Full-length and uneditable footprint description on PCB

Layout Footprints
1

Hi everyone,
With the kind help of experts here, I have just successfully completed migrating a project from KiCad V4.x to V8.0.6. All old symbols and footprints used in V4.x are available and editable now also in V8.0.6. Updating PCB from schematic shows no errors or warnings.

However, all footprint descriptions on PCB are shown in full length including not only “footprint type” (e.g. C, R or LED etc.) and value (e.g. 100nF, 10K etc,) but also its dimensions and orientation (e.g. horizontal or verticle). This makes the PCB so crowded that it is difficult to execute placement and routing and the PCB is hardly legible.

The footprint descriptions (except for the Footprint type and Footprint value) are not editable.

As this is my first attempt to use KiCad version 8.0.6., I am not sure if it is a new feature in KiCad V8.0.6 or I am simply overlooking some setting somewhere?

For the sake of better understanding, I have included 4 screenshots as follows:

1. Footprint assignment table (Partial)

image
image945×402 156 KB

2. “Update PCB from schematic” report
image

3. PCB (partial image) with footprints and full length description
For the sake of better legibility I have moved some footprints outside the edge cut.

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image945×437 147 KB

4. About KiCad (PCB)
Application: KiCad PCB Editor x64 on x64

Version: 8.0.6, release build

Libraries:
wxWidgets 3.2.6
FreeType 2.13.2
HarfBuzz 9.0.0
FontConfig 2.14.2
libcurl/8.8.0-DEV Schannel zlib/1.3.1

Platform: Windows 10 (build 19045), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
OpenGL: Intel, Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500, 4.4.0 - Build 20.19.15.5058

Build Info:
Date: Oct 14 2024 01:02:33
wxWidgets: 3.2.6 (wchar_t,wx containers)
Boost: 1.85.0
OCC: 7.8.1
Curl: 8.8.0-DEV
ngspice: 43
Compiler: Visual C++ 1939 without C++ ABI

Build settings:

Any tips/suggestions to reduce the Footprint text length or KiCad settings would be most welcome.
Thanks and best regards

2

Are you trying to edit KiCad standard libraries? Those are not intended to be editable. If you manage to edit those, your edits would be over-written when you update your KiCad version.

If you want to edit, copy the footprint to your own personal library and you can edit to your heart’s content there. :slight_smile:

One other point: I am actively working on my own design at the moment. I can double click on this text (make sure that “text” is selected in the selection filter in lower right) and uncheck the box which says “visible”.
image

In my situation my footprints are all in a custom library, but I don’t think that matters in unchecking the “visible” box.

3

Hi
No, I am not trying to edit KiCad libs. I know these are read only objects.

All I want is NOT to have such long footprint descriptions
Whether a component is vertical or horizontal is important only at the time of footprint assignment. But I don’t want to see it displayed on the PCB during placement and routing. That is what is happening currently. It only confuses.

It was all ok in V4.x (short description) and it is also ok with V8.0.6. I tried it with a very simple test project (with just 4-5 components). It works fine. The footprint text description is basically just the device designation and its value. Like the way it should be.

I think it has something to do with my project migration.
Therefore, even if it may cost some additional hours of work I will delete the PCB part (carried over from V4.x) fully and remake it. Probably it is a legacy issue.

Thanks for your quick response anyway.
Best regards

4

You can simply turn off the layer that shows the footprint descriptions.

5

This may be the simplest explanation and way to fix the problem:

image

6

Of course, @eelik’s recommendation ought to work. But…

I think maybe you are complaining about long footprint NAMES?

I assume that you can change those names, but then you lose the symbol assignments. But I would think that those are the names of the footprints in your custom footprint library. So you could rename the footprints in your library, and then you need to re-assign them to your symbols.

I have been fighting a related issue (a bug?) where my footprint assignments (assigned in the schematic editor) were getting lost. Right now I am dodging that issue by assigning footprints in the symbol editor and not changing those assignments in the schematic editor. So a new footprint requires a new symbol.

My MO for KiCad had not changed significantly since probably version 5, but this issue cropped up only recently.

7

Hi BobZ, RaptorUK and eelik,
Thanks you for taking time to help me, I have tried 3 of the 4 suggestions made by you. Kindly allow me to give a brief feedback on these as follows:

@Bobz (1st post) in my KiCad version I could only find a “Footprint properties” window and not “Footprint value properties”. This could either be because I am using a different KiCad version then you are or I couldn’t find the right path to “Footprint value properties”. In the “Footprint properties” that I am seeing, the “Footprint Value” visibility (Show) checkbox ist already unchecked, but the problem seems to exist.
Could you kindly let me know which KiCad version are you using, please?

I have attached a screenshot of “Footprint propperties” window below. Am I looking in the right place?

image
image945×859 140 KB

@RaptorUK: As you can see in the screenshot above, the “Footprint value” text in my case is on layer “B.Fab” But if I turn B.Fab off, not only does the long text disappear but also the whole footprint including the “Reference” and “value” parameters.

@eelik: I activated the “HiddenText” box as you proposed. Immediately all footprints disappeared from the PCB. I reloaded everything per “Update from Schematics” again and this time the footprints appeard with just the “Reference” and “Value” parameters.
Exactly what I wanted. And the best part is that it works for all footprints at the same time. :grinning:

@BobZ (2nd. post): I think what you are suggesting would probably work. But it looks like I will have to handle each footprint one at a time (am I correct?).
Seen in light of eelik`s proposal, here the “Effort/Benefit” ratio seems to be a bit high to me.
But perhaps I can use this approach to resolve some other future issue

I would like to thank you all for your great help. You all have saved me a lot of work and again I have learned a few new KiCad features through your proposals.
Thanks and best regards

8

This happens because the mandatory Property fields are actually text items, as you can see in the dialog:

image
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(Trying to delete one shows the message dialog.)

These settings are the default in the KiCad libraries: only Reference and Value are visible, the rest are invisible. I think you have somehow changed the “Hidden text” Object visibility in the PCB editor, it should be disabled by default. That’s a handy way to see all the invisible texts, but naturally most of the time you don’t want to see texts which are marked to be invisible.

9

Hi eelik,
Thanks for pointing towards a probable cause of superfluous text display on PCB.
I’ll watch out for this pitfall in future.
Best regards