Hello colleagues.
I’m going to create generate the Geber data (KiCAD v.9.0.2), but I don’t need to plot the component refenrences. The previous versions of KiCAD had the nice “Plot footprint references” ckeckbox:
but it is gone in newes versions. So, could you please advise me, how to keep the silkscreen layer, but w/o of references?
This checkbox was deliberately removed.
Solution is to remove the references from the silkscreen layer.
This can easily be achieved with the “Edit–>Edit Text and graphics Properties” dialog in the pcb editor.
Note that this alters your board - afterwards all silkscreen references are deleted!
So it’s a workaround / different workflow, not a real replacement.
This was already reported on gitlab, but the issue got closed without re-implementing the checkbox:
Thanks for the prompt response. I deleted (made invisible) all the references from the PCB and generated the Gerber (in principle, as you recommended).
Off: And yet, I would be interested in why this opportunity was removed: the developers had to portray stormy activity, or KiCAD was too good and there was a need to complicate the life of users? 
But this is a rhetorical question…
Once more, thanks for the answer.
We had a few too many reports of people running DRC with it off, generating Gerbers with it on, and then complaining about shorts on their boards.
While this only happens when you put the text on copper layers, you could also get solder mask bridges, etc. with text on other layers. It seemed safest to make it harder to run DRC with different settings than the plotter uses.
Hello Jeff,
Honestly I didn’t get the point of your message, and how it is related to topic risen. My question was not related to copper layers or to text on it. All I want is to exclude the component references from the silkscreen layer. I don’t understand how it may lead to shorts in copper.
Sorry if I understand your answer wrong…
The control just hides component references – whatever layer they happen to be on. Most people have them on silkscreen, which is likely why the issue didn’t come up for many years. But it creates issues when they’re on copper or mask layers.
We don’t want to start making exclusions for layers as it complicates the software too much. KiCad has grown tremendously in the last few years, and we need to make things as straight-forward as possible to keep the code complexity from getting out of hand.
In V8 I still see these options.
Personally I have never used it in generating gerbers as before making my first experiments with KiCad V4 I found that the best way to get documentation files as I want is to have values and references at Courtyard layer so all my footprints have them there.
KiCad V4 and V5 had nothing against it but since V6 or V7 I have to switch some Courtyard errors as being Ignored.
If you do not want references on the silkscreen, one of the methods is to create your own library, and copy/modify the footprints in it, so they don’t have the text on silkscreen.
Sorry, I still get a feeling you don’t understand what I’m talking about.
Also:
I’m talking about the feature, which was already presented and woked fine. This is exactly a case, when you had to do NOTHING. Absolutely NOTHING.
To be honest, I am very afraid that KiCAD will suffer the fate of many other products that have been perfected. However, as time goes by, developers have nothing to do and start doing nonsense and making changes for the sake of changes. And at the same time explain to users that it is better for them.
I really want to be wrong. Please sorry for my sincerity.
OK, and what? I’m talking about 9.x.
Sure. It is also possible to wear the pants over the head. 
There are the lot of ways. But why the easiest and working way got gone?
Sorry but you are the one talking nonsense now . . . “developers have nothing to do” . . . show a little respect.
Maybe you don’t realise that the developers you are talking abut are doing this for free in their own time . . .
For sure I understand it (and support KiCAD from time to time). That’s why I don’t understand the reason of this change.
With respect.
There are always compromises between usability, the number of available functions and complexity of the UI. KiCad has gained a lot of functionality in the 10 year’s I’m using it and has become much more complex. It also has lost a little bit of the simplicity and straightforwarness that it had 10 years ago.
I also do not really understand why you want this option. I can go along with not wanting the references on the silkscreen in the gerber output. But why do you then want to put them on silkscreen in the first place? The simple option is really that if you don’t want it on the silkscreen, then remove or move it from the silkscreen. For me, having extra flags to adjust such things in the gerber output are just a clutter of the user interface, and you have to check them all and get them right, or else your Gerber output is no good.
I understand that it’s annoying that this forces you to adjust your workflow, but does it really make a significant difference apart from that annoyance? It’s easy to get stuck in a loop when something annoys you, and this makes it more difficult to see the broader picture. For me, I want the Gerber output to look the same as I have designed the PCB. That is the sole purpose of the Gerbers: So you can order a product that looks the same as what you designed.
I have not moved to V9 yet, but I see I will have ‘the same’ problem with this flags. I didn’t used them in gerber generation, but used them differently. I don’t know if V9 has new feature that I will be able to use instead (correctly working layer pairs could be such feature).
Currently all my footprints have reference and value both at Courtyard and centered. I use it to generate documentation files like in the middle of this long post:
I generate one such file with references (for assembly house) and second with values (for me).
I get it by checking one of these two flags when exporting to svg.
If I will not have these checkboxes I would probably have to delete all references before exporting with values and then be sure to step back this edition step.
Do KiCad will allow to delete all references from PCB?
The easiest way to do that would be to put them on a specific user layer, and turn that layer on for your SVGs and off for the assembly-house ones. (In 9.0 you can even automate that with jobsets.)
(And yes, you can now have sided user-layers so that they flip.)
Thanks.
You answered the question I had in mind when reading your previous sentences.
When I change KiCad version I spend several hours on opening all my libraries and projects and saving them with new version. I just prefer to adopt needed changes at the moment when I know what is going on and not have to (much time later) open V5 project with V11 version and then try to correct all historical changes.
I see I will have to wait with decision of moving from V8 to V9 till the time I will be able to spend some time (may be few days) to not only open and save my footprint libraries but to modify each footprint and then updating them in each project.
I wonder if I will be able to make (in footprint files) layers changes automatically using find/replace text editor functions as now both texts (value and ref) I have are at F.Courtyard layer and there are also other objects at that layer. I planned to make the copy of whole courtyard picture at such layer (till now I supposed it will be one layer having both text like now I have at courtyard) and modify coutyard picture to be KiCad acceptable (I have there pin1/cathode markings).
I don’t know Python (I’d like to learn, but there are only 24 hours in a day).
I will have to see one or two footprints modified to find if I’m able to specify rules to write program (C++) to make that changes and if doing them manually will not be faster (I have only about 280 footprints in my libraries).
I also don’t know how layers management is done in KiCad. For example if at PCB having no additional layer pairs defined (I suppose in V8 layer set is specific to project and not to whole KiCad environment) I update all footprints and their new versions use layer pairs that PCB don’t knows - will the pair definition from footprint (or may be from footprint editor) be someway adopted by PCB.
I expect V8-V9 change will be more difficult for me than all previous changes.
As I already mentioned, this option was already presented and worked fine. I’m not asking to add some functionality. I’m just wondering, why it is removed? Especially, considering that “developers … are doing this for free in their own time” 
The silkscreen layer contains both reference numbers and a lot of abother information which I want to keep. The “Plot footprint references” ckeckbox gave me the fast-and-simple way to reject the references, but keep the rest of silkscreen. Using one ckechbox only 
You didn’t read the earlier posts by Jeff Young, did you?
Yes, I did. Good joke. Like.
This xkcd is as relevant as ever
I believe @JeffYoung but it is hardly to believe in it that there were many users having such problems:
To have such problem they had to move those texts (ref or value) from KiCad default layers to copper layer. I don’t suppose anyone is doing it. But if someone does it (I completely don’t understand what for) then he should expect such problems and than be careful with it. As he is not, than (in my opinion) he has problems that he asked for. As I understand it, many users, instead of taking the time to check the Gerbers, prefer to simply write critical reports about KiCad each time they make that mistake. This behavior seems to me typical of young, irresponsible people.
The other possibility: Are you sure that this was not a coordinated action by someone who wanted to make KiCad less usable? 
Were there any rationale explanations in those reports what for these texts were moved to copper layer?