Can I Save a 5.1.4 project then open it in 4.7

[Hugh_Gilhespie]

Hi,

First post - complete beginner and not very computer literate so please be kind!

I downloaded 5.1.4 about a month ago and have spent hundreds of hours trying to use it. I have got as far as a schematic but I just can’t make head or tail of associating footprints.
My biggest problem is that the Youtube tutorials I am relying on aren’t relevant to 5.1.4. I think they mainly use version 4. So, as I am dependent on these step by step tutorials I now want to download version 4.7. But I am desperate to keep the schematic and associated files I have generated using 5.1.4. Is this possible and if so, what do I need to do.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Regards, Hugh

[Sprig]

Getting To Blinky 5.0 - Introduction

[Piotr]

@Hugh_Gilhespie

spent hundreds of hours trying to use it.

I think you should not get back to V4. There are some important improvements in V5. If you don’t know how to do something just ask here for how to do next step (not too generally).
I spend 2 years preparing myself to use KiCad and now I have first few PCBs behind me. I can’t help about associating footprints as I never tried that way. I have designed all symbols and footprints I plan to use and each my symbol has its footprint defined so I skip the step of assigning footprints.

[Rene_Poschl]

@Hugh_Gilhespie

but I just can’t make head or tail of associating footprints.

There was no change regarding this part of the process between v4 and v5. Is it possible that your problem is not really the assigning of footprints but the library management. Anyhow here a few tutorials that will help out:

• How can i assign a footprint to a symbol?
• Library management in KiCad version 5

Or are you unsure how to do it inside the symbol editor? (Here the interface did indeed change quite a bit) In which case:

• Tutorial: How to make a symbol (KiCad v5.1.x) (The first section shows how to make a fully specified symbol)

[John_Pateman]

There are some other tutorials listed here that might be worth investigating.

Learning Kicad - unofficial learning resources

Apart from the official Kicad documentation, there are many resources available on the internet showing how to use Kicad. Unfortunately, the quality is variable and significantly, many of the tutorials do not show which version is being used. There have been many changes between V4 and V5 and even between 5.0 and 5.1 I am starting a list here of unofficial and unsupported tutorials as a starting point. Please add/amend as you see fit. These do not have any official endorsement but are provided a…

[Hugh_Gilhespie]

Hi,

Thanks to everyone who replied. I am still having problems with the disparity between the videos and the screen UI in 5.1.4. This is true even for videos made with 5.0 and above.

No one actually answered my question about whether I use my schematic files generated in 5.1.4 with version 4. Any takers?

Newvertheless, I am inching forward. Or perhaps more accurately millimetering forward. I just have to assume that if something is possible in one of the videos then it is also possible in 5.1.4 and all I have to do is find by trial and error. A slow process but eventually…

So, thanks again.

Regards, Hugh

[davidsrsb]

4.0.7 is not recommended. It is no longer supported and volunteers on this forum will be on 5.1.x or pre V6, so not in a position to help you much.
Going back will find a lot of problems with library names and missing features like rounded rectangle pads

[Sprig]

@Hugh_Gilhespie

No one actually answered my question about whether I use my schematic files generated in 5.1.4 with version 4. Any takers?

@davidsrsb

…volunteers on this forum will be on 5.1.x or pre V6, so not in a position to help you much.

In my opinion, there is no good reason to go backwards to using unsupported versions of KiCad. I’m currently using a 5.1.5_RC version.

There is nothing stopping you from installing a KiCad version 4 and finding out for yourself if it will work or not. Even if it does seem to work, it is not a good practice.

[Rene_Poschl]

There is simply no automatic way to go back to v4. And there is no easy manual way which is guaranteed to work for all possible projects.

V5 added new features to both the schematic and pcb side. All of these new features would need to be replaced with the closest equivalent of v4. This would require you to have a very deep understanding of the kicad file format which will be harder to learn than learning v5 in the first place. (The trade-off is not worth it)