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KiCad 7.0

kicad.org

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Re: KiCad 7.0

#51

Post by _fizz_buzz_ »

cdcarter wrote: post #2

A built in command line interface for exporting BOMs/netlists/gerbers is incredible. It's probably not going to be as powerful as Ki-Bot at first, but I'm going to try and integrate it into my GitHub actions asap. And, the new dragging behavior is obviously what we should have had from the start. Going to make doing quick drawings much easier.

Is there a good guide how to use git with kicad? Right now I just copy folders with version numbers. Using it in github sounds like a neat way. Which files should be in my gitignore?

Re: KiCad 7.0

#52

Post by bmitc »

bogantech wrote: post #44
bmitc wrote: post #40

Interesting timing. Just yesterday I downloaded KiCad and CircuitMaker. I want to start documenting a circuit design, mainly piecing together schematics from application notes. Does anyone have any suggestions on any other options or what was selected among the options?

As someone who has used CircuitMaker a lot id say don't even bother with it and use KiCad instead. Since KiCad v6 I can't think of anything CM does better, on top of that the CM forums are full of spam and it seems obvious that Altium have effectively abandoned it. I switched when KiCad 6 came out and haven't looked back - I can have as many custom parts I want and I don't need to upload my design to the cloud to gen…

Thanks for the feedback. I'll give KiCad a whirl then.

Re: KiCad 7.0

#54

Post by awjlogan »

dmoreno wrote: post #53

Just donated 15€! Thanks Kicad team!

If you're in Europe, then order your PCBs from Aisler (no affliation). They are a sponsor of KiCad, and you can add a small donation on each order. Direct upload of KiCad files, good turnaround time, and decent prices.

Re: KiCad 7.0

#55

Post by bootloop »

I always used EAGLE for my PCB work in the past but just recently I started a new project, after many years not touching any PCB design, for which I need to make a PCB and gave KiCad a go.

Most of the things work fine but the managing of part libraries I found extremely confusing and not really intuitive: e.g. different library file formats for schematics and footprints or the standard libraries being located and hidden behind some PATH variables..

Regardless, I think it is a great piece of software and I am looking forward to make more use of it in the future!

Re: KiCad 7.0

#56

Post by OJFord »

magicalhippo wrote: post #43
bbayer wrote: post #8

I want to learn PCB design, mostly with ARM and ESP based designs. How would I learn basics? I know theory part but I really couldn't figure out why they determine which component and which value they have to use. I mean there are resistors, capacitors all over the place but I really want to learn reason behind it. Also I guess there are some basics related power, battery, UART, USB etc. Is there any source that cove…

> I mean there are resistors, capacitors all over the place but I really want to learn reason behind it. There are some good YouTube channels that go into this. EEVBlog[1] has made a lot of really nice videos about the fundamentals, as has w2aew[2]. And I found MicroType Engineering[3] to be a good source of practical information on designing circuits. Capacitors next to ICs are almost always for decoupling[4]. Simil…

Also Phil's Lab, especially for PCB design specifically (though he covers schematics too, I'd say it's typically not as beginner-friendly/a faster-paced run-through so you understand what he's laying out).

Re: KiCad 7.0

#58

Post by c0nsumer »

bootloop wrote: post #55

I always used EAGLE for my PCB work in the past but just recently I started a new project, after many years not touching any PCB design, for which I need to make a PCB and gave KiCad a go. Most of the things work fine but the managing of part libraries I found extremely confusing and not really intuitive: e.g. different library file formats for schematics and footprints or the standard libraries being located and hid…

I'm in the same situation. Did a bunch of stuff with (legal, not cheap) EAGLE in the past. But for my next projects (whenever they come around) I'm planning on KiCad because it's so much more mature now.

Re: KiCad 7.0

#59

Post by Pet_Ant »

varispeed wrote: post #45
hales wrote: post #7

> Pack & Move Footprint Tool This is the biggest usability improvement on the list. Computers are good at menial sorting, humans hate it. For those not in the know: your nice, organised schematic gets turned into a randomly assorted pile of parts when you first open the PCB editor. Now imagine your board has over a hundred parts, including lots of duplicated copy+pasted bits. My workarounds have been to: 1. Number th…

I wish they made migration easier. I'll probably use KiCad 7.0 for new projects, but for old I think I need to stick with 5.1. When I import most projects to 6.0, I get so many errors, violations and whatnot that make no sense when taking a closer look so I just don't trust it.

Did you report those? Even try to make a minimal reproducible file that triggers the error? Might be a simple thing they can fix if pointed in the right direction.

Re: KiCad 7.0

#60

Post by spyremeown »

OJFord wrote: post #56
magicalhippo wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mean there are resistors, capacitors all over the place but I really want to learn reason behind it. There are some good YouTube channels that go into this. EEVBlog[1] has made a lot of really nice videos about the fundamentals, as has w2aew[2]. And I found MicroType Engineering[3] to be a good source of practical information on designing circuits. Capacitors next to ICs are almost always for decoupling[4]. Simil…

Also Phil's Lab , especially for PCB design specifically (though he covers schematics too, I'd say it's typically not as beginner-friendly/a faster-paced run-through so you understand what he's laying out).

As an EE I can vouch 100 times for Phil's Lab. He really knows his stuff and honestly is as close to the actual job as it can get.
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