Hello,
I am new to KiCad, I had design pcb layout as per requirement, but when I print the layout it’s size different with actual size. I have find out x & y scale but unable to set value for x and y scale with my installed kicad application.
I am using kicad 5.1.2 version
Please find attached print dialog. Please help me to set accurate x & y scale so that i can print accurate pcb layout for pcb etching.
Thanks in advance.
Look under plot. groan… 20 character padding.
The separate scaling for x and y was always in the print dialog. Plot never offered it and does still not offer it.
Sadly it seems this feature got removed. I opened a bug report for it: https://bugs.launchpad.net/kicad/+bug/1836473
There is some logic to that, plotting is usually to a file and you do not want any scaling.
Most printers are not quite accurate and different in X and Y. This might be an A4 vs Letter thing or according to some stories, a legal requirement to fight forgery
How much time will take to resolve this bug, is there any option where I can print layout with accurate size…so my stopped work will start before it.
Try using the correct options under PLOT. That should print out the correct size. That’s what I do to check board sizes.
@vaibhavdchavan, one thing that you can do is “this affects me too” on the bug report.
I noticed that you have not supported it yet.
At this point, a fix for the scaling won’t be included in the 5.1.3 release. There is also no real estimate for how long it might take to fix. Clicking on the “this also affects me” on the tracker can help, since that can let the devs team know it is more widespread/wanted.
I see no mention that anyone suggested clicking the Page Setup button to ensure that the Page Size is the same as the Paper Size in your printer.
There is a high proportion of printers defaulting to Letter size when they are fed with A4
I have tried with plot option but same issue facing…and by default scale option set as 1:1 and this has been disabled, so I am not able to change scale in plot option too
I guess I misunderstand you. I thought you wanted ‘actual size’ to check?
I always print to PDF and then print that PDF. Always gave me the right size.
I used that to verify my own footprints with actual parts or make sure that the PCB can actually be assembled in some tricky situations.
Print it, glue to cardboard, cut out, check, be happy (or not).
HTH,
Nick
There is a difference between good enough to check the footprint and precise. The difference in y and x scaling is most likely not much on the scale of a single footprint. But on the scale of a full pcb it can add up.
Just print a 100x100mm box and check if both directions are 100mm or if one of them is 99.5 and the other 100.5.
(It might still be good enough to produce PCBs that way. But why not use the option of making it better? especially as it was in kicad in the past.)
@Rene_Poschl It is possible that I am remembering wrong…if so I apologize in advance.
I thought that the KiCad of the past had this feature because there was a Bug in the 1:1 print scaling and the X/Y scaling “feature” was really just a Hack till the Bug was fixed.
The ONE thing still bugging me about this thread, is the lack of confirmation that the size of sheet that is physically in the printer, and that it matches exactly the size of KiCads page settings under Print or whatever PDF Program settings that affect the relationship between the file size and actual paper size.
In the lower left corner is the Page Setup… button.
@vaibhavdchavan Does the Paper Size in the next Page Setup Window accurately describe the physical paper size that is being used by your printer?
I tried my office Xerox Apeos printer and found X is about 99.6%, Y 99.9%
I choosed A4 size for print in page setup
The bug i reported for this was marked as confirmed and tagged for the 5.1 series. Meaning this was an intentional feature not a workaround.
Every device used in manufacturing is expected to have calibration options. In this case we misuse a normal printer as a precision device for generating masks. The calibration must be provided by the tool expecting the high precision as a normal home printer driver does not come with calibration options. (Would a pcb produced with the close enough 1:1 setting work? Most likely yes. But again: Why not invest a bit of time into calibrating your manufacturing setup and get a better result?)
I’ve used at least two(2) Cannon printers and found them to be at least as accurate as my eyeball over 6+ inches of layout.
Okay, got that mixed up with the DXF bug I suppose.
It looks like I’m sitting here and, “This bug does not affect me!” …which, unless it OS specific, is really odd that I’ve not seen any issues.