Schematic Labels vs Text?

Schematic
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I searched this before asking… and maybe its obvious but somehow I missed it…

When creating a schematic what is the difference between Labels and Text?

I thought Labels might be assigned to a wire or pin or whatever…
But it seems I can place labels or text anywhere on the schematic.

So what is the difference when annotating things on a schematic?

Thanks for any help.
Running v6.99 2-15-22 daily on Win 10 Pro I7 PC

2

The label is designed to be attached to a net. But you can have a floating label. In that cas it just have a grabbing box to allow you to tie it to a net.

A text is only a graphic object and it cannot be tied to a net.
But yes a floating label and a graphic object looks similar.
Also by default color rendering is not the same
image

3

Labels that are left “floating”, i.e. not attached to a net, will cause an ERC error.

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4

When I do my designs I tend to assign a lot of net labels, even where the visible wires complete the needed connections. I usually use a small font (such as 20 mils) to reduce clutter. The reason I do this is so that I know what I am connecting during pcb layout. I usually prefer IC pin numbers or pin names (where appropriate) instead of R17 pin 2 which is more typical of what KiCad does by default. Those default net names usually do not help my brain much.

5

I do the same for several reasons. It’s a bit more work during design, but for me it serves two purposes:
1: helping while doing PCB layout.
2: more importantly, I try to use descriptive labels for each net. This is a tremendous help when coming back to a design after a year or two, if changes need to be made. The labels really assist getting back into the old forgotten design.

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1 - “Each Net” meaning “Each Line representing a Wire” on the Schematic… Right?
2 - To “Attach” a Label to a line/wire/net you first click the line/wire/net and then click “L” to “Attach” the Label to the line/wire/net… Right?
3 - Can you Attach a Label to a connector pin? I haven figured out how to do that yet.
Thanks to all for the kind assistance.

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  1. I think that is close. Strictly speaking you could butt a resistor up to an IC pin so that they connect (and there is a net) but no wire is shown.
  2. In 6.0 you can simply drag the net label to the wire where you want it to connect.
  3. I think so, yes. Just drag it there.

BTW when I want to make more net labels, I mostly copy-paste and then edit existing ones.
Connect Net Label

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Thanks BobZ!
And, cool illustration. Is that an animated Gif or a video file via a screen capture?
And, can you have the multiple labels on the same net?
Like a Label at each each end of a wire connecting part 1 to part 2 to part etc?
Thanks again for the help.

9

You can have multiple labels. ERC will complain if they don’t match though.

Note that a “net” isn’t quite the same as “line representing a wire”. It’s everything that’s electrically connected together. So if you have 5 lines going from 5 different pins to ground, they’re all one net.

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Net labels are for complicated nets (many connections) where you want to make clear what the net is/does. Placing identical net labels on different parts of the net can make sense.
Placing a label on a wire connecting a resistor to a capacitor makes no sense.

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Got it JeffYoung. Thanks for the help!

What is current best practice for signal naming vs Net Labeling
I’ve used abbreviations (mnemonics) for labeling nets but Text for descriptive signal names like…
Net Label: DAC1O
Signal Name: DAC 1 Analog Out →
or whatever.
Do you do the same or just put use the descriptive signal name as the Net Label?
How do you guys do it?

12

That is a .gif which I created using Licecap. Licecap is very basic and easy to use.

I think that your other questions are already answered. (??)

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