Q on exporting schematics and layout - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Jonathon_Doran
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2024, 12:22:08 am
content: A colleague asked for a copy of my project in EasyEDA format, and I am lost getting this converted.I have created a ZIP archive of the project (from KiCad), but EasyEDA does not respond at all when I click the "Import" button.I created a separate ZIP with just the schematic pages and the PCB layout, but only the layout came across. No errors were reported.I created a separate ZIP with just the schematics and EasyEDA reported a generic import error.This is using KiCad 8.0.3 to EasyEDA 6.5.43.Any suggestions?I suppose I could just redraw the schematic by hand. But I would prefer to avoid this as I might inadvertantly introduce errors in the process.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2024, 12:39:26 am
content: presume youve seenhttps://docs.easyeda.com/en/Import/Import-KiCAD/index.htmlespecially the bit at the bottomQuote

author: Jonathon_Doran
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2024, 01:08:55 am
content: Yes, and the very first thing I tried is to use the KiCad archive as shown on that page. EasyEDA did not respond when I clicked on "Import". I might as well have been clicking on the blank space next to that button. Nothing. No errors. No text.This is why I tried the other experiments.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2024, 02:00:54 pm
content: This is more of an EasyEDA question then a KiCad question. KiCad can not save to older file format versions, and older KiCad versions can not read file formats from the future. As a result, you are stuck with whatever EasyEDA has as import functions.In KiCad it is doable to reverse-engineer a PCB from a set of gerber files. You can get 80% done in a few minutes but the last 20% may need a few hours of cleanup, mostly because a lot of information in the gerber files is simply not present. I do not know if EasyEDA has an equivalent functionality.In KiCad you can also reverse-engineer any schematic by importing it as a bitmap (for example .png or .jpg formats). This is mostly boring work, but data re-entry is still a lot quicker then designing a circuit. When designing, you have to read and compare datasheets, decide which parts to use, decide how to connect those parts, calculate values for passives, etc. Having the original as a background image makes this work a lit less boring and quicker, and it reduces the chance for errors. Background images can be loaded both in the Schematic and in the PCB editors. This method is far from ideal, but better then nothing. And again, I don't know whether EasyEDA has something similar.

author: Jonathon_Doran
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2024, 03:22:45 pm
content: Yes, it is an EasyEDA question. Sorry for asking here, I thought that maybe folks would have experience in this area.I contacted EasyEDA support last night, and didn't expect a rapid response. To my surprise they responded in a few hours, and approved my application for an educational license. The new Pro version of EasyEDA imported the KiCad project without trouble (well, it went a bit nuts importing multiple copies of a sheet, but that is easily fixed). This is essential as it allows me to share designs with colleagues who prefer EasyEDA.I'm not switching from KiCad by any means! I prefer KiCad very much, but I am impressed with the support from EasyEDA. And the autorouter did not totally suck as I expected. I still prefer my hand routed board, but the autorouter is probably good enough for most student projects.