How to move a group of objects by a fixed amount in footprint edidtor?

Layout Footprints
1

I’m using KiCAD 9.0.2. I would like to move a group of components in a footprint by a certain amount. I cannot find a way to do this.

I understand I can highlight a single thing (say a pad), press E, and type in a new XY coordinate. But I want to move a group all at once.

Also I’m not sure if this is the right spot for this question - PCB section of the forum seems closest to PCB footprint but apologies if I missed a more appropriate section.

2

First make a selection, then right click and use the Positioning Tools from the context menu. These positioning tools have 4 sub options.

3

Further to Paul’s comment:
The items you wish to move first need highlighting then Grouping.

  • While holding the Ctrl. Key down, Left Mouse Button click all the items you wish to include in the move then release Ctrl.
    OR
  • Hold LMB down and diagonally drag the mouse. Everything included or partially included (depending on the drag L to R or R to L) in the selection is highlighted. Remove items or add items to this selection by then holding the Ctrl. key down and LMB click on any items. If the item clicked was not in the selection, it will be now included and if it was included, it will be now not included.

THEN while all the selected items are still highlighted, RMB > Select > Grouping > Group items. This means all the selected items will move in unison until you un-group them.

Now, experiment with the various Positioning Tools (RMB > Select > Positioning Tools) to see which serves your purpose best, or just move the group with the M key.

4

Do in V9 moving many items at once really need grouping?
I am still in V8. In footprint editor I have been moving pad rows many times, but I have never used grouping.

5

No, just selecting and using the positioning tools works as expected, I just did a quick test to make sure.


Application: KiCad PCB Editor x64 on x64

Version: 9.0.2-65-g8993656e72, release build

Libraries:
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	FreeType 2.13.3
	HarfBuzz 10.2.0
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Platform: Windows 10 (build 19045), 64-bit edition, 64 bit, Little endian, wxMSW
OpenGL: ATI Technologies Inc., AMD Radeon (TM) Graphics, 4.6.0 Compatibility Profile Context 24.9.1.240813

Build Info:
	Date: May 15 2025 05:44:16
	wxWidgets: 3.2.6 (wchar_t,wx containers)
	Boost: 1.86.0
	OCC: 7.8.1
	Curl: 8.11.1-DEV
	ngspice: 44
	Compiler: Visual C++ 1942 without C++ ABI
	KICAD_IPC_API=ON

Locale: 
	Lang: en_GB
	Enc: UTF-8
	Num: 1,234.5
	Encoded кΩ丈: D0BACEA9E4B888 (sys), D0BACEA9E4B888 (utf8)
6

Maybe no, but, the user has little knowledge of Kicad, and we don’t know how complex is the group of items.
He also has no knowledge of the five different “Positioning Tools”, so may need to experiment.
May have several items to move that are not in a convenient rectangle or line.
Probably hasn’t discovered the convenience of “Grouping” if experimenting is required.
Maybe doesn’t even know about holding the Ctrl key down while LMB selecting.

All up I thought it worthwhile to help a newbee with my comments.

7

I just asked because from what you said I understood that grouping is needed.
I don’t know when I will be ready to move to V9 as I have to find my solution for lack of “[ ] Plot footprint values” and “[ ] Plot reference designators”.