Bitmap2Component

Layout
1

Hey gang,

So I wanna have some fun and use the Bitmap2Component tool, but the .mod files it outputs aren’t working for me. Whenever I try to import it into the PCBnew module editor, it says “Not a module file”. Anyone have any luck using this tool? for some reason the .mod file shows up with a windows media player icon

2

I struggled with this recently, but found this instructional article very helpful
http://www.re-innovation.co.uk/web12/index.php/en/blog-75/230-adding-logo-to-kicad
Also, note the link at the bottom to
http://img2mod.wayneandlayne.com/

As for the Media Player icon,well, .mod is also a type of music file, so Windows will assume that’s what it is and use the appropriate icon. Obviously a KiCad image file won’t play in WMP, but as long as you don’t try to open from Windows Explorer, you’ll be fine.

3

Thanks! I’ll give this a shot, looks like the instructions are pretty thorough

4

Those instructions are what I used when I was learning as well. I made a video about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZXUQ-x0Pw0

5

I know this might be an old thread but I’m having an issue with blurry images after I import. Is there something I’m doing wrong?

6

Perhaps the bitmap file you are using is too small ? maybe the algorithm is stretching it out…just a guess !

7

its 270 x 157 pixels. It cant be any bigger otherwise it wont fit on my board, i’m not sure what I need to do. A large image works fine, other images I use work fine, but not the one that is my logo or the size I need. Is there a way to resize within kicad? I dont get why this is such a hard thing to do when other images work just fine.

8

[quote=“cameronbelt, post:7, topic:184”]
its 270 x 157 pixels. It cant be any bigger otherwise it wont fit on my board
[/quote]I’d use a larger image to get it crisper. You can get the footprint to be any size you like by changing the values in the Resolution x/y DPI boxes near the top of the Bitmap2Component screen.

Typically I’ll create a single 1 bit image file, and from that create a bunch of different dimensioned logos for the silkscreen to suit different situations, just by changing the resultion to be higher which scales the output size to be smaller (the changes show in the pixels and mm dimensions above the values you change).

Geoff

9

That worked exactly how I wanted it to. The issue was the image I had was too small, and I had no idea how to resize within kicad. But now I will be able to create a larger image then scale down without losing much quality.
Thanks.