It looks like I can use ‘n’ to cycle between predefined grid sizes in the footprint editor. I can add another pitch to the list via preferences, but that’s very cumbersome. Altium has a shortcut where I can punch in any arbitrary grid size at-will, and in concert with the ability to change the origin it’s very useful for rapidly and correctly placing pads or other geometry. The Altium dialog looks like
Does KiCad have a way to do something similar, or do I have to add a desired grid size via preferences before being able to use it? I’m using KiCad 9.0.2 but am happy to install something different.
I never worked with altium. Have you worked with the grid overrides in KiCad? With grid overrides you can set different grids for different sorts of items:
Footprints (pads)
Tracks
Vias
Texts.
Graphics.
This way you can “switch grids” automatically depending on what you are doing. I am thingking about a feature request for an extra grid override. I would like to see footprints(pads) split into THT (I want them on 2.54mm) and SMT (some small grid. 0.1mm the P&P does not care).
KiCad also has two hotkeys you can assign to “Switch to fast grid”, and there are some open options for hotkeys you have to assign before you can use them at all.
KiCad has more links for hotkeys then there are keys on your keyboard, and a lot of them do not have any key assigned by default. So experiment a bit by assigning your own hotkeys.
It looks like there is no way to enter an arbitrary grid pitch; it must be pre-entered into the list in preferences to be selectable by any means. It’s not a tragedy, but it is rather unfortunate.
As an aside, setting a hotkey for “edit grids” and then using it immediately hangs and then crashes KiCad. It works OK on the next launch of KiCad, but isn’t the rapid tool I was hoping to find.
That sounds very much like a bug. If it’s repeatable, please can you file a bug report? (You can do this from the ‘About Kicad’ dialog - there’s a button to create a bug report).
I think assigning a hotkey to “Edit Grids” is the closest that KiCad has at the moment, but it only opens the grid settings dialog.
Footprint pads are often on some non standard grid pitch. It may be worth it to create a feature request. How does this function work in altium? I assume you press a hotkey, then enter a number and press [enter]? I assume this can be improved further by for example selecting two items (pads), then pressing the hotkey, and the pitch distance (or line length etc) is used for the temporary grid.
Just creating an array of pads may be a better overall solution in some cases.
The Altium approach is very simple. There’s a “set grid” function and by default it can be activated with ‘gg’. It pops up that dialog box that you see in the screenshot above, then you type in whatever pitch you want (you can optionally include units if desired) and press enter. I probably do the whole thing in about 150 milliseconds.
I’ll see if the crash is repeatable. I did it on a fairly fresh install on MacOS.
I missed your screenshot. I took this opportunity to embed it directly in your post, so it’s independent of some external website.
Are you some sort of superman? A hot key & 4 keystrokes & enter in 150ms is 53 characters per second, if you count the hotkey as two (it probably needs a modifier key) (Also assuming your hands are already on the keyboard.) It looks more like a brainfart to me (no offense intended).
Guessing short intervals is hard and my perception was off. It actually took me 23 frames at 60 fps, or about 383 milliseconds. Thanks, OBS Studio. And no, there is no modifier. ‘gg’ is the shortcut.
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