I have laid out my most commonly used templates for 125b‘s in eagle so I have one for 3 knob, 4 knob etc. it took me a while and i just pull up the template I want to build off of and measuring out pots etc every time is already done. I have tried to import some of these into Kicad to play around with it and for the most part its fine. The issue I am having is when i go to the pcb editor my pots etc are in the right place but when i update from the schematic with all of the other components added it wants to group them all together and I have to replace them on my board. it defeats the purpose of all my work starting from a template. Anyone have suggestions? I havent figured out the template part of Kicad yet. Its on my list of reading and maybe that is the key but I thought I would ask first.
Templates from Eagle
- Thread starter Audandash
- Start date
Brett
Well-known member
Here's what I do:
Open the footprint editor, create new footprint, and set the grid to something useful, like 5mils.
For each footprint, I have an enclosure internal wall outline, external wall outline, and screw locations (all in User.Drawings layer).
I mark the center of the enclosure as both the grid center and origin point using this tool:
Plot all centers for all controls, switches, etc. on the footprint using line and circle graphics (also in the User.Drawings layer).
Make sure that there's no text on the footprint that's not in the User.Drawings layer. Edit the footprint attributes so that it's not included in the BOM, etc. using settings like these:
Save the footprint for later use.
Build the project's schematic, assign footprints*, run ERC, etc. until it's where it needs to be, then open PCB new.
*Make sure that the footprints you're using for potentiometers and other controls are shaft-centered, not pin-centered. Also make sure that your grid in PCB new is set to a value divisible by the same grid that you used for the layout footprint you created (5 mil is often the smallest I go for TH stuff).
Inside PCB new, click to add a component. Add the new layout footprint created earlier.
After placing the layout footprint, go ahead and mark the center of the layout footprint as both the grid center and origin point using the same tool used in the footprint builder.
Then, updating PCB from schematic, it brings in all of the footprints, select the footprint and drag it to the point marked for the control in the footprint builder. Click the component, type E, and check to make sure that its coordinates are in the right spot.
I hope this helps!
Open the footprint editor, create new footprint, and set the grid to something useful, like 5mils.
For each footprint, I have an enclosure internal wall outline, external wall outline, and screw locations (all in User.Drawings layer).
I mark the center of the enclosure as both the grid center and origin point using this tool:
Plot all centers for all controls, switches, etc. on the footprint using line and circle graphics (also in the User.Drawings layer).
Make sure that there's no text on the footprint that's not in the User.Drawings layer. Edit the footprint attributes so that it's not included in the BOM, etc. using settings like these:
Save the footprint for later use.
Build the project's schematic, assign footprints*, run ERC, etc. until it's where it needs to be, then open PCB new.
*Make sure that the footprints you're using for potentiometers and other controls are shaft-centered, not pin-centered. Also make sure that your grid in PCB new is set to a value divisible by the same grid that you used for the layout footprint you created (5 mil is often the smallest I go for TH stuff).
Inside PCB new, click to add a component. Add the new layout footprint created earlier.
After placing the layout footprint, go ahead and mark the center of the layout footprint as both the grid center and origin point using the same tool used in the footprint builder.
Then, updating PCB from schematic, it brings in all of the footprints, select the footprint and drag it to the point marked for the control in the footprint builder. Click the component, type E, and check to make sure that its coordinates are in the right spot.
I hope this helps!
Holy crap, I was hoping it was just a box I needed to click or something, lol. I appreciate the detail you put into this. I will certainly give it a whirl. It seems like it may be a pain once type deal though so it may not be to bad if I do it right. I was just trying to make it a little easier learning a new program so I didn‘t have to relearn every step I am used to. If I understand what you are saying I am making markers so I know where to drag my pots, power etc… to a designated place? Does this work for the board outline itself or will I have to redraw it each time?
