Getting Started in KiCAD
.
All our boards are designed using
KiCAD
. This is an open-source software tool for the creation of electronic schematic diagrams and PCB artwork. This is a fairly complex program to learn and will typically need weeks of practice to build up a board. After the board circuit is generated with KiCAD it must then have all the chips arranged on the board and connected with 100's if not over a 1000 traces and vias. This is done with another program called
Freerouter
. Finally the resulting Freerouter files must be converted to
Gerber files
for the factory to actually fabricated the board. For most of our boards I provide the most recent Gerber & Drill files to have a board fabricated. You may use these files -- at your own risk -- to have any board on this site made for non-commercial use.
KiCAD
.
KiCAD is an open-source software tool for the creation of electronic schematic diagrams and PCB artwork. Beneath its singular surface, KiCAD incorporates an elegant ensemble of the following standalone software tools:-
KiCAD project manager
EESchema schematic editor
CVpcb footprint selector
PCBnew circuit board layout editor
GerbView Gerber viewer
Bitmap2Component component maker
KiCAD can be considered mature enough to be used for the successful development and maintenance of complex electronic boards. KiCAD does not present any board-size limitation and it can easily handle up to 16 copper layers and up to 12 technical layers. KiCAD can create all the files necessary for building printed boards, Gerber files for photo-plotters, drilling files, component location files and a lot more.
Despite its similarities with other PCB software tools, KiCAD is characterized by an interesting work-flow in which schematic components and footprints are actually two separate entities. This is often the subject of discussion on Internet forums.
The KiCAD work-flow is comprised of two main tasks: making the schematic and laying out the board. Both a components library and a footprints library are necessary for these two tasks. KiCAD has plenty of both. Just in case that is not enough, KiCAD also has the tools necessary to make new ones.
The main KiCAD web site can be seen
here
. From there you can obtain excellent instructions, videos and examples as to how to lay out printed circuit boards. However be aware to layout complex printed circuit boards like we have here needs many hours of experience and should not be taken on lightly.
To get started please review the following files:-
Getting_Started_in_KiCad.pdf
cvpcb.pdf
eeschema.pdf
KiCad.pdf
pcbnew.pdf
gerbview.pdf
Please note, in Dec 2015 a newer version of KiCAD has been placed in the public domain. Unfortunately some of the files for the previous version of KiCAD (the above 2013 version) are no longer compatible with this newer version. They can be converted, but for now I will stick with the 2013 format. All our current files should work with that version. The 2013 KiCAD version is way more than adequate for all our needs.
Initially you use the
eeschema
button to draw your schematic. This is by far the most time consuming and hardest part of the program. As I said above it takes many long hours to master this part. You then need to convert this schematic to an actual board layout with all the IC's etc. physically in place.
From your schematic you make a
.net
file
You then call in the second program
cvpcb
that uses the .net file to assign each IC in your schematic an actual board "footprint". Most common footprints are already available as .mod files that come with the many KICAD "libraries&qu
This page was last modified
on
09/17/2026
September 11, 2026