How is this done?
The only way I am aware of is by pressing “CTRL,” but that’s impossible to use in practice with any efficiency.
Thank you.
Shift+Space switches between free angle mode and restricted modes.
I see no effect in how the design environment behaves when I do that. Is this on a more recent version? (I am on 5.1.5-3) Or maybe we’re talking about different things?
I think the default assumption of most people who read posts here is that v7 is meant, unless the version is explicitly stated.
Even V5 reached 5.1.12 with a huge number of bug fixes since your version
V6 and then V7 added many new features
I get the versioning progress and all that, but I’m apprehensive about all the designs I have in prior versions (a bunch of boards). Folklore seems to indicate it can be problematic for current or prior projects if one upgrades.
I could use some input though, maybe I am apprehensive for no good reason.
Firstly, what is your OS? The current Kicad will not work on some older OSs.
The only problems that may occur are:
When you upgrade to a newer version, old projects, when saved in the new version are no longer able to be opened in the old version.
To overcome this problem if you are not happy with the new version, use your OS to make copies of old projects then open and save only the copies in the new version.
When you download a new version, always make sure you download the libraries. A pop-up box asks this question. You should select the “Recommended” box.
Personal libraries will need to be added via your Symbol and Footprint managers. If you have difficulties with this if/when the time comes, there is plenty of available help here.
That is about all the problems likely apart from your OS.
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Seconding @jmk reply and adding that as your V5 is a very buggy early version of V5.1, it is very important to make a full backup of everything first.
If you are on Windows, you can have V5,6 and 7 installed in parallel
I think this was changed between 5 and 6. In my opinion the modifier key system was good and I don’t like changing the mode with Shift+Space so much
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The same major version number - the same file format and the same user interface.
If you upgrade from 5.1.5 to 5.1.12 you will have no problems except much less bugs in program you use.
If you decide to go to V7 my advice is to go through V6. When I installed V6 I just opened all my V5 projects and all symbol libraries and saved them. Then When I installed V7 I did the same. Then I sow here someone had a problems when he jumped from V5 directly to V7 and when he folloved my way he did it successfully.
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Thank you all for your input. I’m planning this upgrade, though very weary or issues that may occur. Most importantly, the custom footprints and symbols I have - I am still trying to get a good handle of how to make sure I won’t overwrite them when default libraries will be deployed during the upgrade process.
You just need to make sure they are not stored in the same place as the KiCad-provided libraries. If you’ve been editing the KiCad-provided libraries directly, it may be worth copying everything out to Documents or similar for sorting out after the upgrade. In v6 and v7, KiCad-provided libraries are intended to be read-only to force everyone to use custom libraries that won’t be overwritten on upgrade.
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For some reason, I’m having a hard time tracking down upgrade instructions. Can anyone please give me a bit of direction? Thank you much in advance.
My plan is to backup all libraries to a sandbox folder, perform the upgrade to, first, v6, then v7.
Alternately - and more conservatively - I may first jump to the last stable built of v5 (5.1.12?..) and try to wrap up my project first before more massive endeavors.
The reason for the renewed efforts to upgrade is that my Edge.Cuts boundary seems to experience some issues in this one project which I don’t seem to be able to resolve by redrawing the linework and making sure it’s a closed loop. I assume the buggy version I am still using may be the cause.
I strongly encourage upgrading to 5.1.12, it won’t hurt and can only help. Not sure whether that will help your Edge.Cuts boundary issues without knowing more, but definitely worth it in general.
The older versions are easily downloaded for Windows and Mac from https://downloads.kicad.org/kicad/windows/explore/stable and https://downloads.kicad.org/kicad/macos/explore/stable respectively. Scroll in the list to find 5.1.12 (it is sorted for me below 5.1.2). The installers should “just work”. On Windows, you should be able to install 5.1.12 on top of your existing v5 just by running the installer. On Mac, you just copy the application from the disk image on top of the existing application in /Applications.
(If you are upgrading to v6 / v7, Windows installers will not overwrite previous major versions, but the Mac installation process is more manual and requires you to make/rename folders in /Applications to keep the versions separate.)
If you are in the middle of a big project, seems reasonable to me to wait before upgrading further. Once you are ready though, you “should” be able to go straight to the most recent stable version, currently 7.0.6. In practice, it may be worth going through 6.0.11 first and importing your active projects and libraries into v6 and then doing that process again in v7.
Just open and save design files in the next version to change the format. For libraries, you have to add them to the library table in Footprint/Symbol Libraries and “Migrate Libraries” with the button on the bottom right.
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Thank you very much, scandey.
I’ll give it a shot, but only after wrapping up this impending step with the project with the warning. About that - I tried uploading the gerbers to jlcpcb and the KiCad file to OSH Park, and their viewers both seem to show the cutouts I expect. Even the gerber viewer from within the KiCad package sees those cutouts. It’s only Pcbnew that gives me the error and doesn’t see the Edge.Cuts cutouts. So I deem it’s a bug.
I decided to go ahead with a jlcpcb order and keep my fingers crossed until I have the boards delivered. Once I get those back and see myself underway with my project, I can go ahead and get my package updated to v7.
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