hi, i’m a new user just been learning to use Kicad from YouTube videos, i’m loving it, it seems really good. there’s just 2 things i’m struggling with at the moment.
The project tree:
When I first open Kicad the project tree on the left side only shows 1 project, that I can then expand to see all the files in that project. As soon as I open another project the first one disappears I have moved projects around in file manager to try and fix that but im not sure if i have messed something up. I have also been in to preferences to see if I can set the file where the projects live but cant see anything.
schematic blocks:
is it possible to take parts of a schematic and save them as a block for future use and is there some sort of block library i can populate. For example my go to voltage regulator, or icsp headers, will require exactly the same components and circuits next time i use them, rather than crawling through datasheets every time it would be nice to just select my 5v 1A vreg and drop it in
Project tree:
I think you misinterpret this. One instance of KiCad opens just one project. The tree on the left are the files in that project. As far as your file manager goes, a “KiCad Project” is just a directory with files in it.
The KiCad project manager does not show all files in the tree on the left side. It shows the KiCad related files (project, schematic, pcb, libraries) and some other known files such as .pdf, but not all file types.
There is no:
I’m not sure what you mean with that.
In KiCad V5.1.x copying parts between schematics is still a bit convoluted. Schematic files have to be a part of the same project to copy sections between them. The simplest way is to (temporarily) add a schematic as a hierarchical sheet to a project, and then you can use normal copy & paste.
In KiCad-nightly V5.99 this limitiation is no more and you can use copy & paste via the clipboard normally between different kicad instances.
There is no real support for “design blocks” (yet) in KiCad. A “Design Block” is regarded as a schematic snippet together with a partial PCB layout of that section to be reused easily.
Noteworthy is that both Eeschema and Pcbnew can be opend in “standalone mode”. It is in this mode if it is opened from the file manager directly and not from within a KiCad project. This mode acts a bit peculiarly (but useful). Eeschema has no knowledge of project specific libraries, (because there is no project at that moment). In Pcbnew you can for example use the **File / Append Board" to add the contents of an existing PCB to the already opened PCB.