KiCad and its recent versions include built-in templates for Arduino, Beagle Bone, and Raspberry Pi add-on boards. These labor-saving files come with pre-made schematics and circuit boards with the right dimensions to mate with their respective mainboards like the popular Arduino Uno. In today’s exercise, we will explore how to use templates to produce a schematic, printed circuit board (PCB), and a 3-dimensional model in only a few minutes.
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How to Use Built-In Templates
From the KiCad main screen, load a template by navigating to:
File -> New Project from Template
In the resulting Project Template Selector:
- Choose the option labeled “Arduino Uno Shield.”
- Click OK.
- Choose a directory to store this project in.
- Give your project a name the program will accept.
- Click “save” to save the new project to your file system
How to Open the Template’s Schematic
Double-click on the schematic filename for the template we just created. It’s going to be the item ending in .kicad_sch.
When the template loads, the canvas (i.e. the workspace) will already have a few connectors, wires and other symbols populated in the top-left corner.
Let’s use these graphics as visual landmarks while we take some time to test how to move about…
Zooming In and Zooming Out
Rotating the mouse’s screen wheel will zoom the view in or out. Alternatively, keys F1 and F2 have the same effect.
Pan Anywhere
Pan the view horizontally by holding CTRL while rotating the scroll wheel.
Pan the view vertically by holding SHIFT while rotating the scroll wheel.
Pan in any direction by middle-clicking while moving the mouse. Alternatively, right-clicking while moving the mouse will have the same effect.
Cursor vs. Crosshairs
In the schematic editor, there will generally be 2 objects that follow your pointing device.
- One will be generated by your operating system or desktop environment. Its purpose is to follow your pointing device exactly.
- The crosshairs are constrained to an X-Y grid system that can be seen as rows and columns of tiny dots.
Show and Hide Grid
To show or hide the grid, click the “Display background grid in the edit window” button. Note this can only cloak the grid, not disable it. Pressing the N key will adjust the grid spacing.
Units of Measurement
The following United States/Imperial units: inches and mils are prevalent in PCB design…
- 1 inch = 1000 mils
- 1 inch = 25.4 mm
IMPORTANT: The 50 mil grid setting (or its equivalents: 1.27 mm or 0.05 inches) is the best option for beginners, since KiCad’s default libraries contain symbols with 100-mil gaps between pins. Using a grid other than 50 mils can make it unnecessarily difficult to connect wires to pins.
Refresh
On rare occasions, old graphics will persist on the canvas. Refreshing the canvas using the F5 key will clear them away and set updated graphics in their place. Alternatively, navigate to:
View -> Refresh
Or press the refresh button (🗘) for the same effect.
How to Open the Template’s PCB
Jump to the PCB editor by clicking the “Open PCB in board editor” button at the top of the schematic editor window. This will open the PCB Editor, which will automatically locate and load the appropriate .kicad_pcb file from the folder.
The PCB Editor gives us a top-down view of the template. By default, the view will display several design layers that are stacked on top of each other.
Moreover, Kicad will automatically import the appropriate netlist from the associated schematic. This lets KiCad draw lines (called rat’s nest lines) between unconnected pads.
Notice the controls for pan and zoom are the same as the schematic.
How to View a PCB’s 3D Model
If the PCB meets certain criteria, such as having a closed edge cuts layer, then it may be viewable as 3D models. To view the device in 3D, press Alt + 3, or navigate to:
- View -> 3D Viewer
In the window that appears, you can…
- ZOOM IN & OUT – By spinning your scroll wheel
- HOME – to put everything in view
- MIDDLE MOUSE AND DRAG – to pan anywhere
- CTRL + SCROLLWHEEL – to pan horizontally
- SHIFT + SCROLLWHEEL – to pan vertically
Left-clicking and dragging will rotate the 3D model itself. Problems with graphics or rendering may be addressable under…
- Preferences -> Preferences -> Common
Production Files
Finally, close the 3D viewer and re-open the PCB editor. Then navigate to:
- File -> Fabrication Outputs
Kicad can generate the following file formats, which can be used later to have your boards fabricated by a third party.
| TYPE | DESCRIPTION |
| Gerber files | Describe your board’s exact size and geometry. |
| Drill files | Are available in multiple formats, such as Excellon |
| Pick and Place | Is useful if you want the factory to solder components onto your board. |
| IPC-D-356 | Is a standardized format for inspection netlists |
Upcoming Work
To recap, we have just created a template, learned how to pan and zoom across various utilities, and now we have a rough idea of what Kicad can export for production purposes.
Part 3 will cover how to adjust critical settings and preferences.
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