wiki/electronics/electronics/pcbfabrication/transparencies.md

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Preparing transparencies (KiCad)

HomeElectronicsCircuit board fabrication ► Preparing transparencies (KiCad)


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Designing the circuit board

I use KiCad (http://kicad-pcb.org/) for the schematic and board design. It has the typical open-source quirks, and there are easier online options as well, but I prefer it nonetheless. I won't write up a full blown tutorial at this point, but here are some tips and tricks:

Make sure you select the right copper layer, especially for through-hole components

Seems like a no-brainer, but I've found myself working for an hour on a layout only to realise I should've put the tracks for the through-hole components on the back copper layer (B.Cu). You can change the layer a track is on, but it's a hassle to do for an entire board.

You can also correct this using the "Mirror" option when plotting, but it's best to be consistent.

Many symbols and footprints have already been created

If you find a symbol or footprint is missing from the standard library, Google for the part name for KiCad. There's plenty of GitHub repositories with components. I recommend placing them in the project folder and including it as a project-specific library.

Another good source of free symbols and footprints is https://www.snapeda.com/. You can create an account for free, and they offer free downloads in KiCad format for many components.