[SOLVED] Custom components library - import schematics and footprints?

[hansibull]

Hi!
I'm in the process of learning Altium Designer, and I want to create a custom library where I store all the components I use the most. A lot of these components allready exist in the official 3rd party libraries (such as microcontrollers, passives etc.), and the all got great schematic symbols and footprints.

I don't want to re-invent the wheel again, so I hoped I was able to import the an allready existing part schematic symbol and the footprint. I'm able to import the footprint, but cannor figure out how to import the existing schematic symbol. All tutorials on youtube only shows you how to create your own. Is there any way to import e.g Atmels ATmega324PA-AU schematic symbol into my custom library?

[julianhigginson]

whats the original library format you have?

I don't normally copy library parts, but if you can open the source library for editing and open the destination library for editing then you should be able to select the source component in the SCH library panel, then go to menu: tools>Copy Component, and then select your destination library for it to get copied to... (if you have your source library in intlib format you may have to split it first?)

another way is just place all the parts into your design from the original source library, then when you've done the design export project libraries from the design.. this will give you a schlib and a pcblib with everything that was used... and from there you can copy to an official "my used parts" lib if you want.

[T3sl4co1l]

You can open the library file directly, and copy symbols out of it.

Or you can place them on your schematics or PCB, and generate a library from that.

(There are no lib-merge tools built in, unfortunately, so you can't dump a sch's components into an existing library, for example.  There might be a script that does something handy like that.)

The built-in libraries are kind of weird, mostly having badly proportioned shapes, ugly labels, and non-compliant footprints (with minimal mechanical features, e.g. courtyard, 3D model).  It's a good plan to edit them anyway.

Tim

[hansibull]

Thanks you so much guys! It's a bit clumsy, indeed, but at least I'm now able to (slowly) create my own components llibrary without needing to redraw every component!