I’m still new to making PCBs but I can’t imagine this is helpful for anybody. After I ordered a good amount of PCB’s for my project I found out that there is a trace missing. Apparently the auto router didn’t route 1 trace and because of the very thin line and the color of that line I didn’t notice it. This is a pretty important thing to not miss I think but for some reason the color that is currently picked makes it so that it’s hard to see, especially when it’s a single line. So this is a software design choice I don’t understand because it makes designing PCBs more prone to mistakes. But then even worse is that there are 0 errors when exporting the gerber file. Shouldn’t there be an error saying that one or more traces are not connected when this is the case?? I had the same problem with a component that had a piece of Edge Line inside the footprint so it messed up the hole I put into the PCB. But again no errors when exporting…
Is this what you get when using an open source program where these things are just not worked out as well? Or is this normal when using these kinds of software?
Personally I need these kinds of warnings because I’ve only been designing PCBs for a year or so and a lot is going on where you can make a mistake. But I can imagine this is helpful for a lot of other people as well.
If you are using an Autorouter then IMO you aren’t the one designing the PCB, you are abdicating that task to a 3rd party plugin, not even KiCad.
That aside, did you run the DRC (Design Rules Checker) before making the Gerbers and fix any errors and check the warnings ? the DRC will tell you about any unrouted nets . . .
Yes so my point is that it’s helpful for anybody to have errors when exporting for final output, in case you forget something. I my case, and I suspect in many others, people don’t know about DRC or forget about it. To me it makes a lot of sense to have DRC run, or the software tells you about it, when plotting the gerber file.
I didn’t know about DRC and will take a look at it. Really a shame I have to find out about it through a complaining forum post and now having 2 sets of 25 PCB’s that I can throw away. I don’t have enough experience with other software but I wonder how they are managing this. Maybe it’s just me being forgetful but I imagine I’m not the only one who has made this mistake.
No. You didn’t have to find it that way. There were other ways also.
In 2017 I have read all KiCad documentation pdfs ( https://docs.kicad.org/ ) before I have installed it for the first time. To tell you the truth I have printed these pdfs to be able to mark with marker the important things in these instructions. I have even read that pdf about Drawing sheet editor. Than later I looked through my markings and made a cheat sheet from it for future use.
I don’t understand where from come people who assumes that they can use such complicated tool like PCB design software without reading even the Getting Started manual.
Sorry I have to say: It’s your own fault that you have two sets of 25 PCBs to throw away. Learning (especially late) costs money.
Running DRC is very much standard. A PCB design program would not be complete without it.
And you don’t have to thow the PCB’s away. You can just solder some wires over the missing link. It is quite common to use bodge wires to fix issues with prototypes. And it is also quite common to see all sorts of small modifications on commercial equipment that is produced in lower quantities, or for the first batch.
You seem to not understanding how people design PCBs. Near the end of design you run DRC many times to find errors to correct and warnings to think about or correct. This process can take long time (even days) as sometimes error found can make you changing some important decisions making you redesigning a part of PCB. At the end, when you are happy with it and you are 100% sure everything is as you want it to be you generate gerbers.
If the program then crawled you through DRC (that need not to be empty) again, you’d be at least upset.
So it is certainly not helpful for anybody.
And why only through DRC. Someone who would made some changes in schematic and then forget to update PCB to schematic (what is not under DRC competence) will say that program didn’t warn him about it and stupidly allowed him to generate gerbers. Someone other could even not finished his schematic and also would need to get a question “Are you sure of your schematic” just before gerbers being generated.
You opt for making KiCad a kind of software knowing better than user what he wants. This is the feature of programs that I hate the most. And how about you? Do you like if program knows better than you what you need?
I can tell only about Protel 3 (commercial program) that I was using for 20 years. There DRC was also separate from gerber generation.
I am guessing that you just placed the footprints on the PCB, then ran the autorouter, looked at the result for a few minutes and then created gerbers and ordered PCB’s.
Is this correct? I have seen this happen many times with beginners. They think an “autorouter” is some kind of magic tool that does all the PCB layout for you, but this is a big misconception. Designing any PCB is at least a partially manual process, because a lot of attention to details is needed that are simply not implemented in autorouters. Autorouters can be an aid, but it is just one of the many tools used during PCB design. DRC is another tool.
To be clear, I’m not saying DRC should not be used. I will use it myself in the future. I’m just saying that it would be helpful to have a popup window with a warning if essential needs are not met. Just as there is a warning window when updating the pcb layout and there is a footprint missing, for example. I’m not saying at all that kicad should be a program that does all kinds of things for you and with that you lose control, I hate it when programs do this. But, like I said, a popup window with essential warnings will help anyone because forgetting a trace on your pcb, or something else, is always shit.
Also how reads the entire help file before using a program…
Also, such warnings imply some fixed workflow. For example when I just want to create a pintout to do some test fitting of footprints then I am not interested in whether DRC works at all.
Ordering PCB’s cost money, and delays costs time which can also cost money. It is common to make a checklist and go though the checklist before PCB are ordered. Similar to pilots. They always run though a checklist before they start a plane and takeoff.
If you had used the wrong footprint you would have useless boards . . . no automated check will find that for you, it’s always on you to be as sure as you can before you pull the trigger on hard cash.
The lessons we learn best are usually the ones that cost us money . . . I have learned a lot of lessons that way.
You can change widths and colors of tracks on the PCB (there are no copper lines on the PCB). This is also mentioned in the Documentation. See https://docs.kicad.org/
Complaints about the Autorouter would best be mentioned on the Autorouter website, not Kicad.
Kicad does not have an Autorouter.
I had envisaged the very fine tracks usually used by newcomers.
The same solution applies, though:
Ratsnest lines can be increased in width and colour.
I like a width of 5 instead of the default .5, in bright green, when a board is nearing completion. It is so wide and bright that it almost hurts the eyes. Cannot be missed.
Well in real life nobody. But even if you opt for lazy learning as opposed to eager learning, you need some metacognifive skills such as self-questioning, and the sorts of questions you should ask are:
How can I verify if this is correct?
Can I verify this in another way?
Do I have the right mental model of what is happening in the program?
Are there examples of how it’s done?
Are there aids to check what I have produced?
What sorts of errors could I have missed?
Thus when using a word processor, such reflection should lead you to posit the existence of spell and grammar checkers, and preview screens, and find that indeed these are standard features.
As for a check before exporting, you have it back to front. You should be running the ERC and DRC dozens of times before you continue to export. So you should wear out the check button and not the export button. Also the check draws attention to things that require judgement that may or may not be errors. Only you can decide if it’s fine to continue to export.
Consider it a costly lesson in overreliance on the most optimistic scenario.
Except me
I swear, I have read all accessible pdfs before installing KiCad for the first time.
Thanks to that (for example) I knew to not install KiCad in Program Files directory (default in Windows). So specially for KiCad I created directory “Programs” and installing KiCad for the first time I installed it there. Thanks to that I had no problems with some configuration that in V4 and V5 (in V6 probably no) was saved in a default project file located in the same directory where program was installed. Those times whenever someone at forum had a problem with that I explained him source of his problems (Windows protects Program Files directory). It also happened many times that answering someones question I just pointed the right place in Getting Started manual.
True reason I have read all of that was that I had commercial PCB design software (Protel 3, from 1997) and I simply knew what I am reading about and was able to notice important information. KiCad those time had one important advantage over my Protel 3 and a serie of disadvantages. KiCad was able to push other tracks wen routing while Protel not. Reading I was trying to find whether this one advantage outweigh the disadvantages (problems with via-stitching and others) because I wanted to be sure that if I will be used to KiCad hotkeys I will not have to learn back Protel hotkeys.
I don’t expect other read all that, but not reading at least Getting Started I can’t understand.
I layout my traces by hand. While doing so there is an info line at the bottom of the PCB window. It lists the number of unrouted nets. Was this not updated when you use autorouting?
