Hi. I am designing a smartcard contact footprint.
I made it on Inkscape since the controls there are easier for me to use.
Then I am importing it with .dxf format
Then I am placing SMD pads right on top of the shapes. And I also drew the contour with the draw graphic polygon tool (filled)
I am disabling some layers to expose the copper, so it will be a touch contact instead of a soldering footprint.
Because it is not possible to import from .dxf to a pad. At least I don’t know how to do it.
Importing from Freecad or even Inkscape is a way better solution (for me) since these tools give me a bunch of controls that I know how to use instead of having to learn pretty simple controls (maybe not anymore).
Can I import a .dxf shape to a pad directly? I would love to have this feature.
Inkscape → Save As SVG; KiCad File → Import → Graphics in the Footprint Editor works for me. I just don’t know how to draw irregular polygons in Inkscape, I tried with a rectangle.
Sorry, but still I don’t understand. You can draw a polygon to SVG and import it to the footprint editor copper layer. You can put a normal pad inside the polygon. You can Edit Pad as Graphic Shapes and combine the polygon and the pad to form a new custom shaped pad which has the Mask layer active. What is still missing? Or am I missing something?
Yeah, the fact that you never said the part about Edit Pad as Graphic Shapes and combining polygon+pad until now, just that you could import the graphics. It’s not obvious if you haven’t done it before.
You should take some time to read the thread. If there is something that you don’t understand, please ask, I will be glad to answer. But the way you are replying does not help anyone.
I am going to summarize the thread here.
I am importing a polygon with the “Import Graphics” menu from a .dxf file generated externally on Inkscape.
Then I have to select a layer that is going to receive this polygon. In this case, this layer is the F.cu.
Then, I am adding a PAD on top of the polygon to transform and extend it to the polygon. So, the whole polygon is going to be the PAD. I thought it was enough, but it is not for my goal.
What I wanted is to have the copper of the polygon visible (exposed, without a solder mask applied). Then I tried to change the properties of the PAD to try to improve the polygon the way I wanted. It was not working.
But, after some users commenting here, I realized that a PAD is a compound of layers. Then what I did was to replicate the polygon changing the layer to be a layer that is F.mask. And that is it.
The other way to solve it (which may be preferable) is to convert the shape to a custom pad. After you add the pad on top of the first polygon, use Ctrl+E (edit pad as graphic shapes) command twice. It should absorb the polygon into the pad, and then you get things like solder mask and paste control without having to duplicate the polygon onto different layers.
