I am attempting to layout my first board, and I was wondering you have any recommendations for a PCB vendor. I live in AZ, so a company close to me would save on shipping costs. I am looking for a vendor that “speaks KiCad”. Maybe one that has a customer service/tech support phone number that can provide some help and guidance as I layout the board. I know this forum is an excellent source of information/help, but some input from the vendor would make me more confident that the board I get back from the vendor might actually work! These are boards for my personal use, so very low volume. Thanks!
Maybe you could start with explaining where “AZ” is. When I type that in a search engine I get references for some soccer club. Maybe it’s near OZ? I am not in the mood for guesswork. Here in Europe Aisler is a big KiCad sponsor, and it even has a plugin in KiCad so you can directly order / communicate with them. Tools from PCB vendors are also a quite popular section of the Plugin and Content Manager in KiCad.
If you’re from the USA, then Oshpark is aware of KiCad (and they are also a big KiCad sponsor) Sierra also has a KiCad plugin, but from what I see on this forum they act very aggressively towards customers regarding marketing, and that is something some people (including me) do not like very much. Installed Sierra Circuits plugin - worst mistake ever (On the other side, you do not hear anything from the customers that are happy with their services).
Another thing you can do is just search for any local manufacturers, and ask them directly if they are aware of KiCad. Just spreading the word of KiCad around and making PCB manufacturers aware of it’s existence helps with establishing it as a valid program. You can also have a look at websites like https://pcbshopper.com/ which compare prices from multiple PCB manufacturers.
But overall, for “generic” PCB’s not much communication is needed with a PCB manufacturer. Most usually, you send them the Gerber files, and they send the PCB’s back. They also do not care much “about the layout” of the board. There is a lot in a good PCB from maintaining signal integrity to EMC compliance and PCB manufacturers do not care about such things at all. They are only concerned about the manufacturability of your design and not the design itself. They are also commercial people and time is money for them. If you have questions about PCB design, then this forum may be a better source of information. There are also some quite nice video’s about PCB manufacturing on youtube.
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I guess he meant Arizona, US.
PCB vendors I use have at their www the information about technology parameters - like minimum track width, minimum clearance, minimum annular ring and so on. You should be sure that in KiCad you set the same (or less strong) conditions and then if DRC accept your PCB than manufacturer will have no problem with doing it for you.
You send to manufacturer gerber files and he need not to know from what PCB design program you get your gerbers.
So I suppose you should have nothing against uploading here your project and for sure you will get some feedback if it is ok or not.
Apologies for not adding US after the postal code for Arizona, or for not just spelling out Arizona.
Thanks for the references. Oshpark has a lot of KiCad specific info that is very helpful.
You can contact PCBway. As far as I know, people often send KiCad files to them.
You can talk to their customer service.
Most PCB manufacturers will publish Design Rules that you can match up with KiCad’s Design Rules (Google: Manufacturer + “Design Rules”).
That way, while you’re laying out your board, KiCad will automatically make sure you’re not doing something the manufacturer will have a problem with, or it will alert you when you run the Design Rule Checker.
I will say, though, KiCad’s defaults are fairly standard, and haven’t run into any issues by just going with the defaults. If you want to verify, I’ve listed some steps below.
Note / disclaimer: I use PCBWay, and have written the steps with them as an example. If you like another manufacturer, these steps would be very similar.
Another note: I use PCBWay’s plugin for KiCad, if I’m making one board design. If I am making multiple boards, I use the Fabrication Toolkit to create a zip file for each board. Upload the zip file, add to cart, go back, add the next zip, and then check out. It saves on shipping costs.
Here are some steps if you want to manually check your Design Rules for example, at PCBWay:
Note: In KiCad, these Rules are project specific. I have not found where you can set these Rules globally in KiCad.
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Start by opening KiCad, open your PCB layout. File > Board Setup > Design Rules > Constraints
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Here is a link to PCBWay’s capabilities (i.e. their min’s and max’s)
PCB Capabilities - Custom PCB Prototype the Easy Way - PCBWay
Go through the values, and make sure your settings in KiCad are within the manufacturing limits (you don’t have to change your settings, just make sure they’re within the limits).
For instance, KiCad’s default minimum via diameter is 0.5mm. PCBWay’s minimum is 0.15mm, so well within the defaults from KiCad.
Beyond that, unless you’re trying to do an ultra small design, you’re unlikely to run into the limits from any manufacturer, so don’t stress too much. Also, most manufacturers have automated review systems that will check your design and flag it if it detects something is out of spec. That’s not a guarantee, but it’s a nice feature.
Another disclaimer: I have used PCBWay a bunch. I’m still very new / ametuer to PCB layout, and often make mistakes. For most of my boards, I can get 5 (or 10) for about $5, plus about $15-20 for shipping (3-Day DHL). Basically, in a week or less, the boards are at my door.
They have basic options for boards like thickness, silkscreen colors, etc. This adds to the build time.
Considering I still usually end up remaking my boards at least twice, not breaking the bank is important.
AAAAALLLLL that being said… The Design Rules only validate that your board can be properly made by the manufacturer. Issues with the design (like missing traces, wrong dimensions, clearance problems, etc.), unfortunately, are on you. The manufacturers just build what you tell them to. 
–aaron
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