I use dedicated libraries for every project and only share those that come stock with Kicad. reason is that I want to keep libraries with the project files else experience showed upgrades etc usually creates missing parts etc.
That said, it means that I need to export a part from one library to a different library in another folder/project. I cannot seem to find any way to export parts from the library menu or anywhere else.
What is the procedure ?
I followed “6.2. Export, import and modify library components” in the manual, but that method is incomplete and botched, so there is no need to refer me to that part of the manual.
I basically just want to copy a part from one library over to another different library residing elsewhere and that is not addressed in the manual.
What version of KiCad are you on? And are you talking specifically about schematic symbol libraries?
I remember from 4.0.7 the way I would do this for schematic symbol libraries is to load the part of interest into the library editor. Then change the active library to the target library and then save the part. Remember to have your personal libraries before the published libraries in your library list. In 4.0.7 you can have different symbols with the same name in different libraries. The order of the libraries in the library list will determine which one is found (and thus used) first. This last point will be different in v5 when released.
This is changed subtly in the v5 pre-releases, and I haven’t done it often enough to describe the steps from memory.
Thanks SembazuruCDE, you put me on the right track although I dont follow your advice. How I solved it was to oversimplify the process as the big problem is to insert a copy of a part into a multicomponent library elsewhere. That is really what is an extremely convoluted process currently in Kicad. The best way around this convolution, is to just export the part as a single component library to the new project folder. the library files are nice plain text, so I will write a script to append the individual component libraries to a main multicomponent library. I did it manually in emacs and it worked. It is way easier and intuitive than trying to work your way through the nested library interface, which doesnt make much sense to me. The library files are nice standard text so the solution is easy if you write your own script.
Although it did not solve my original question, you helped me to get to an alternative that just works fine for me and circumvents the convoluted library interface. Works like a charm and faster than clicking through multiples of nested menus.
A similar way would be to make a new project specially for your library.
Add the “-cache.lib” files of all your other projects to this project, and copy all symbols to the library project, and organize them there (put connectors together, IC’s, transistors, add some notes, etc).
After that you can remove the “-cache” from the “libproject-cache.lib” name and add use that as a schematic parts lib for your custom symbols for all new projects.
Thanks I will keep it in mind, but just saving it as a single component library and then running a script to add to main library is fast and efficient for me.