I would like to be able to specify a ‘dot’ that is created in the copper layer in the centre of each hole on my board. The reason for this is to aid in manual drilling.
For my own footprints I could of course add the ‘dot’ manually inside each hole so that it’s always available for use. But is there a better way? Can I tell KiCAD to output such elements inside all holes on a board at output time?
Cheers all.
BJH.
The dot would be a raised bump, and this will skew your drill bit.
For manual drilling, set a hole smaller than your drill bit - it will self align the bit and make drilling easier.
For large holes, drill in stages with increasing sized bits.
I’ve only just noticed your reply to this Ludzinc - thanks.
I found that there is an option called “pads drill opt” inside the print dialogue which enables this feature. It does the inversion of what I suggested: it prints the drill hole as copper with the centre as no copper. This should help to guide the drill and is a much better indication for manual drilling than trying to guess where the centre is. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m rubbish at that!
Cheers.
Thanks for the response suckiden.
Yep the option you’re referring to is exactly the same one as I’ve been using within the print dialogue.
The problem with the plot option, for me, is that each layer is plotted as a separate output file and there doesn’t appear to be an option to change this. The print dialogue, on the other hand, gives you the option to output as one page per layer or single page. The export to SVG option also has this.
This is important for me because I am etching my PCB at home, so I need all of the output layers I’ve selected printed onto one sheet of tracing paper.
I guess the plot option is what you would use if you wanted to send gerber files to a fab house?
nice to hear that you’ve found a solution for your problem
[quote=“BJH, post:5, topic:471”]
I guess the plot option is what you would use if you wanted to send gerber files to a fab house?
[/quote]exactly!
