I’m quite new at using KiCad although I took my MSc in Electronics in the 1990s. I have mostly worked as a software engineer since then, but still have an urge to dive into hardware from time to time.
I like the KiCad software a lot, but it feels like some things could be made quite a bit more streamlined and simplified.
My main gripe is the import of symbols / footprints / 3D models (since the default library isn’t complete, which it cant be).
Why are those managed from two different settings dialogs? I feel it would be much easier to add new components if I could add both symbol and footprint (preferably 3D model too) from the same dialog instead of having to go into separate dialogs for electrical symbols and footprints.
I quite like the directness and simplicity of handling schematic symbols and footprints for the PCB separately. But that does not mean there is no room for changes or improvement. For some part it’s design philosophy, but also a part because of historical reasons. I’m also simply used to how KiCad works. Many of the developers are probably regulars who have also used KiCad for many years and have gotten used to it. This also may make it difficult to keep an open view for alternative methods.
KiCad is set up to work as quite separate sections:
Schematic Editor.
PCB editor.
Symbol Editor.
Footprint Editor.
Some lesser parts / utilities.
Combining those in different ways can easily introduce more confusion instead of streamlining the workflow. But I’m no guru in GUI design.
If you’ve got a lot to import from another PCB design program, it may be a workable workflow to create a project in that other program and put all schematic symbols in a schematic (with footprint assignments), and then import that project into KiCad.
Thanks for your insight. I suspected that is how many KiCad users feel, so I’m probably in a minority here.
However, since I’m just starting to learn SMT board design, I do have to import everything I need from places like snapeda.com and ultralibrarian.com, and the workflow of
Finding the components online
Downloading them in the right format (symbol, footprint and 3D-model)
Importing them into KiCad (symbol, footprint and 3D-model),
Listing part numbers in the order to the supplier
takes a bit too more time than it might need to…
I guess a part supplier could make a plugin perhaps to simplify this process, but I haven’t found any such plugins so far.
lcsc.com has a good parts database, but they only have symbols in EasyEDA format which KiCad cant use I guess. I assume they work together with the EasyEDA team perhaps?
I get over 90% of the footprints I need from KiCad’s default libraries. Some custom footprints I design myself, or modify them from existing footprints, and only very few come from external sources.
Wrong assumption. KiCad can directly use easyeda libraries. Just add them to KiCad’s library table, and set the library format (you have to make the window wider to scroll to the right column).
Be a bit careful with assumptions. KiCad has a quite wide functionality, and some things are impossible to find without reading manuals, such as for example the database driven libraries.
