Hello! I recently decided to switch from KiCad 5.1.5 to 6.0.1 I have noticed a lot of great changes, however I would like to notice one thing.
In the schematic editor I would like to assign a footprint. I click on an element and give properties (or press f or e).
Now, for example, I’d like to find a 0805 footprint. And here you can see the difference between version 5.1.5 and 6.0.1 In the new version, I need to know the EXACT LIBRARY of the 0805 footprint. In the old version, i just enter 0805 in the footprint filter and the search took place in all libraries.
In my opinion, the solution from the earlier version was more convenient, faster and more user-friendly. Removing this functionality seems to be a step backwards.
Interestingly, this functionality has not been completely removed from KiCad. The ability to search for all libraries still exists in the footprint editor.
Currently, to assign a footprint I need to use the footprint editor filter and then copy the name and library witch contain desired footprint and transfer it to the schematic editor. It is not efficient and takes a lot of time.
In my opinion it would be great to restore this option.
You are right with your findings, but maybe the following helps:
Currently, to assign a footprint I need to use the footprint editor filter and then copy the name and library witch contain desired footprint and transfer it to the schematic editor. It is not efficient and takes a lot of time.
You can also use the "Assign Footprint " tool. This allows also the search across all libraries. With this tool you can directly select the footprint and don’t have to copy/past footprint-names.
In my opinion it would be great to restore this option.
There are proposals in gitlab to improve the situation. You can upvote these threads to increase the significance.
I have tried this tool and it is fine. If someone have the same problem, in the “Assign Footprints” window you need to uncheck the “Filter footprint list by library” option, otherwise it will not search in all libraries.
However, I think that restoring the footprint assignment functionality from the symbol properties in the schematic editor might be useful if we want to quick replace the footprint for some reason after all footprints have been assigned.
I’ve always been struggling a bit with the Footprint Browser.
I find the Footprint Editor a better place to find footprints. You can also search though all libraries there, even in KiCad V6.0.5. For example, 0805 gives 16 footprints in 8 libraries as result:
