Edit: I’m “closing” this post and starting a new more focussed one.
This has been very useful in getting the right nomenclature (we want the multi-channel tool) - but it’s a bit cluttered and unreadable now with all my poor attempts to explain the problem.
I’ll open a new post later with a very clean worked example and a download to what I’m seeing and sample minimal project file.
The next post will be called something like “How do I use Multi Channel Layout” - it’s clear from other posts that it works for some people. I’m going to read the documentation and the sample multi-channel project once or twice again.
Then if it still doesn’t work, I’ll come back with a much more precise post.
Thanks for all the replies - at least I know for a fact which tool I need and that that tool is the correct one for my job. 
Hi, ( KiCAD v 9.0.0)
I have an array of addressable LEDs to lay out - 8 rows of 12 columns. What’s the correct way to copy and paste the base row 1 to all the others? The row layout is very custom - odd spacing to match a piano keyboard so that has to be done by hand. But the others are all clones.
What I did:
I set up D1-3 in a test schematic and slapped some tracks in layout.
I copy and paste-special’d D1-3 to D4-6 in the schematic, saved, did the same in the layout and told it to update the layout from schematic. That worked - devices and tracks copied, and nets updated as expected.
I repeated the above for the selection D1-6 in the schematic, then layout then updated.
As shown in the screengrab, it’s got confused and failed to update the track net name.
I tried this last night and had the same - 1st copy/paste seemed to work. Subsequent failed.
Tried a Cleanup Board and it crashed KiCad.
Now I realise this may not be the best way to replicate rows after the first row is carefully set out by hand, so if there is a “correct way” I would love to know. Failing that, what am I doing wrong above?
Many thanks - Tim
Side ramble - no need to read…
PS - I had a similar struggle with EasyEDA. Turns out there is a somewhat non intuitive way to do it there that is reliable - which makes me wonder if I’m missing something here…
Also - why not use EasyEDA (I am after all going to be pushing this through JLCPCB for board and assembly) - well, it’s the fact that I want to run my project out of gitlab as I will open source it and also I generally like KiCAD. Plus I know the component symbols, footprints etc are opensource in KiCAD whereas I’ve been told I cannot reshare EasyEDA library items (despite knowing that a lot of them came from KiCAD in the first place. If i have to draw custom devices of the odd part, rather contribute it to KiCAD.
