I just got to the part in the Chris tutorial where he starts to go into the gerber file renaming for Oshpark.
Before I started that, I went over to Oshpark and had a read. It seems that they will take Kicad files directly without the tedious file renaming. is that the case ?
Re the design rules. do I need to remember them for each PCB manufacturer, and enter them accordingly ?
When drawing edges, and I guess the traces as well, I click to start, then, if I have to make a turn or am at a corner, click once again ? It seemed that if I just changed direction, the line would go diagonally.
When drawing edges, if I overshoot the end or stop too short, do I need to redraw the complete box ?
Lots of times when I am drawing a connection, the O from a resistor, capacitor, etc., where the connection is to terminate or begin turns into a small square rather than disappear. I have been deleting the connection and redrawing it until I got it right. Is that proper or could I have left it as
is ? What can I do to prevent this ?
I don’t recall exactly what I was doing but it had to do with drawing a box around the complete board and filling it all in. Sometimes when drawing the box, and this box is on top of the edge box, the lines do not exactly correspond to the edge. They might be a small bit inside or not quite parallel to the edge. I have been erasing them and redrawing but is that necessary ?
I can only talk about opengl canvas as i never used legacy:
For graphical polygons (edge cut) you can use the crtl key to activate the k*45° mode.
With the interactive router, you can lay down long traces semi automatically. (left click does fix what you have laid down until now.)
I assume you are talking about the schematic here. If there is a sqare at the end of a wire, then you have not made a connection. Wires in eeschema only snap to the grid so make sure you use a grid that can connect your symbol pins. For the official lib you should use 50mil grid.
Are you talking about filled zones here?
I think they fill with a small offset to the edge cut and should therefore be parallel to it. But if the zone outline is too far away then it will just fill to the outline it self.
If a manufacturer tells you they take KiCad files, then they will take them. Just be sure the information is up to date.
Each manufacturer has their own requirements, try to find them in their website.
I believe you mean the board layout editor (pcbnew) here. I recommend using the GAL canvas - use the View menu to switch to the OpenGL canvas, if it’s not active already. You can use an interactive router. It tries to find a good route for you. At each point where you are you can click and it will come the next fixed point which isn’t moved automatically. Just play around a little and you will find out how it works.
If you mean the board edges on Egde.Cuts layer - no, each line segment is separate.
Do you mean the schematics editor? There you can start a new line where you left off, no problem. I don’t see a need to prevent it, it’s normal behavior and often what we want.
What do you mean by “box”? A filled polygon (not a group of line segments)?
Yes, OSHPark will accept KiCAD files directly now. No need to generate the gerbers!
Most fabs will accept PCBs made with the same rules as OSHPark, but it doesn’t hurt to check. Sometimes, when traces or drill sizes are small, you have to pay a small premium.
Yes, left click add a node to a segmented line, right click ends the line.
You don’t need to start with a completely new shape; simply delete the segment that is too long.
A small unfilled square indicates that the end of a connection/line is not connected. I don’t know why this is happening to frequently. You must end the connection on a terminal of a component.
I don’t fully understand what you’re describing, sorry.
With Oshpark you can just generate your gerber files using Kicad, zip them up and then upload directly on to their site - if there are any issues it will tell you. This is also a quick way to test your files to make sure your board looks as expected from the gerbers as they show you a graphical preview once they have read the zip in.
When I last tested this a couple of weeks ago the gerbers Kicad generated worked without issue and did not need any name changes. The previews shown were exactly as I was expecting (I was using the latest nightly version of Kicad).
Yes, it is the filled zones. One of these days I will remember these.
When I was trying to follow Chris, my fill zone box was far from symmetrical so I paused the video until I got it close.
Use the grid settings.
Placing zones, drawing the edge cut polygon, placing mounting holes and similar things where you don’t need a very fine grid can be done in a grid like 0.5 or even 1mm spacing.
Getting the grid settings correct was causing me grief when I was trying to line things up. I will try again tomorrow taking into consideration what I have learned here.