In the Footprint Editor there is a nice menu for settings for pad numbering while creating an array:
I was surprised there was no option to skip the pad renumbering and keep all pads the same number. Many pads with the same number are very common in KiCad, and used for;
- Thermal Via’s.
- High current pads, such as for Li-Ion cells with tabs.
- Mechanical strength. ( SMT connectors, Mounting holes with ring of via’s)
In the end I did it by first adjusting the grid, placing 5 pads, and then multiplying until I had some 120 pads, which is the same method described in:
As I had to make several similar pads with many via’s for current spreading it would have shaved several minutes off the creation of those big pads.
I almost made a feature request for this on Gitlab, but fist want to ask if something similar is maybe already implemented in the nightlies…
Another way this could be easily solved is by dragging a box around a bunch of pads to select them and use some renumber function to give them all the same number after the fact.
At the moment I’m in doubt whether this is worth a feature request or not.
Opinions welcome.
