I just installed kicad(v6), and from what I saw, footprints are missing for many chips, chips like 74ls14 or 74ls373 for example. I saw in another post that you have to copy the footprints, but where do I download them, or where do I copy them to where do I copy them?
Thanks a lot.
Moacir Jr.
First, always provide a data sheet link. From what I see in a quick search they should be standard footprints already in the library. There is no one standard footprint from what I see. Which chip are you using?
I put some of the chips above… but I’ve already seen that the footprints, of many chips, even connectors, have to go down chip by chip, even having the schematic of it in kicad. I already found and downloaded the footprints, 1 by 1, from a site I found, which had them for all programs.
I apologize for these questions, which can be silly and even poorly worded, but I was used to diptrace, which had everything, but now that I do it at home, I can’t buy it, so I found kikcad easier to use , but not as complete as I imagined…
But it already helps a lot… and thank you for the help friend.
Maybe you misunderstand the way Kicad works? The link I added to the datasheet showed at least 2 (maybe 3) configurations of the chip. Kicad cannot predict which you need and doesn’t have 3 duplicate symbols to support all three footprints. A 16 Pin DIP is a 16 Pin DIP. One footprint can be used for many symbols. You need to identify which FOOTPRINT you need according to the datasheet. Again, that can be more than one. For chips 2 or 3 or more isn’t too uncommon.
A resistor can be as tiny as a 0201 SMT component or it can be a massive 1kW water-cooled unit - and they both have the same basic symbol.
The proper approach in KiCAD is to get the schematic drawn and debugged to some extent with ERC, THEN you can go in and add the footprints for the specific component packages you plan to use. The quickest way to get to the add footprint dialog is Tools / Edit Symbol Fields (or click the icon that looks like a spreadsheet).
Following on from @Meterman2026
Left click “Symbol Fields Table” (red arrow) which shows the table with all the symbols in your schematic.
Left click the empty “Footprint” box (blue arrow) which brings up a colored rectangle with 3 books on the right (see CP)
Left click the 3 books (green arrow) which brings up the “Footprint Browser”, then select the correct footprint from the many thousands available.
OR
Double left click on a symbol on your schematic to bring up “Symbol Properties” for that individual symbol.
Left click on the empty footprint box and follow the same procedure as above.
You can follow both these procedures to include a “Datasheet” or whatever other “Field” you wish to incorporate.
The vast majority of 74LS and predecessor families ICs (such as 7400) were supplied in 14 or 16 pin DIP, and those footprints are quite standard.
None of my business…but why are you using such logic families? You may have a good reason. But if you do not have a good reason, it seems likely you would be better off with logic families such as 74HC or 74AHC. Newer, lower power, wider range of supply voltages, more available, SMT packages available, and probably cheaper.
If you have ever unsoldered a 14 pin DIP and a 14 pin SOIC, you will come to appreciate one big advantage of SMT packages. There are other advantages as well.
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