In my opinion the most needed mode would be keeping the endpoints on the same tangent lines (so that the new tangent lines of the arc endpoints are the same as the old tangent lines, i.e. the endpoints move along the tangent lines and the angle changes) while changing the radius/moving the center. That would allow editing a track arc between two straight track segments and a graphic fillet between two straight lines.
Until tracks or straight lines are in 90° steps than there is no problem to do fillet with current edit possibilities. With 45° may be little worse.
My current problem - I have (at silk layer) a straight line going through circle (not through its center). And I want to have a break in that straight line filled with arc along that circle. So I know center and radius and want to modify end points by changing the arc angle (without changing center and radius) until they touch the straight line.
The future problem I could expect if I will be designing a circular RFID antenna (this time at copper layer). Circular because I use circular ferryte. I need a set of close to 360° arcs. They have common center and defined radii. Each one needs a small gap in circle to connect to next one.
Or if I want to make it as symmetrical as possible (RFID antenna app notes suggests it) I would need arcs with little smaller angle than 180°.
In all these cases I have a center and a radius and I want to move arc ends little forth or back.
I think it was possible in KiCad V5 by setting a start point at known grid point and manually editing the angle. As I remember I have made (in V5) such close to 180° arcs from two close to 90° arcs with common start point and one having positive and one negative angle.
It looks that now it is not possible.
The best would be to move the end were you see a cursor a little to the end of straight line and then the next end. The radius should be preserved.
But even radius would be lost than I could correct it by dragging the center point of my arc.
In any of both arc edit modes I simply can’t take the end and place when I want it.
I thought that may be during first placing the arc Shift or Ctrl will help to not have only 45° arc steps but it looks that no. I also didn’t found any place in Preferences to change that used during drawing arc 45° to for example 0.1°.
I manually edited X,Y coordinates of end points, (center and radius lost)
switched to “Keep endpoints or direction of starting point”,
dragged the arc center to my circle center (get radius back to what was at the beginning).
May be there is the way (that I can’t find) to just take the arc end and position it where you want it. It could snap to my straight lines ends. This can be better than I was suggesting at the beginning as moving ends with preserving center and radius could miss the straight lines end points.
Shift + Spacebar changes the drawing angle mode between free and n*45deg. I can draw this kind of arc when having a circle and one straight line: start the arc from the circle center. Go to the first intersection of the circle and the line and click. Go to the second intersection and click.
I guess - I write before I check - may be “Constrain actions to H,V,45 degrees”.
And after checking - it was this. Now I can just place the arc as I want without need to modify it later.
What is helpful in strait lines interferes with the arcs.
And after thinking a while:
I have set this “Constrain …H,V,45…” month or two ago. And found it being helpful. And practically forgot having it set. Now starting the new PCB I didn’t realize that it is what is against my arc :).
I remembered that there is a special setting for arc editing so just fixed myself on this one setting.
The older I get, the more stupid things like this happen to me.
I understood it not as hot-key but as modifying key and tried to add arc keeping Shift+Spacebar with the effect of constantly changing the mode - the arc end was continuously jumping and at the end restricted to 45 or not depending on moment of click.
At last I got that it is hot-key and changes the state not temporary but with the effect of checkbox in preferences checked/un-checked.
Thanks.
I didn’t had time to make my cheat sheet for V7 yet. I’m afraid that when I do it, I should start learning V8. Changes are too fast for me. I fondly recall that V5 was there for 3 years. I know that nothing forces me to install every new version, but I want to.
I use FreeCAD for designing 3D models.
When I had to define a PCB shape having small arcs rounding connections between other arcs I used LibreCAD. I showed it here:
LibreCAD seems for me for 2D much simpler than FreeCAD.
But if something is possible to be done with KiCad I just prefer do done it here. I asked because I supposed that it is possible and now I know that it really is. I simply fixed myself on one setting and didn’t got that the other one (just next to this one) is the one I should change.
I just spend some time making notes about what I found recently with hope that I will not ask the same next month
What I noticed are:
P - hotkey to group and move footprints selected by selection at schematic,
Shift+Space hotkey with information to remember that this flag can help or hinder.
Unfortunately after doing really nothing with PCB (just made this one arc) I have to abandon KiCad for probably a week or more. Since few days my brother insist on doing something else and I can’t put it off anymore.
If using LibreCAD for 2D drawings (which, is all it can do), why bother? You can just as easily use your FreeCAD skills to do it…
In fact, knowing FreeCAD 3D-Modeling means you know how to use it’s Sketcher workbench (it boots automatically when creating sketches in PartDesign workbench). And, can use the Sketcher workbench independently, too…
That is all you need - simply draw your shape and Export it as DXF.
A benefit is that you can use that sketch in the TechDraw workbench to make nice drawings if desired but, not necessary… (not shown in video)
Vid shows making two Arc’s and making them Tangent then aligning them… but, you know how to do that so, that part isn’t important and I could have drawn any shape…
I know it, but if I know exact positions and radii of several arcs it is easier for me just to draw them in right places and with right radius. Their ends are too long and they crosses with each other. But as I remember (was doing it 3…4 years ago) I could once set a radius of rounded corners and then just clicking one and second arc the new arc was added rounding the corner between them. In the picture I shown (link to the other thread) there are 6 such roundings.
I suppose that doing it in FreeCAD Sketcher would take me more time to add all dimensions and rules needed. I was also not sure if I will get the right line width and if not then if I will be able to change their width at once (it was KiCad V5) or will have to modify each arc separately. Not sure but probably the line width set in LibreCAD propagates to KiCad.
Edit.
And one more. I was using LibreCAD long time before I first time installed KiCad. And while installing KiCad I read first time about FreeCAD (that info is shown during installation). At the moment I was doing it I had less experience with FreeCAD than now. But it is still not big. I run FreeCAD twice a year I think.