Kicad7.0 does not seem to have an option to export shortcut keys, so which file should I back up?
They are saved in user.hotkeys in the config directory (OS dependent) so it’s per user, not per project.
KiCad does have an option to import hotkeys, so as a workaround you can:
- Create a dummy / template project.
- Import the hotkey settings from your existing project.
KiCad still does not have a good way to store preferences in a template for creating new projects.
KiCad does have: Project Manager / File / New Project from Template but these templates are meant for “partial designs” which have a schematic and/or PCB, and not for generic settings. It is a bit silly that this still has not been implemented yet. If you agree with that, then give the issue below an upvote to get it to a higher priority:
I do not understand this comment:
- Hotkeys are not associated with a project, as retiredfeline said.
- Project templates do not need to be used for “partial designs”, they can just store project settings.
- The issue you linked is a feature request to be able to define a project template that applies to “New” rather than “New from Template”. Without that feature implemented, all you have to do is use New from Template.
Edit:
Now I just read: https://docs.kicad.org/7.0/en/kicad/kicad.html#project-templates and they do more (work differently) from what I thought of previous interpretations.
I also recognize that I’m starting to loose focus (which is unforutunately common for me), and what I wrote below may just be ramblings without much meaning.
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As far as I know there is no way to customize KiCad in such a way that each new project started already has your settings such as PCB colors, hotkeys, grid.
There are different uses of the word “template”, and it’s use in the gitlab title is different from KiCad’s normal template.
I also think these two should be separated.
The templates in KiCad are mostly used for things like arduino plugin boards or PCB that fit some other form factor such as one of the many small Linux SBC’s. Things like that can be made by many different people, and I guess most people would want to keep their own preferences preserved when starting a project from such a template.
I am not aware of a simple way to set all preferences to some pre-defined custom format.
There is: Project Manager / Plugin and Content Manager / Color Themes for example. You can install some color schemes, but applying them is not automatic to all new projects. I use KiCad mostly in it’s default configuration and don’t care much about these things myself. But I do find it logical if there is some way to manage customized settings, combined with an option to apply those settings to each newly created project.
So you just choose: Project manager / File / New Project and create a project. and all your customization are already applied:
- Color themes.
- Grid dot size (just to name a small thing).
- Many other settings…
But this also overlaps with more advanced settings such as:
- Board Stackup.
- Pre defined track widths.
- Net classes setup.
- Custom libraries.
Euhm, yes, I think you are right about the templates. While creating a new project from some “arduino” template, it also has a list of pre-defined track widths. I am now confused about how it actually works, and should go read some manuals. This is a part of KiCad that has always felt a bid kludgy to me. There are quite a lot of ways to import partial settings (such as
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