending me back to square one with the rub-on transfer,Scotch tape, and marker method. I haven't etched anything since, hoping for an easier (and still cheap) way to get more professional results.
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