Yes, it is and I never claimed otherwise. But KiCAD is also open source, which the Altium page conveniently omits. It is exactly the open-source nature of KiCAD that facilitates the so many plugins we’ve been discussing.
Second, KiCad isn’t maintained by CERN. They just help developing KiCad.
I don’t disagree, but in either case KiCAD is not developed by bored developers who have nothing else better to do and work on it whenever they feel like it. Altium is outright lying here.
To keep this thread useful, further discussion about Altium’s attidude and article should be taken to a new thread.
Altium’s attitude is mendacious and deceitful. Because Altium is spreading disinformation about KiCAD, it should be confronted!
There’s no collision detection in KiCad’s 3D viewer except your eyes.
Yes, but KiCADStepUP in FreeCAD has extensive collision detection capabilities. As we’ve been discussing, there is a whole ecosystem of plugins around KiCAD, thank’s to KiCAD’s open-source nature.
This is 100% generic text full of advertisment, which can be changed to every other EDA in < 1 minute. To my knowledge, there is no KiCad -> Altium importer.
Altium doesn’t give two shits about convincing KiCAD users. If you’re a hobbyist, you can go ■■■■ yourself, and if you work for a company they’ll just sell to your boss with FUD like the link you posted.
I just dropped Altium after about 5 years and switched to KiCad. I’ve done 3 PCBs, including a fairly dense 4-layer board with fine pitch parts. I found KiCad was easy to learn, in all 4 of the major aspects: schematic entry, symbol creation, PCB layout, and footprint creation. I also really like the OSHPark connection, just wish I could get hot air leveled 37/63 PCBs. Minor issue there.
I kept a list of the only things I missed:
Can’t control via tenting.
Can just “Place a Pad” in the PCB editor. Note that if you could control via tenting, this would solve this problem.
Can’t copy-paste schematics pieces between projects. I know you can make small files and include them, but often I start with something and make a number of small modifications.
Manual routing is a bit more tedious than with Altium. It’s very “Protel 98” like. So you spend some extra time fighting that last little connect to a pad. “Intuitive” is another way of saying a lot of software that does what you want not what you mouse.
Can’t have a cut-out in a component pad library.
Am learning more every day. Of course there is the “usual” changing software issues like “What is the short cut for xxxx here”. But it was no worse than when I tried PADS and some other software. I found my “muscle memory” formed fairly fast. I sort of miss the two character short cuts (like “va” to view a rectangular area you then draw with the mouse). But I’ve learned to “zoom and spin the mouse wheel” to get where I want.
I will also note I had the luxury of being at a point in my work where I could basically “orphan” previous boards. There is nothing worse that being trapped in some software system because your data is stored in their “Hotel California” internal form.
My thanks to the people who have spend so many years making this a great piece of software!
Copypaste between schematics has already been implemented in the developent version. If you want to use an old design as a base for a new one, Save As (for project) is also there in the development version. I use it often for v5.1 projects (open with 5.99, Save As, close).
If you can describe accurately what you would expect in a certain situation, you could file an issue for it. I have done it for several smaller or larger details which I have found clumsy, unintuitive or difficult.
You kind-of can, but it is an all or nothing deal. When exporting to gerber you can choose to tent or not tent ALL vias:
I’m not convinced that either of those two links in @eelik’s reply will do anything for via tenting, unless the mask layer is included in the future pad stack editor. (I don’t see any explicit mention of the mask layer mentioned when quickly looking the links over.)
If by “component pad library” you mean what KiCAD calls a “footprint”, yes that is a known issue. I think it is being worked on, but I don’t know the specific gitlab issue number(s). Hopefully because the head librarian also wants this it will float up near the top of features to add before v6 is released.
I’m not familiar with Altium, (and I never will be) but I’m curious how familiar you are with the interactive router in KiCad. I find that with the right settings it just pushes traces and via’s aside to make just a little more room to squeeze in those last few tracks. I’ve made a denser board with it then I would have dared otherwise because of a too big risk of having to move QFP components on a nearly finished design.
Not to denigrate KiCad, but the Altium router is worlds above. In some cases it’s more like a guided autorouter. I especially like glossing and the nice track cleanup tools in Altium.
I love KiCad more because: freedom, open file format, scripting, etc but on nice interactive routing interface and control, Altium is so so much better
If someone needs via mask options and wants to remind developers about that, they can go to the main issue and add a comment there to make that detail explicit.
If our chain of interpretation eepete->SembazuruCDE->eelik is correct, we are talking about “keepout areas” in footprints so that you can keep tracks and zones out of an area in a footprint.
I supposed that the talk is about Edge.Cuts in footprints.
In my first KiCad PCB (4.0.7) I needed it and have to do it at PCB level so any move of footprint resulted with separate moving the opening (rectangle with 4 round extensions for milling tool).
Now I have the E ferrite going through PCB so 3 openings each with 4 round extensions.
It is not explicitly mentioned, but once KiCad can keep track of pad stacks for every hole, it is possible to modify pad stacks for individual holes easily. Pad stacks include all layers that are relevant to holes, including masks.
thanks for the reply ! I looks like these ideas are in the works which will make a great system even better. Seems like big software packages like this are prone to feature creep and “80-20” rule (80% of your use is with only 20% of the features). The “two character shortcuts” seem like a natural evolution when you run out of single keys. They support a somewhat natural hierarchy since the first letter is a general action (Place, View, Edit, Move) and the second is the object for the action. Having looked at the link you were kind enough to supply, it looks like there is good awareness here and I’m sure the same skill that produced KiCad will implement this in time. Since we are all good 'ee’s I’m sure we will argue vociferously about the letters and then learn to use the final outcome.
I’ll try some screen shots for the routing issues.
Other replies were correct on the “cut-out”. I have a small OLED display where the footprint is the overall rectangular area with 4 holes where screws hold the display in place. The display fits in an area of the board where the entire PCB has a cut-out/routed-out hole. I could not use the layers that is used to prescribe the outline of the board for final routing to get the finished shape in the footprint, so I had to add it in at the end of the layout.
OK on that being a known issue. It’s one of many things that save a few minutes. I have only one component (a display on a small PCB) where the footprint has the cutout where I place the display “inside” of the plane of the PCB and thus need to route out an area from the PCB.
It looks like the Pad Stack concepts that are in the works will get to this. Hopefully that will also allow you place an arbitrary pad in the PCB without having to create a one-pin component in your schematic.
Thank you for your reply !
Indeed the routing is the only thing I found that was in Altium favor.
It is not a “Different approach, but still gets the job done” contrast between the two systems. It certainly behaves like a system that remembers what it tried to do for you, and if you back-off it is smart enough to try another approach. So from the end users point of view, you just keep “approaching” the direction you want to go until you see what you want. Easy and quick to do. I’ll have to take some screen shots and post to better illustrate the issue.
