hi everyone, I’m a new user of KiCad5.1.2_1 so have pity on me.
I noticed that the manual “getting_started_in_kicad.pdf” that I find in the installation folder “C:\ Program Files\ KiCad5.1.2_1 \share\doc\kicad” has many inconsistencies with the icons and the description of the program commands for which I struggle to study its functioning.
Can someone kindly tell me where I can find a more up-to-date guide than the one in my possession? Thanks
One place to start is with the FAQ link up above. One problem is that there is still a lot of stuff on the web that is Version 4 specific and Version 5 is relatively new. I know at one point the official documentation was lagging waiting for 5.1 to release if I remember correctly.
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Impossible to answer this query without a provided screenshot of both the .PDF and and actual KiCad screenshot layout; and I’ve never seen a KiCad installation with the above pathway.
The documentation of KiCad is sadly out of date in many places. This is the result of too few volunteers to take care of it. It is a well known problem that can only get better if users are prepared to help out once they can. How can I help improve KiCad?
All of this is made worse by many tutorials being made for version 4 still showing up near the top of search results. Sadly it is not always the case that tutorial authors clearly list the version they are valid for on every page of the tutorial so it might be easy to miss the fact that it is for a different version.
And of course the topic of version 5.0 versus 5.1 which had massive user interface differences with only a minor number changing in the version string. this can easily be missed by newcomers.
The good news is that there are up to date resources out there. Our forum FAQ ((Start Here) Frequently Asked Questions) has a lot of resources created by a small number of forum members.
If you like videos, there are a very helpful set by Shawn Hymell on the Digikey website. These outline the whole KiCad workflow. There are half a dozen that specifically show the changes introduced in version 5.
https://www.digikey.co.uk/en/resources/design-tools/kicad
There is also the second edition of a book from Peter Dalmaris https://techexplorations.com/st/klp_2e/
There are quite a few resources around with a bit of googling. @Rene_Poschl is quite correct though - many do not specifically identify the version used and there are significant differences as you have identified. I would suggest concentrating on documents dated within the last 6 months .
I will a list of 3rd party videos & teaching resources as an FAQ with a note on the version used.
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