Multiple track routing

Is it possible to trace multiple tracks at the same time? I can’t find this functionality in the PCB editor. :cold_sweat:

You can route differential pairs in KiCad, but there is currently no option to for example route a whole databus.

On a sidenote, you can make extensive use of copy & paste of PCB tracks if it suits your PCB. The pasted tracks will automatically assume the net name of the new pads they are connected to. A long time ago I did an experiment with this:

If this would help with your workflow, consider giving this issue a “thumbs up” to show support. Popularity does not guarantee implementation, but it doesn’t hurt!

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What do you mean by multiple track routing? Do you mean have more than one track join two points? You can allow this in one of the layout settings.

the gitlab issue linked to by scandey links through to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6b9HtfUlSc

which shows simultaneous routing of 8 wires between two connectors:

image

KiCad does not have a feature like this. The video is also a bit misleading. It shows exactly one frame of the menu with “Interactive Multi-Routing” while communicating to the software which of the pins you want to use this function for is probably the most difficult part of it.

image

I guess, that for KiCad, selecting some pads while holding [Shift] could work, but something like that is not supported at the moment. I am also not sure how useful it is in actuality. Hugging al tracks together over longer distances capacitive coupling and that is not good for signal integrity, and the “neat rows” as shown in the video are likely to get shoved aside in a later stage anyway.

While working with KiCad, I fully adopted the interactive router, and it’s capabilities. I stopped even attempting to lay traces in specific locations, but fist make rough connections, and then later shove them aside. Routing 8 of these tracks one by one is just

  1. x to start routing a single track.
  2. Add some track segments into the right direction.
  3. Place a via somewhere.
  4. f to finish the route to the nearest pad of the net.

Because I do not even attempt to lay the tracks neatly, this is done quickly, even if you have to do it 8 times (although admittedly doing them all at once is a little bit quicker).

I remembered seeing a gif about completing multiple tracks, now I found it:

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Gosh. I wonder how I missed that.

I experimented a bit and it looks like it is a nice time saver.

Select a footprint + [Shift + F] and it attempts to route all pads of a footprint.
Select a bunch of pads + Shift + F] and it routes only those pads, even when those pads are from different footprints. This is the sort of function I really like. It reduces the “mundane” work, while not even attempting to route “everything” which generally just makes a mess of things.

I meant the functionality, as in the picture below under your post

Yes, it works in altium, now I use cadence allegro, it all works great there too, it’s a pity that there is no such functionality in kicad

Yes, it works, but not in the way we would like, namely, it is necessary to conduct a bus, for example, of 16 conductors in the right places, with the right bends, and not as an autorouter does