EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => PCB/EDA/CAD => KiCad => Topic started by: fredgreer on May 12, 2019, 01:16:19 pm
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Hi all,
I've been hacking away at a little project you might find useful: http://footprinter.xyz/ (http://footprinter.xyz/)
It's a very basic footprint editor that lets you draw pads on top of the recommended footprints from component datasheets.
(https://github.com/fredgreer/footprinter/raw/master/github/usage.gif?raw=true)
There's more information on GitHub at https://github.com/fredgreer/footprinter (https://github.com/fredgreer/footprinter)
Please let me know if it helps you!
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Hi,
Please tell me how to use it and what version of Kicad it is compatible with.
Thanks in advance.
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That is really great!
A couple suggestions:
- Snap alignment of pads to others - not to a grid, just so that they're all straight and of the same size.
- Very basic edge recognition to snap to lines on the document
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Neat! One thing I would suggest would be to have the size of new pads be equal to the size of the most recent pad placed.
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There is some sort of copy function shown on the demo but I don't see how it is started. Is this working for anyone?
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There is some sort of copy function shown on the demo but I don't see how it is started. Is this working for anyone?
Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+V works for me.
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That does it. Thanks!
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Hi,
How do you install / use it ?
There's no executable, so I think that it's a plugin. I'm stuck here !
Regards
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It's not a plug in. It works as a web page in Firefox but would not work in IE. Try a different browser.
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Don't those things in the datasheet always say "not to scale" and such?
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It's not a plug in. It works as a web page in Firefox but would not work in IE. Try a different browser.
Not so obvious to open http://footprinter.xyz/ (http://footprinter.xyz/) ! The readme file is very confusing.
Thanks a lot anyway, you put me on the right way.
Regards
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Don't those things in the datasheet always say "not to scale" and such?
yup. exactly my first thought ... also vertical and horizontal may be differently scaled.
i would like to see a 'solidowrks style' interface.
you draw shapes and specify distances / lengths between objects.
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Don't those things in the datasheet always say "not to scale" and such?
yup. exactly my first thought ... also vertical and horizontal may be differently scaled.
i would like to see a 'solidowrks style' interface.
you draw shapes and specify distances / lengths between objects.
Very much this. Every time I have to draw something in any EDA I've tried I find myself really wishing I had a dimension tool.
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The nice thing about Kicad is that the footprint format is plain text and fairly simple. With some practice you can have a text editor open in one window, the datasheet in another, and just enter the footprint by hand. This is much faster than any graphical tool.
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I tried it briefly to create a QFN40 footprint from a datasheet.
- Precision is not good, to match the pad sizes from the datasheet I still end up entering the actual numbers from the datasheet, I'm not able to match the numbers using the visual interface
- Positioning of the pads is consequently off
- Positioning the pads with the mouse is tedious and difficult get the necessary precision
- Screen captures from the datasheet, which is what I'd mostly do, doesn't give a reference precise enough. All the lines are multiple pixels thick
Footprint attached for reference
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I tried it briefly to create a QFN40 footprint from a datasheet.
- Precision is not good, to match the pad sizes from the datasheet I still end up entering the actual numbers from the datasheet, I'm not able to match the numbers using the visual interface
- Positioning of the pads is consequently off
- Positioning the pads with the mouse is tedious and difficult get the necessary precision
- Screen captures from the datasheet, which is what I'd mostly do, doesn't give a reference precise enough. All the lines are multiple pixels thick
Footprint attached for reference
footprints like that are easy to make. it's the crap like this that is a pain in the butt :
(https://media.digikey.com/Renders/Texas%20Instr%20Renders/296;-4223793;-RKH;-9_sml.jpg)
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footprints like that are easy to make. it's the crap like this that is a pain in the butt :
(https://media.digikey.com/Renders/Texas%20Instr%20Renders/296;-4223793;-RKH;-9_sml.jpg)
Yeah, I know. If you need a standard footprint there are other, better options, like the footprint wizards in KiCAD
But still, I'd prefer a parametric input instead of a point-n-click interface, which might get me a result quickly but what's it worth if the pads are a couple 10ths of millimeters off because it's not possible to setup the scale or place the pads with enough precision.
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footprints like that are easy to make. it's the crap like this that is a pain in the butt :
(https://media.digikey.com/Renders/Texas%20Instr%20Renders/296;-4223793;-RKH;-9_sml.jpg)
Yeah, I know. If you need a standard footprint there are other, better options, like the footprint wizards in KiCAD
But still, I'd prefer a parametric input instead of a point-n-click interface, which might get me a result quickly but what's it worth if the pads are a couple 10ths of millimeters off because it's not possible to setup the scale or place the pads with enough precision.
exactly. Last friday i had to make one for a power ic that had pads with 45 degree and 33 degree angles in them ... QFN device with internal pads ,pads with cutout , pads that widen as the enter the body. And of course datasheet had all measurements .... except the ones i need ( center of pad and pad length and width. They only gave the edge coordinates ... mmaaargghhhhh so i modeled it in solidworks since there you can easily specify anything to anything and the tool will warp and bend your sketch to your specification. ) load the step file in altium -> create pcb from 3d body model . kaploink. done.
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I tried it briefly to create a QFN40 footprint from a datasheet.
- Precision is not good, to match the pad sizes from the datasheet I still end up entering the actual numbers from the datasheet, I'm not able to match the numbers using the visual interface
- Positioning of the pads is consequently off
- Positioning the pads with the mouse is tedious and difficult get the necessary precision
- Screen captures from the datasheet, which is what I'd mostly do, doesn't give a reference precise enough. All the lines are multiple pixels thick
Footprint attached for reference
footprints like that are easy to make. it's the crap like this that is a pain in the butt :
And connectors. Especially the ones that come without 3d file to verify, and interlock with an enclosure, with a datasheet full with strange mix of imperial and metric values. Drafted by a person who is a mechanical engineer, never made a footprint in his life and doesn't really speak English.
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I tried it briefly to create a QFN40 footprint from a datasheet.
- Precision is not good, to match the pad sizes from the datasheet I still end up entering the actual numbers from the datasheet, I'm not able to match the numbers using the visual interface
- Positioning of the pads is consequently off
- Positioning the pads with the mouse is tedious and difficult get the necessary precision
- Screen captures from the datasheet, which is what I'd mostly do, doesn't give a reference precise enough. All the lines are multiple pixels thick
Footprint attached for reference
footprints like that are easy to make. it's the crap like this that is a pain in the butt :
And connectors. Especially the ones that come without 3d file to verify, and interlock with an enclosure, with a datasheet full with strange mix of imperial and metric values. Drafted by a person who is a mechanical engineer, never made a footprint in his life and doesn't really speak English.
yup, those too.. i HATE connectors. to the point that, if a manufacturer can not provide a detailed STEP file i refuse to use their product.
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I tried it briefly to create a QFN40 footprint from a datasheet.
- Precision is not good, to match the pad sizes from the datasheet I still end up entering the actual numbers from the datasheet, I'm not able to match the numbers using the visual interface
- Positioning of the pads is consequently off
- Positioning the pads with the mouse is tedious and difficult get the necessary precision
- Screen captures from the datasheet, which is what I'd mostly do, doesn't give a reference precise enough. All the lines are multiple pixels thick
Footprint attached for reference
footprints like that are easy to make. it's the crap like this that is a pain in the butt :
And connectors. Especially the ones that come without 3d file to verify, and interlock with an enclosure, with a datasheet full with strange mix of imperial and metric values. Drafted by a person who is a mechanical engineer, never made a footprint in his life and doesn't really speak English.
yup, those too.. i HATE connectors. to the point that, if a manufacturer can not provide a detailed STEP file i refuse to use their product.
Have you found you're able to trust those STEP files? So far I've always created the part per the numbers and just considered it a bonus if the step file works, let alone is fully detailed (and not obnoxious colours).