Trying kicad again: adapting my workflow

[JPortici]

So, i'm giving kicad yet another try, but this time i'm serious.
I installed 6.0.10, i'm very pleased on how the interface have evolved. It doesn't look like a mess anymore, all the opposite, and the docs are proactive in the sense that even if there are weird defaults (weird for anybody who used cad before, that's it), they aknowledge the fact and tell you what to change, instead of going into full open source goblin mode insisting that the rest of the world is wrong.
The center-when-zooming with the scroll wheel is the prime example, and exactly what caused me to uninstall immediately in my past tries, i don't remember you could change that setting that easily in the past.

I'm very pleased by the PCB editor, that is the reason why i keep trying to work with kicad, the last few versions make diptrace look just so archaic, but diptrace is still so much more intuitive and i want to try to bring some of that behaviour into kicad, if possible.

Bear with me, i've read the first tutorial but then wend head on trying stuff. I've looked through the settings, admittedly without much patience so i'm here asking probably basic stuff.
For some i tried googling but didn't come up with the expected answer

1)Is it possible to make the cursor snap to the grid only when you're moving/placing something and not at all times?
2)When i use a shortcut, for example "X" to route a trace, the tool will be selected but will also start the action. I only want the tool to be selected or i have to perform the same number of clicks i would have had to by doing manually. Annoying. Can i make it so the shortcut just selects the tool?
3)I'm having difficulty adapting to the way signal layers are selected. In diptrace numbers select the layer (i know, it doesn't scale to more than 10 layer but honestly it's not my problem, and i think i can assign a different shortcut to select layers anyway) and T and B select the top and bottom layer. I've seen that i can select a main/alternate pair and the + and - characters select between the two but i find that using numbers is just so obvious
4)I'm finding the via placement while routing weird. I'm used to place the wire up until a point, then i switch the layer and the via is already placed, instead here i have to first select the via function then place the wire, then the layer will be switched automatically. This is not a big deal, but what if i want to do 1->4->3 instead of moving between layer pairs? Granted it's unusual in 4 layer boards, but sometimes i've done it with inner power planes
5)Can i snap a fill zone to the board outline?
+That's it for now

[Doctorandus_P]

I quite like the center and warp cursor, but it did take me a few days to get used to. (In fear of being called an open source goblin).

1. That is how the schematic editor works. PCB editor always snaps to the grid as far as I know.
2. Why? Move the cursor to the location you want to start a track before you press it.
3.  You can also use [PgUp] and [PgDn] to change layers. The plus and minus also cycle though copper layers. KiCad also has an option to directly select any layer you want with a hotkey, but by default no keys are assigned. You can set them in the Preferences.
4. KiCad works with layer pairs as far as I know. Switching between multiple layers would need changing tracks to another layer after they are laid. (which would be a quite ugly workaround indeed, but it's possible).
5. There is no need to do so. I usually draw zones a lot bigger then the PCB outline, and KiCad clips it to a set distance from the PCB outline. This works just as reliably as zones keeping a clearance from other nets. DRC also complains if there is a fault in the PCB outline. This is for example also done extensively in the Olinuxino A64. Featured on: https://www.kicad.org/made-with-kicad/ and the full KiCad project is downloadable from github.

The transition to another program always feels uncomfortable in the beginning. It was probably also awkward to start with that other program, but people tend to forget as years pass by, and they get comfortable by using a program.

In addition:
KiCad V7 is expected around the end of this month and it has quite a lot of new functionality, although the changes are not as dramatic as the transition from V5 to V6 (That was 3 years of development). The goal is to have a mayor new KiCad version each year.

[JPortici]

I quite like the center and warp cursor, but it did take me a few days to get used to. (In fear of being called an open source goblin).

1. That is how the schematic editor works. PCB editor always snaps to the grid as far as I know.
2. Why? Move the cursor to the location you want to start a track before you press it.
3.  You can also use [PgUp] and [PgDn] to change layers. The plus and minus also cycle though copper layers. KiCad also has an option to directly select any layer you want with a hotkey, but by default no keys are assigned. You can set them in the Preferences.
4. KiCad works with layer pairs as far as I know. Switching between multiple layers would need changing tracks to another layer after they are laid. (which would be a quite ugly workaround indeed, but it's possible).
5. There is no need to do so. I usually draw zones a lot bigger then the PCB outline, and KiCad clips it to a set distance from the PCB outline. This works just as reliably as zones keeping a clearance from other nets. DRC also complains if there is a fault in the PCB outline. This is for example also done extensively in the Olinuxino A64. Featured on: https://www.kicad.org/made-with-kicad/ and the full KiCad project is downloadable from github.

The transition to another program always feels uncomfortable in the beginning. It was probably also awkward to start with that other program, but people tend to forget as years pass by, and they get comfortable by using a program.

In addition:
KiCad V7 is expected around the end of this month and it has quite a lot of new functionality, although the changes are not as dramatic as the transition from V5 to V6 (That was 3 years of development). The goal is to have a mayor new KiCad version each year.

1) is really just a nuisance, nothing serious
2) because i want it to behave the same way. Select the tool is select the tool, not select the tool and click, this is a little more than a nuisance, it's one of those things that don't make sense to me
3) thanks. What i was looking for
4) I wonder what happens if i select another layer through a hotkey.. have to try.
EDIT: As i suspected I don't have to work with pairs at all, i just need to change the layer with +/-. Now i have to find better hotkeys than +/-, which make sense, but are not in the best place (far right from the keyboard) if i'm using the left hand while the right is on the mouse.
However there is still this Via thing that is kind of frustrating: if i change the layer and click on the same point i do have a Via, but the routing also ends. But i'm confident that it is another setting i have to change
EDIT2: If i use "<" it opens select layer and place via, which is what i would like to happen when i change the layer with +/- (the select layer and place via opens a menu that takes the focus, i have to move to and click)
5) Okay, i guess. seems a hack though

I find it is already much better than what i tried years ago (i tried it the first time in the early 2010s and then every few years for a couple of hours before uninstalling everything out of frustration) and now everything is more streamlined, many functions are automated and many weird things have been changed to reflect standard UI practices. Many of the old style linux UI choices have been dropped. Yes.

In addition:
Jesus christ call it Kicad '23 then
I'm a firm believer that major release should change when something major happens

[Doctorandus_P]

Mayor version bumps are a quite mayor event for KiCad.
KiCad version numbers consist of 3 numbers (Currently V6.0.10)

The third number "10" is bumped around once a month, when bug fixes are released. Updating to the latest bug fix release is always recommended (but wait a week or so if your livelihood depends on it).

The middle number is for a "quite big" update that may cause incompatibilities. It's unlikely this number will be used again now KiCad moved to a yearly mayor version.

"Normal" development of KiCad finds place in the "KiCad-nightly" version, which has a two part version number, and the 2n number is always "99", So now it is V6.99. The "99" means, "it's going to become the next mayor one. Updates are literally overnight (and nearly each night) and also have a build date and git commit string somewhere in the version info.

Changes in mayor versions are quite significant. File formats change, lots of new features get added (and new bugs too).  There is a curated list on the KiCad forum, which only has announcements for new features. There are no replies or other talks in that topic, and it has 84 posts. (So that is more then one change a week!)

https://forum.kicad.info/t/post-v6-new-features-and-development-news/32633/88

KiCad V7 will have most (but not all!) of the features mentioned in that list.
Some mayor ones are:

* Lots of gui fixes, colors, highlighting, shadows, line types, minimum text size, selectable fonts.
* New panels (Properties and search, sticky "hierarchical sheet" browser).
* ERC and DRC enhancements. (Starved thermal spokes, copper slivers, solder mask integrity, ...)
* Loading of bitmaps in the PCB editor for reverse engineering PCB's.
* Improved support for net ties.
* http links in texts, pdf export with hyperlinks, bookmarks, Table of Contents.
* Support for Database Libraries. (I'm not sure how complete this is at the moment).
* More automation in the Interactive router ("Unroute Selected", "attempt Finish Routing", "Attempt finish selection")
* Grouping of footprints by selection from the schematic (for initial sorting on a new PCB).
* Improvements in CLI.
* IBIS models for ngSpice simulation.

[craftyjon]

1) PCB Editor preferences > Display Options > Snap to Grid dropdown
2) Preferences > Common > First Hotkey Selects Tool checkbox
5) As noted, there is no need to do this, but if you want to do this:
 - Select the board outline shape
 - Switch to a copper layer
 - Right-click, Create from Selection, Create Zone from Selection

[ebastler]

The third number "10" is bumped around once a month, when bug fixes are released. Updating to the latest bug fix release is always recommended (but wait a week or so if your livelihood depends on it).

I must admit that I have never done that, and have lived with bugs until another major version came out. Because I was under the impression that KiCad does not really have an "update" function, but only a "install yet another version in parallel, and figure out yourself how to clean up the old crap".

Has that changed? Or was it a misconception of mine all along, and incremental versions do nicely and tidily update the existing installation?

[Benta]

Has that changed? Or was it a misconception of mine all along, and incremental versions do nicely and tidily update the existing installation?

As long as I've used KiCAD (since 5.1) it hasn't changed, and there are regular incremental updates.

[ebastler]

Hmm, thank you. My current computer is quite new and only has Kicad 6.0 installed, but I am sure that the prior one (which died last year) had 5.x and 6.0 in parallel. And the machine before that one had a 4.x version which I had tried and not really used, and then 5.x installed itself in parallel when I took a more serious stab at Kicad. All were/are Windows computers, Win 7 and Win 10.

Anyway, I will give updating a chance then. :-)