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Don’t print PCBs at the 3D Printing Center in E5. These are typically poor quality.
Make sure that solder-mask clearance is set such that there is solder-mask between component pads (pay attention to fine-pitched components) and that there is no mask on the pads themselves.
Thoroughly check the Gerber files for the board before you send them out for fabrication:
Check the copper layers and ensure that there are no unintended connections.
Make sure that all pours that should be connected are, especially if you manually stitched together different parts of the pour.
Make sure that the solder-mask appears the way you expect it to (Note: the places where solder-mask is shown is actually where there isn’t solder-mask).
Use SMD pads that are longer than you need. KiCad has specific footprints whose names end in HandSoldering, which have extended pads for easier hand-soldering (e.g. use ”R 0805 HandSoldering” instead of ”R 0805”).
BGA components can’t be hand-soldered. We have a reflow oven, but laying paste and inspection will be difficult to impossible. Avoid BGA packages if you plan to assemble by hand. QFN packages can be assembled by hand using the reflow oven, but it is very very difficult, avoid if possible.
Don’t batch assemble boards (if you are making multiple) when they arrive. You will be less inclined to change your design if you notice small bugs if you’ve already committed lots of components (which are worth far more than the cheap boards) to this design. Build one, test to death, then decide whether to make another revision or to assemble the rest.
See also: PCBs