Trouble selecting text, lines, etc

Layout
1

I’m a new KiCAD user (only a few weeks), and feel fairly comfortable in it. However, I frequently have trouble selecting things so that I can edit (E) them. I’ve even resorted to editing the text file for the PCB to move items off the board so that I can select them. In some case, I’m trying to select a line on the Edge Cuts layer and there is nothing else near it. The line is .001 width.

I’ve seen people on Youtube change the grid size to aid in selection, I’m not sure I understand how that would help.

Is there some trick I am unaware of?

2

Who needs lines of 0.001mm thickness?

3

As we know, the thickness of the edge.cuts layer line does affect copper-pour clearance in zones and won’t get fixed…

@Peter
don’t go below 0.01 for line thickness… that’s still selectable when you zoom in.

Personally I use 0.1 for edge cuts, 0.15 for silkscreen stuff and 0.05 for real thin lines (dwgs.user, etc.)

4

I read somewhere that .001 was recommended because it avoids confusion during production. I guess you can’t believe everyone on the internet. I changed them to 0.1 by editing the text file and now they are selectable.

Any suggestions for the text selection? It was on the Front Silk layer and was just the name of the board, revision, etc. I couldn’t select it until I moved it off the board by editing the text file. Do strings of text have a “handle” that needs to be selected, or should I be selecting the lines in the characters themselves?

5

Is your 0.1 in mm or inches?

6

If you can, use openGL mode. That should make selection much easier.

Probably 0.1mm (about 4 mil).

7

Yes, mm. Sorry for omitting that…