Apparatus and method for compensating for distortion of a printed circuit workpiece substrate

The present invention relates, in general, to the production of printed circuit components and, in particular, to an apparatus and a method for compensating for distortions in the size of substrates of printed circuit workpieces by which the functional circuit features that are to be developed on the printed circuit component are expanded or contracted depending upon the nature of the distortion. Apparatus and method for compensating for distortion of the substrate of a printed circuit workpiece that involves performing two tasks. First, a mask that carries functional circuit features and alignment features is positioned rotatably so that the mask alignment features, when projected onto a table that holds the printed circuit workpiece, will be on a line extending parallel to one of two orthogonal axes of the table. Second, the spacing of alignment features on the printed circuit workpiece is determined and this determination is a measure of the distortion of the printed circuit workpiece substrate. A lens through which the mask image is projected is moved to adjust the magnification of the image in accordance with the measured distortion of the substrate of the printed circuit workpiece.