Pad overlapping and pad clearance

[Service_Brevetti]

Greetings.

I am about to release my first PCB and I am facing with an issue which I would like Kicad to fix on my behalf.

There are two pads overlapping due to a space constrains and I need to separate the two pads keeping the components in the same position.

Is there a feature or work-around to make is automatically?

Currently, a drill cut is uset to remove both pcb and copper

Thanks for any help

[mf_ibfeew]

first hint: always mention the used kicad-version, there are currently 4 versions in the wild and they have different capabilities.

for v7 dirty workaround: change the pad-size of the pads in question:

• select one of the big pads
• “E” for Edit Pad properties dialog
• reduce Pad shape → Pad size (Y-value)

Note:

• this will get you a DRC-warning “footprint doesn’t match library-version” (as you have deliberately changed the footprint this warning can be ignored
• if you use the “update footprints from library”-command all your modifications will be overwritten by the original pad-settings from the library

[Service_Brevetti]

Thanks!
I was wondering whether a “negative” copper cut-away was feasible as to remove just the copper track instead of drilling a slot in the PCB.

I am currently using the latest Nighty version…

[Heath_Raftery]

AFAIK, KiCad doesn’t do negative copper features (OrCAD seems to call these “voids”). You can add rule zones that exclude pads and tracks, but that’s just going to flag a DRC error rather than remove the copper. Reducing the size of the pad sounds like your best bet. I think it puts you in the right frame of mind for working with KiCad - you explicitly specify where you want copper and the DRC tells you whether you broke any rules. You can ignore the violations, but you can’t “correct” them without fixing the source of the issue.