I have a problem with plotting fabrication data. A first plot of all layers as PDF showed all format symbols like revision or sheet number as intended. After some changes in the layout, PDFs did not contain format symbols any more.
What I did: I created a drawing sheet in in Pl Editor with the format symbols only. The drawing frame and title block are in an imported PNG as full-format background image. It worked once when choosing “force plotting of invisible values/refs”, but after the second plot, selecting or unselecting this made no difference any more. I used 6.0.4 first and just switched to 6.0.7 with no influence of the problem.
I am not sure if I just made a wrong setting somewhere, or if this is a bug.
Does anyone has an idea? Thanks a lot.
Did you accidentally turn off the “Plot border and title blk” switch at the top of the General Options of the plot PDF dialog box?
Thanks for your reply. “Plot border and title blk” was always on.
I made the template twice: One with 600dpi background image for fabrication output, and one without as “save as” from the first one, to make editing the layout faster. The format symbols are the same in both templates. I just tried again, and format symbols are in the PDF if I print the one without background image. Also with a 300dpi background image it does not work. Some more findings:
When printing the schematic, the template with background image works fine.
When using the “print” function for the layout, it does also not show the format symbols.
My workaround for now: I print without background image and add it as a background in a separate PDF editor. Then this is probably a bug that should be reported?
I do not understand what do you mean by “format symbols”.
Do you import the png image into the worksheet or into any other layer?
Format symbols is a term that I found in the KiCad manual for the Pl editor. It was used for the variables that are preset in the drawing sheet editor for the title block. I use the issue date, comment 1 to 5 and some more. See the attached screenshot from the drawing sheet editor. It shows the format symbols. I inserted the PNG with the “add a bitmap image” button on the right. The drawing sheet file saved as worksheet (.kicad-wks) was then loaded in the schematic editor where it works when printed, and the layout editor where it does not work with background image.
I cannot help you here. I use the same worksheet for schematic and layout. They work fine on the screen. I have not tried printing the layout, for the schematic I use plot to pdf.
I plot my eeschema to pdf. If I use print to pdf it is offset. Known issue (had in 5.xx and still in 6,07 UM22.04) easy workaround. No am not saying it works on @Jan s issue.
Mendy and Pedro, thank for your reply. You both write that you plot instead of using the print function. With my schematic both functions work, but with the layout editor both functions have the problem with not showing the background PNG. It seems to be a bug. Then I keep using the workaround with inserting the PNG in an external PDF editor.
Maybe I have not understood your problem completely.
I add the bitmap file as you do, but I keep it inside the title block.
In the schematics, it plots fine.
In the layout it does not plot at all since plot is only applied to the layout layers and the title block is not plotted.
Is your bitmap image under the whole circuit?
I add a bitmap that has the size of the whole sheet format - in my case A4 - not only the size of the title block. I leave only the format symbols in the template, as you can see in my post #4. Plotting the format symbols in the title block works in the layout, if you enable “Plot border and title blk”. I think now that this is a bug. I was once able to print it with the whole bitmap from the layout editor, and there is no reason why this should not be the normal behavior of this function.
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