Reusing standard subsystem, possibly via hierarchical subsheet

I am designing Eurorack components. These are audio synthesizer boards that fit into a frame. Think Moog Syntherizer from the 1960s (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurorack). The case provides a power bus, and each module has a 10-pin or 16-pin connector to get +12v, gnd & -12v. I would like to draw the connector once, with diode protection, and at least some bypass caps, and import that into each module I create.

The File menu does provide “Append Schematic Sheet”, but it doesn’t work. It tells me the path I selected is invalid. I’m using a Windows machine for my Kicad.

You can’t copy-and-paste from one schematic into another, I’ve tried that many times, for this and other use cases.

How can I avoid drawing the same thing over and over? Of course the board layout may vary …

Tom

You can create a “template project” from a (partial) schematic and a PCB with the outline on Edge.Cuts, connectors, and other stuff you want repeated on each project.

Then you can use that template to create projects from.

You likely already have a bunch of these templates installed.
From the Project manager:
KiCad / File / New /Project from Template

In KiCad V5 you can copy and paste parts of a schematic if they are part of the same hierarchical design. In the nightly V5.99 (Going to become V6) copy and paste also works among different instances of Eeschema.

Yet another way is to re use an already existing Eeschema sheet in a hierarchical design. To do this you just add the existing filename in the box when the hierarchical sheet is created.

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The template solution mentioned by @paulvdh is probably the better solution for your task. That way you can have the interface connectors and circuits defined the same way every time and have their physical locations on a standardized board shape defined (and even connected with the proper traces) the same way every time. You can still leverage the hierarchical design by having your template setup as a hierarchical design. That way the backplane interface circuit can be mostly hidden from accidental changes with it just showing as a sheet object on the root page.

Just copying the hierarchical sheet for each new design only gets you the standardized schematic. You’d have to draw the board outline and place all the backplane connectors and interface components for each new design.

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