Export to DXF issues

Layout
1

I have 2 main issues trying to export DXF’s of my board layouts. Any help??

  1. Unit Conversion. I draw in inches. When exporting to DXF it seems to convert to mm, but still labels it as inches. So the DXFs I send my mechanical engineers end up being 25.4 times larger than it should be. Ex. my board is 1.5" x 1.5" and the dxf shows it’s 38.1"x38.1".

  2. Single file DXF. Other PCB CAD programs I’ve used only generated 1 DXF file. KiCAD makes a DXF for each layer. It should let you choose dxf per layer or collated dxf with the ability to turn layers on or off. A collated single file would be very useful, but my mechanical guys have been OK with the top copper file with edge cuts included. That gives them the dimensions(though converted incorrectly) that they need to make 2D mechanical drawings in SolidWorks.

Any words of wisdom here? Am I missing something or are these known issues, and do they have work arounds?

2

You can try exporting to a multilayer SVG and run that through a converter

3

Which version of KiCad are you using? The ability to export a DXF in either mm or inches was added very recently (I believe 5.1.4 is where it is fully working). The units of DXF export are different from the units you are drawing in, and can be specified in the plotting dialog when you export the DXF.

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4

I was on 5.1.2, updating fixed the units/conversion problem. I should have tried that before posting.

Getting the files to collate/stack into 1 DXF would also be great, but 1 step at a time, aye. Thanks!!

5

Yes, I think it would be useful to have them all in one exported file. I have gone ahead and filed it as a wishlist item: https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1849397.

Edit: It looks like this has already been thought of and is on the roadmap for implementation for v6.

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In my case, the unit conversion was done by the Fab House’s primary software.

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