Subject: Re: Some questions on how to best use kicad - msg#00005

List: cad.kicad.user

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These are many of the same complaints I've had. I filed a wishlist
request for this.

The big problem is that, just like gEDA, kicad's components aren't
integrated enough. cvpcb shouldn't exist at all, and eeschema parts
should be associated with pcbnew footprints. Importing an eeschema
design into pcbnew should yield all the default footprints, which can
be changed on-the-fly to alternate footprints (SMT, different
orientation, etc.). There should be no reason to manually choose
footprints every time a design is imported into pcbnew. Kicad really
needs this if it is to ever compete with the professional packages.

It would definitely be nice if they had a way of adding more parts to
the official libraries included with the main distribution.

--- In kicad-users-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "degrootc"
<degrootc@...> wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I have been using kicad for a couple weeks now in my spare time. I
> have a couple questions I would like to get some feedback on from
> people who have been using it for a while.
>
> 1. Mapping from schema components to part footprints. I have seen the
> tutorial where this is done in cvpcb, but that is ok for a once off,
> but no good for a design you want to iterate on. So I have been
> putting the footprint reference in the [Component
> Properties]->Fields->Footprint Value. This is great because it
> pre-populates cvpcb. But is it a best practice or should I look into
> the equivalence files?
>
> 2. It seems to me that I would like to select my footprint libraries
> and equivalence files depending on my expected physical output. For
> example I may design a circuit and test it out using an at home toner
> transfer method where I want to have nice large oval pads and wider
> spacing, maybe through hole rather then smt components ect. But then
> once it is working and I am comfortable I would want to change my
> target output to a PCB manufacturing shop and I could use smaller
> pads, finer clearance and smt devices. Is there a way of doing this
> kind of thing in Kicad? I seem to spend a lot of time altering
> footprint libraries to be more suitable to home made PCB's but I will
> want to switch back to the standard footprints at some stage.
>
> 3. How does the kicad project manage part libraries. There are parts
> missing from the core download though they are sometimes available
> elsewhere. Is there a way for contributors to submit parts for peer
> review and inclusion in the product build? Also it seems that there
> are a couple libraries that are delivered but are not used by default.
> What are they for?
>
> Many thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Kind Regards C.
>

Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your
question.
Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of
Kicad.
Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your
symbols/modules to the kicad library.
For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the
kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel

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newbie question - how to setup a schematic hierarchy

Subject says it all - new project how do I setup for a schematic that spans several pages and how do I add pages as I go along John Luckey Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel

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Re: Re: Some questions on how to best use kicad

On 3 Oct 2007 at 16:57, Dan wrote: > These are many of the same complaints I've had. I filed a wishlist > request for this. > > The big problem is that, just like gEDA, kicad's components aren't > integrated enough. cvpcb shouldn't exist at all, and eeschema parts > should be associated with pcbnew footprints. Importing an eeschema > design into pcbnew should yield all the default footprints, which can > be changed on-the-fly to alternate footprints (SMT, different > orientation, etc.). There should be no reason to manually choose > footprints every time a design is imported into pcbnew. Kicad really > needs this if it is to ever compete with the professional packages. > > It would definitely be nice if they had a way of adding more parts to > the official libraries included with the main distribution. > > In eeschema, open the Library Editor. If you go to "Fields", one of the fields is the footprint. This is blank in the supplied libraries. If you type the name of a footprint, that footprint will then be applied to that part and will show when you run cvpcb. I think they didn't put a footprint in because there are so many for each part. For example, a resistor. Would you put 0805, through leads, 0402, 1205 or what ?? In pcbnew, footprints can be changed. Right click on the footprint and select "edit". You can then change to a different footprint for either just that instance or for all instances of that footprint on the board. For example, if you had resistors with 1206 footprints, you could change one or all of them to 0604 footprints. Dave - WB6DHW <http://wb6dhw.com> Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel

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Some questions on how to best use kicad

Hi All, I have been using kicad for a couple weeks now in my spare time. I have a couple questions I would like to get some feedback on from people who have been using it for a while. 1. Mapping from schema components to part footprints. I have seen the tutorial where this is done in cvpcb, but that is ok for a once off, but no good for a design you want to iterate on. So I have been putting the footprint reference in the [Component Properties]->Fields->Footprint Value. This is great because it pre-populates cvpcb. But is it a best practice or should I look into the equivalence files? 2. It seems to me that I would like to select my footprint libraries and equivalence files depending on my expected physical output. For example I may design a circuit and test it out using an at home toner transfer method where I want to have nice large oval pads and wider spacing, maybe through hole rather then smt components ect. But then once it is working and I am comfortable I would want to change my target output to a PCB manufacturing shop and I could use smaller pads, finer clearance and smt devices. Is there a way of doing this kind of thing in Kicad? I seem to spend a lot of time altering footprint libraries to be more suitable to home made PCB's but I will want to switch back to the standard footprints at some stage. 3. How does the kicad project manage part libraries. There are parts missing from the core download though they are sometimes available elsewhere. Is there a way for contributors to submit parts for peer review and inclusion in the product build? Also it seems that there are a couple libraries that are delivered but are not used by default. What are they for? Many thanks in advance for your help. Kind Regards C. Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel

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