How to copy a symbol

Schematic Library Symbols
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In the Tutorial: How to make a symbol ](Tutorial: How to make a symbol (KiCad v5.1.x))

" Symbol outline
Instead of drawing a triangle we copy it from another symbol. A good source is the generic opamp symbol found in the Device lib.
Use block select (press the left mouse button, drag the mouse, release left mouse button) for this operation. Select a block around the top left corner of the triangle and use crtl+c (or left click -> copy) to copy the triangle."

A bit mre detail would help here.

  1. in the library, open the symbol to be copied
  2. bloc select, then right-click and select Copy block
  3. go back to the library and select the new symbol you are working on
  4. select Paste, or did i choose paste block
  5. the outine is pasted somewhere beside the original.
  6. use block to drag the old ouline away from the symbol core
  7. drag the new outline over the core.

that worked for me

ps update tutorial.

1 Like
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The text continues after the first screenshot, is it possible you missed that?

Now to your suggestion:

Following the tutorial would mean you have nothing in the target symbol at this stage, so i do not really understand what you mean here.

Everything else is already in the tutorial (in other words of course)

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I’ll try again.

In the library, open the symbol to be copied
bloc select it, then right-click and select Copy block put it in some kind of clipboard
go back to the library and select the new symbol you are working on
select Paste, or did i choose Paste-block.( You know the answer here)
the outline is pasted at the cursor
use Block to drag the old outline away from the symbol core
Drag the new outline over the core.

As originally written, I failed. What is obvious to seasoned users may not be obvious to new users on very first pass.

And thanks for your timely help.

1 Like
4

I am not CERTAIN what you mean by “in the library”. I am far from a KiCad expert, however almost all of my symbols are modified from the KiCad library which we get in the software install or from GitHub. I am not so seasoned but I do have some moldy garlic. :slight_smile: This is how I customize my symbols:

I start from project manager. From the top menu: Tools->Edit Schematic Symbols-> and then browse and open to edit the symbol which I want to start with. But…before editing…

Then again from the top menu: Tools->Save As (and make sure you rename it and save it where it belongs) and start editing. Then save again when I am done.

Does that help?

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I guess there are at least 3 ways to copy a symbol, and I can think of a few more less obvious ways. I’m not sure if having several ways is good design or not, but I guess it allows for individual preference.

It probably makes sense to gives newbies one way to do it.

To my mind, the symbol explorer is like a “file system” and the symbols are “files”. So I copy symbols like I copy files. Of course, there are several ways to copy files…

Really if you get stuck following written instructions the better way is a series of photos, or a video. But I’ve seen people not be able to follow those either. At work we often use remote control to demonstrate stuff to others, not really an option in this case.

1 Like
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The main reason why the save as stuff is not in my tutorial is because that feature was added after i wrote it. And i never realized that this feature is not explained in my tutorial (The tutorial was written after 5.0 but before the proper 5.1 release)

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I think the tutorial is very good!

But a section at the front with quick links to paragraph headings, e.g.

  • Adding pins using the pin table
  • Adding signal pins
  • Modify an existing symbol

and ignoring headings like

  • Creating a generic symbol for SE555 this applies to reading the whole doc

Robin

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