I am new to board layout, and to KICAD. My board has a Microchip MCP2210 and 5 SPI chips, perfboard built, tested and works. The symbol library has 3 symbols for different versions of the MCP2210. I will use MCP2210QFN. This is a surface mount chip, 5 pins on each of the four sides. None of the MCP2210 symbols look like that, all have different pin numbers than that one. One of the library symbols has that name, but is rectangular… The Getting Started document flow chart instructs that if the needed symbol isn’t there, to create it. I have attempted that a few times, is there a place in the manual with detail instructions about how to do that? I think concept of ‘footprint’ is relevant here, I assume for each chip. I see no examples or how to define that. Can somebody point me to a page in the manual, or give me a brief instruction that would get me off square one?
On this forum:
Or in the Eeschema manual, chapter 13, which on my PC is:
file:///usr/share/doc/kicad/help/en/eeschema.html#libedit-symbols
If you get stuck and want more help then report how far you got and what you think the next step should be.
Please note, in KiCad’s vocabulary symbols are on schematics. If you are talking about the PCB part it is called a footprint. Also, “Layout” (the category) refers specifically to PCBNew, not Eeschema. So, are you referring to schematic symbols or are you referring to PCB footprints?
This FAQ entry might help you come to grips with symbols vs footprints:
Symbols (at schematic) need not to look according to its footprint look. Also element symbols at schematic need not have to be arranged in the same way as on the board.
Schematic should be easy to understand how it works and not how the PCB will look like.
Yes, it doesn’t have to be the same.
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