I would like to add a reference designator to B.Silkscreen of the footprints for some through hole components that are mounted on the bottom of my PCB - after adding them to my layout I move them to the bottom and the F.Silkscreen reference designator goes to the bottom too.
There doesn’t seem to be a way to duplicate or copy and paste the reference designator.
At the moment I’ve just put V** on B.Silkscreen in the footprint. I have to remember to edit that on the layout but the rule checker then flags that as an error because the footprint no longer matches the library and it’s liable to get overwritten if I forget to lock it.
There is no way to copy/paste or duplicate the Ref.
Probably the best solution is to use “Text” on the appropriate layer as a solution. The only real problem with this method is the text will not follow the footprint as you move it on the board. The text will have to be moved independently.
In the footprint editor, you can add a text field with ${REFERENCE}, and place it where ever you want.
Personnaly, in the connector I tend to add an extra field for the connecteur name; then I also add this field in the schematic. So the Name for the connecteur is correctly display in the silkscreen, and it’s related to the schématic. I’ve got some board with a lot of similar connector, so it’s quite important to not mixe them up.
