Rounding PCB corners? [solved]

Layout
1

Hi,

Just starting out with KiCad in 2015. Last night I used the the ‘getting to blinky’ tutorial as a reference for creating a small board of a simple schematic I need, but before sending it off to be made would like to like to radius the corners so they’re rounded.

What tool in KiCad do you use to create corners that aren’t sharp right angles?

Thanks,
Geoff

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Hello,

the best way to round corners in KiCAD is to edit the PCB-Edge in the OpenGL mode [View --> Switch Canvas to OpenGL]. Then select your PCB-Edge Layer and simply paint the edge you want with the tools (on the right side - the icons with the blue lines, arcs and circles):

  • Add graphic lines or polygon
  • Add graphic arc

just select the grid size you want to use (for proper snapping of the lines to the grid) and paint your PCB outline. This is much better in the new OpenGL mode than it used to be in the original mode.

Happy outlining!

/Airic

2 Likes
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Oh, I didn’t know this is working in Open GL now! Thank you for the tip.

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Thanks Airic

I was working in the stable BZR4022 windows version, but see the menu option you mean now I’ve got a more recent version via Winbuilder. Thanks!

Geoff

Edit: Now I know the method, also found this tutorial that explains the process step-by-step, in this stackexchange.com forum thread

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Update! Found a site called GeoGerba and made geometry work. Move the circle center point to change the radius and move points A, X, C to mimic the coordinates of your PCB edges and BOOM, it outputs all the data to draw an arc in Kicad: center point, start point on circle, and an arc length.

GeoGerba PCB Outline Rounding Edge

I tried coding it up in Python, but lost interest. Someone else should if they could and follow-up on this thread.