KiCad 8.0: How to import DXF while respecting dxf file coordinate system

Dario_M · December 27, 2024, 8:02pm

Hi all,

In the past I was able to import DXF files and set their origin via the “Place at” dialog in PCBNEW. This way the files would get imported with it’s origin set to a specific location that correlated with my origin in MCAD. It seems like now when I import a DXF KiCad gets rid of the DXF file’s coordinate system and sets the origin on the upper left corner of the bounding box. This makes it a pain when importing multiple DXF’s on different layers for outlines and reference drawings.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Update:

GitLab issue: DXF Import with "Place at" option does not respect file coordinate system (#19389) · Issues · KiCad / KiCad Source Code / kicad · GitLab

Looks like this change was triggered by this issue: KiCAD 8.0 fails to import DXF files (#18523) · Issues · KiCad / KiCad Source Code / kicad · GitLab

mf_ibfeew · December 27, 2024, 10:17pm

Anyone have any suggestions?

draw a common rectangle around your drawings which is present on all wanted layers. If this rectangle is bigger than all other items then this rectangle becomes the bounding box and all layers are imported to the same destination
needs some patience: upvote this gitlab issue: Implement layer mapping for DXFs that contain multiple layers (#9148) · Issues · KiCad / KiCad Source Code / kicad · GitLab. If this feature request gets implemented you can import all dxf layers at once.

TomN7 · December 30, 2024, 1:25am

I updated from 8.0.5 to 8.0.7 and noticed this change, rolling back to 8.0.5 fixed the issue for me. I couldn’t see any new settings or any related changes in the changelog, so maybe it’s a new bug?

marekr · December 30, 2024, 1:38am

Hmm on 8/14/2024 a change was push to 8.0 to mess with DXF files it thinks are out of bounds. Potentially that isn’t working too well.