Im am fairly new to PCB and Schematic design. So when i started my project i thought it was easier to just make everything in PCB editor and never bothered with the schematic. now i am finished with the PCB but need to export the PCB so i can have it manufactured.
The problem is that i dont have any schematic, only a PCB. is this a problem? how can i export my .pcb file into a .sch file
Edit: Solved, i only needed the gerber files, which a PCB has
The manufacturer doesn’t need your schematic so you can export Gerbers no problem. Next project start with a schematic.
KiCad is designed for the standard workflow which is schematic → PCB. A Schematic can’t be created automatically from the PCB any more than PCB could be created automatically from the schematic, so you would have to give all data to KiCad anyway and do the “schematic layout” manually. Therefore it’s easier for you to just draw the schematic as if you were doing it from scratch, you just follow the logic in the PCB. Add symbols and move them, add wires, give net names etc.
There are especially two things you have to follow from the PCB (apart from the self-evident connections between components) which are critical: you have to give the same reference designators in the PCB and the schematic; and you have to attach the same footprint library IDs to symbols than what you have used in the PCB.
When you have the schematic ready and it corresponds to the PCB, you have to use the Update PCB from Schematic once which the non-default option “Re-link footprints using reference designators”. (See Update PCB from Schematic's match methods - #2 by eelik for the reason and details.)
It can sort of be forced to.
You add all the symbols, name them, hopefully you’ve used standard names stating with 1 so the autoname works, then you use the update schematic from pcb but only update the relevant things - especially nets.
You must check the top box to link by name.
Then you rearrange and draw the lines between the now labelled nets
Pro tip : make the pcb read only beforehand because there’s an annoying 2 way flow of data.
Draw a line wrong and the pcb nets will update.
Hit revert a lot.
Skipping the schematic step is not advised for a number of reasons. For most people the schematic holds a lot of important information regarding signal traces, power traces etc. And when it comes time to troubleshoot your board it is very very helpful.
You cannot create a schematic from the PCB layout. Missing is the location of the devices for schematic placement.
It’s necessary for reverse engineering.
I’ve made a tool that builds kicad pcb and a crude schematic from old leaked motherboard files.
https://forum.kicad.info/t/re-fabmaster-asc-to-kicad-converter-tool/57302/2
The symbols are generated, and placed at a set spacing, with no lines, but with a quick update schematic from pcb, the nets get populated, and the tedious manual task of arranging it can start.
Check it out if you’re bored (this is after a lot of manual work)
BX112 (3).zip (1.2 MB)
Thank you. My real problem here was that i was unsure of what was needed for ordering. as you said Gerbers was enough 