Learning KiCad lesson 1 - uploading footprints from SnapMagic? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2024, 10:51:58 pm
content: A bit of a rocky start following a 5 y.o. KiCad tutorial on line - as I am using the latest 8.0 version.It appears I may need to upload my ICL7107 [44pin MQFP]. SnapMagic, the first on the list to offer this has a professional email wall - is thispurposely excluding hobbyists?https://www.snapeda.com/parts/ICL7107/Renesas%20Electronics/view-part/?ref=search&t=ICL7107edited to add the right I.C. linkhttps://www.snapeda.com/parts/ICL7107CMH%2BD/Analog%20Devices/view-part/?ref=search&t=ICL7107

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2024, 11:44:32 am
content: ... not so difficult to register with the social media links - and the download is ok.... now I have to add the symbol & footprint to the project and get it to open [if only google was not such a pita now]edited for typo

author: MarkS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 25, 2024, 02:22:08 pm
content: I'm a hobbyist and have had an account with them for over a year. Maybe they changed something?

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2024, 02:48:17 pm
content: This link - may be the thing I'm looking for - [edited to add idiots guide from snap]

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2024, 03:43:15 pm
content: ...nobody is more surprised than meit's the wrong chip, PDIP rather than MQFP - but hey ho

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2024, 07:29:01 pm
content: nothing happens very quickly - except instructions - but we are making slow progress, with Phil's sat-nav vox

author: JMK
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2024, 07:56:23 am
content: Learn to use the Symbol and Footprint Editors that exist in Kicad.It is usually quicker to make symbols and footprints than find something on the www, let alone go through the drama of downloading, checking and maybe modifying; and the frustration is zero.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2024, 08:06:28 pm
content: Many of these footprints/symbols on these sites are auto-generated from other formats, almost never made by hand using KiCad itself.They very often have various issues. When they appear correct (which isn't always the case), they often have some ill-formed elements (such as courtyard, pads with odd geometries which are not properly made for KiCad, etc), which will trigger DRC errrors or at least warnings.You're usually better off designing the footprints yourself.

author: MarkS
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 23, 2024, 08:19:53 pm
content: I find them really only useful for obscure footprints and 3D models, but by the time I'm done correcting the weird mistakes, I'd just be better off making it myself.

author: shabaz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 23, 2024, 08:40:35 pm
content: Quote from: armandine2 on February 25, 2024, 07:29:01 pmHi,Don't really want to just plug a video, but it's for the right reasons (there's no ad revenue and so hopefully you won't get any adverts while watching it; or at least if you do, it's not something I deliberately did). It's a much shorter video here:It is 50 minutes and covers all the essentials; KiCad can do a lot more, but those 50 minutes will get you through a decent set of capabilities, including a few extra niceties like shaped pads and trace length matching.The video is for KiCad 6, but the user interface has not changed between KiCad 6 and KiCad 8, apart from a few additions of which most are easy to pick up from observation while you use KiCad 8.Feedback has been good so I'm hoping you'll find it of positive benefit if you're learning and don't want to spend a lot of time watching videos. (1.1% unhappy customers according to the like/dislike ratio).