I have come across a very veird and annoying problem. I am trying to create new footprints for my personal design but the round pad icon devoted to the creation of new pads only generates rectangular pads. I have tried several times to set the proper properties with the pads predefinite properties tool setting, but as soon as I click again the round pad icon, it produces only rectangular forms. Probably there is some action to be done I am not takng into consideration.
I am a Kicad beginner and I am self-learning using version 9.
Help would be much appreciated.
Open Footprint Editor.
Go to the top menu and click:
Preferences ->Pad Properties
In the Default Pad Properties dialog:
Set Pad shape to Circular.
Adjust any other defaults (size, drill, etc.) as needed.
Click OK.
The toolbar “round pad” icon does not guarantee circular pads — it’s just a quick pad placement tool.
Always verify your default pad settings if you’re seeing the wrong shape. Here is also a list of 10 must-have tools for PCB designing.
As bidrohini already mentioned. Footprint Editor / Place / Add Pad just places a pad with the “default” properties. And these default properties are modified in some other way. So you can first place a square THT pad, modify it to be a round SMT pad by editing it’s properties. Then right click on the pad and select Copy Pad Properties to Default. After that, all new pads you place will be round SMT pads until the default is changed again to something else.
In a similar way, bulk editing of an already existing selection of pads can be done with Paste Default Pad Properties to Selected.
standard pitfall: The “default Pad properties for Add a Pad Tool” dialog (probably the thing you meaned with “predefinite properties tool”) works only correct if the footprint component type (in the footprint properties dialog) is correctly set before.
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Thanks to all who answered my post. Unfortunately, by following the proposed procedures I could not reach a solution, the new pads . The created pad continued to remain stubbornly rectangular. Untill in one of my many tries I strangely got a stabile round shape. I obtained this result by opening the footprint editor and by double clicking in the window area. In the new opening area named “footprint properties” I entered “through holes” at place of “SMD”. By doing that, magically, the toolbar “round pad icon" started to produce steadily round pads whose properties were those I already set before with the upper icon “pads default properties”. Finally, I could get rid of the hated rectangular shape.
