In KiCad V5.1 this is not implemented.
In KiCad V5.99 (Soon to become V6) it has been implemented in: Pcbnew / Preferences / Preferences / Pcbnew / Origins & Axes
I can’t find a similar dialog for Eeschema.
dear pauldh,
I forgot to say that it is for Pcbnew…
I have Kicad 5.0.2-1 so as you say it is not possible.
I had a look on kicad website but last release is : 5.1.8
so what is V5.99 ?
KiCad-nightly V5.99 is a KiCad version that is going to be KiCad V6 at some time in the future (Hopefully a few months).
It’s a common part of how development of Open Source software works. “nigthtly” versions are released for people who want to help in finding bugs. For the last few months somewhere between 10 and 20 issues get opened and closed daily. Some people consider some of the nightly versions stable enough to use for themself.
Also:
KiCad V5.0.2 is quite old, and you can safely update to the current V5.1.8 which has received a lot of bug fixes, (but also has some issues of it’s own).
Changing to the “nightlies” should never be taken lightly.
OK, thanks for the information. I will wait…
Instead of moving the XY origin where you wont I draw my PCB around XY origin. It was my Idea before I have started to use KiCad. I have redefined page layout to have no frame but only small cross at 0,0 (I wonted to have nothing in page layout file but it seems impossible). So since my first PCB (it was under KiCad 4.0.7) I am working with 0,0 in the middle of my PCBs. It is very helpful as my PCBs pretty always have some symmetry.
Depends on the purpose … but, if wanting say, 0,0 at some location other than the top-left corner of page frame, you can place an Auxiliary Axis Origin using the tool in the sidebar. The outside world will see that as the Origin.
Can also set the Grid origin with the Grid tool.
Adding a cross at 0,0 in the start page layout is a good idea. I take it…
When I made it a big cross (as X,Y axes) they behave surprisingly. If 0,0 was out of screen (to the right) and you should see only one line it disappears. But I have tested it long ago so may be now it doesn’t disappear.
I use 127,127 for this purpose. So the board is on the sheet (if not too big, although a bit too low) and imperial coordinates as well as metric ones up to 1mm go through this point.
I have created my own layout page.
size A3 ,
margin to 0 so page size is paper size
origin at bottom left of the page so I can get what I wanted ( the only difference is that Y value is negative)
In pl_editor, origin is at the right place (X0Y0 is where I want to have it) .
But when I load it in Pcbnew, Y origin is always at the top .
same result If I set bottom right as origin
Did I do something wrong or is it a bug ?
As I understand you, you didn’t do anything wrong and it is not a bug. It simply is (in 5.1.x) that way that 0,0 point is at the top/left of sheet. But why you are interested where is the sheet if you don’t have the frame. KiCad don’t blocks you against working out of the sheet so I am working having the 0,0 inside my PCB.
I thought that it was possible to define the origin of X and Y display in pcbnew ,when you set it in pl_editor,.
But it doesn’t work like that …
I understand that Kicad need some locked origin for internal use , but it has no real interest to display it .
It would be more interesting if it was possible to change the origin of this display when you set for example the auxiliary origin…
So I will wait for the next stable release (V6) to see if I can do what I want.
Thanks again for your remarks.
In v6, you can choose what you want to use as your coordinate display origin in PCBnew. The choices are the page origin (v5 behavior), the grid origin, or the aux origin. You can also choose which way you want the X and Y axes to increase (X left or right, Y up or down). My personal preferences are aux origin, X right, Y up.
These user preferences change only the displayed coordinates. They do not alter the board in any way, so you can experiment and settle on what works for you without worrying about screwing up your design.
I’m looking at extending this to the footprint editor, but that will come in a later release. It could be done in Eeschema too, but since the schematic doesn’t need to place symbols in fixed positions there is extremely limited benefit.
@eelik I had not seen that issue. I did give some thought to being able to use other page corners, especially in eeschema. In the end I just couldn’t see a common enough use-case for this that would warrant the effort.
I don’t want to hijack this discussion. If you want to make a case for that in the forums, I suggest creating a new topic.
I continued in the linked issue. It may be important to read also for the users who test the feature in 5.99 because the design or output files may be affected.
Of course it would be better if you can change the origin, but “if you don’t have what you like you like what you have”. I am working around the real origin just to simplify (need not calculations) entering by hand coordinates of for example holes placed symmetrically.
it wasn’t a criticism at all. In pl_editor you can set XY origin so I thought that it was the way to set the origin in pcb new . And it’s more or less the case because when I set the origin in PL_editor I get the the origin I want for X but not for Y…
Anyway , RRPollack explained that what I want to do is possible in next version V6 (even changing the increase/decrease direction) so it is exactily what I was looking for.
Thaks a lot to the Kicad team that do a great job !
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