This is such a simple question but I couldn’t find it by googling so I’ll risk being stupid…
With some objects selected is it possible to copy them to a different layer?
For example,
when building connector footprints I often want to copy a courtyard shape from front to back
or when making finger type connectors… copy the top contacts to the back
Thanks in advance
Not directly. You can first copy and paste the items and then edit them to change the layer they’re on.
Edit the Footprint (or if already in edit mode), double-click the Courtyard shape and change the Layer in the Popup
For the Contacts (the Pads) double-click them and edit and change them in the Panel
(screenshot)
If you truly want a Copy (and leave the original as is), Then, Select and Copy, then Paste (can then change it to desired layer)
No, Please, just don’t.
Place the main body of connectors and their Courtyards always on the front when designing footprints.
You can flip the whole footprint to the backside of the PCB when designing the PCB, but in the footprint itself, just keep it on the front.
For edge type connectors you can:
For edge type connectors it may make some sense to have courtyard info on both front and back courtyard layers. Graphics (from courtyard of any other graphics layer, can be flipped to their “opposite” side in a similar way.
With graphics you can also easily edit their properties (make a selection, then e for edit) and then choose a layer from the drop-down list.
Flip works with about any selection, while if you want to change the layer with e for Edit, then you have to do most things one-by-one. Most selections are not directly editable.
The procedure you outlined is what I currently do but it is annoying in that you have to copy and paste away from the original before the flip and then move them back to the exact location you started with (but now on the other side).
It’s not a huge issue, I’ll survive.
Regarding pads… the edge connectors I have often the same shape on top and bottom but not electrically connected and therefore different pin numbers so the All Cu layers approach doesn’t work… e.g. A,B,C… on the top… 1,2,3 on the bottom.
It’s easy to suggest you can do this but, it’s not too easy to start from scratch and expect results in 5 minutes. I will take 10 minutes…
But, once doing it a few times, clarity of what’s going-on stands out and success quickly arrives. Then, imagination takes over and you’ll think you’re an expert!
Example below shows moving objects to/from different Layers, including Tracks and changing their widths. Many things are possible…
I did not bother to add code to Move and also leave original in place (meaning, did not copy and paste, I just moved them because that’s what I use/want. But, you can gimmie up code to do both Copy & Paste)
Many posts on ‘How To Make Plugins’
Have Fun & Good luck!
That’s very fun. Thanks for the pointer… I’ll do some research!
It occurred to me that I forgot you’re most interested in Courtyard’s…
There is no plugin feature in the Footprint editor but, the demo I posted does move them after placing footprint in PCB.
Note: Because the PCB file is just a Text file, you can edit the layer names and/or write a program (in Java, Python… etc) to Parse the file and change layers… Not difficult but, not simple for non-programmer’s
However, you can change the Layers in footprint editor by Double-Clicking and setting to desired layer - vid below shows:
Shape made in F.CrtYd, copied&pasted in same layer, then, changed shape lines to B.CrtYd
This post triggered some memories of an edge connector I made quite some time (2 to 3 years) ago.
I manually had to renumber most of the pads. It was not such a biggie because I only did it once. If you do it more often however, a better approach is to draw a one dimensional array of pads. (One for top, One for bottom).
I was a bit confused of how this worked exactly, and therefore started this thread because I expected a bug (but was not sure).
However, after Rene pointed out the entry boxes I glanced over and used them, it all worked as expected.
Also, when designing new footprints from scratch, I find it helps if you start by making some sketches on good old dead tree carcasses, and then punch in some numbers for important coordinates.
If you have some coordinates, you can simply put those in the X and Y coordinates of a pad instead of lining them up visually.
Or make good use of the grid. Use a grid that is relatively coarse when placing pads in the footprint. If you visually line up footprints on a coarse grid, then either coordinates are perfect, or the mismatch is so big that you can clearly see it.
Thanks all.
I think I have learnt a few things…
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