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Contents 1 Video about KiCad 2 About KiCad 3 Screenshots 4 kicad 5 eeschema 6 cvpcb 7 pcbnew 8 gerbview 9 Other useful programs 9.1 MUCS-PCB Autorouter 9.2 wings3d

Video about KiCad

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7whKqtQ_HPI

• http://www.workinprogress.ca/kicad-video-tutorial/
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OfBHi8uSmw
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaKzL9d11vk
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJZIuz2uvXo

About KiCad

KiCad consists of a project manager and four main programs:

• kicad - the project manager.
• eeschema - the schematic editor.
• cvpcb - the footprint selector for components used in the circuit design.
• pcbnew - the PCB layout program.
• gerbview - the Gerber (photoplotter documents) viewer.

Screenshots

kicad	eeschema	pcbnew	pcbnew 3D Viewer
gerbview

kicad

kicad - the project manager of the KiCad system and lets you create and name projects and start the major components of KiCad.

eeschema

eeschema is the schematic layout program for KiCad.

More detailed about eeschema...

eeschema contains libedit and libbrowse.

• libedit - schematic parts creation and editing tool.

More detailed about libedit...

• libbrowse - allows the user to see which parts are contained in each library of schematic symbols. This can speed up the creation of a schematic project as the user can load and go directly to a specific library quickly for a part. If the part needed can not be found in a library it can be created in LibEdit (described above).

cvpcb

A tool that allows the mapping of schematic symbols to pcb footprints. This is a necessary step for ConVerting a schematic design into a printed circuit board. For example a resistor (2 pins) can only be mapped to a pcb shape/footprint (called a module in PCBNEW) that has 2 pads. However, a resistor can differ in actual size. This can be solved by creating several different PCBNEW modules that have their pads spaced closer or further apart to match the size of the resistor. This means that a schematic symbol for a resistor can be mapped to one (but only one at a time) of several resistor modules, depending on the actual size of the resistor being used. Kicad contains several ready made resistor modules of differing pad spacing, including many chip (surface mount) types. This same principle is followed for all symbols and modules contained in a project.

pcbnew

PCB layout editor.

pcbnew contains module (foot-print decal) editor, where you can change and create modules.

gerbview

Gerber viewer

Other useful programs

MUCS-PCB Autorouter

This is not a part of KiCad - but has been recommended as a better auto router than the one that comes with KiCad. (Available with Linux SunOS and Solaris only).

• MUCS-PCB autorouter
• KiCad FAQ about MUCS-PCB Autorouter

wings3d

wings3d is a 3D part creation software (a separate software project from KiCad). wings3d is a Nendo-inspired 3D polygon mesh modeler. (it would be nice if there was a "how-to" make/modify parts for KiCad here.) The key information about making parts is to realize that the grid unit in wings3d is equal to 2.54mm in KiCad if you don't set any kicad scaling.