How to combine two footprints into one- PCBNew and Footprint Editor

[temtel]

I couldn’t find this on the forum by searching, but apologies, and please link to corrected info if it’s here and I just didn’t see it.

I figured out I can combine two footprints into one by copy & paste with a text editor.

1. In Footprint editor: Move your drawing to safe place, out of the center or where it won’t overlap the drawing you’ll add later.
2. In a text editor (I like notepad++ personally), open yourfootprint.kicad.mod
3. In another text editor window, open yourotherfootprint.kicad.mod.
4. Copy the text instructions for yourotherfootprint and paste append it to the bottom of yourfootprint. You can ignore the first few lines, which contain metadata that only needs to be declared once, and you already have it at the top of yourfootprint.
5. Save it, then open yourfootprint.kicad.mod in footprint editor. Move things back to their proper spot, save changes, and voila! Two footprints combined into one.

Enjoy!

[dchisholm]

All of KiCAD’s files are based on human-readable text. While attacking a KiCAD file with a text editor (I also like Notepad++) should be considered a last resort, it is a powerful option.

Dale