Index

Sr. no Title
1 Side toolbar
2 Introduction to schematic editor tools
3 Left toolbar display controls
4 Grid
5 Shourt for schematic boards
6 Assign footprint to components
7 Short for PCB boards
8 Perference setting
9 Constraint angle 45, 90 , free angle
10 Route setting
11 Editing a board
12 Drawing the Tracks

13 Drawing Your Board Outline

14 Set origin
15 Set track width

16 Setting track width , via hole, via pad

17 Running the Design Rules Check

18 Add filled zone

19 Round PCB
20 Set angle of component
21 Generate Gerber file
22 Generate NC drill
23 Generate BOM
 KICAD MANNUAL
The first thing to do when starting a new design is to create a new project. Opening
KiCad will bring up the Project Window. Click File → New Project, browse to
your desired location, and give your project a name, such as getting-started . Make
sure the Create a new folder for the project checkbox is ticked, then click Save.
The main Ki Cad components are usually started from the launcher buttons in the Ki
Cad project manager window.
 1. Side toolbar

The toolbar on the left side of the window provides shortcuts for common project
operations:

Create a new project.

Open an existing project.

Create a zip archive of the whole project. This includes schematic files,
libraries, PCB, etc.

Extract a project zip archive into a directory. Files in the destination directory
will be overwritten.

Refresh the tree view, to detect changes made on the file system.

Open the project working directory in a file explorer.

Component name Description

Schematic Editor Create and edit schematics; simulate circuits with SPICE;
generate BOM files

Symbol Editor Create and edit schematic symbols and manage symbol
libraries

PCB Editor Create and edit PCBs; export 2D and 3D files; generate
fabrication output files

Footprint Editor Create and edit PCB component footprints and manage
footprint libraries
Component name Description

Gerber Viewer Gerber and drill file viewer

Image converter Convert bitmap images to symbols or footprints

Calculator Tool Show tolls for calculating ,resistance, current capacity

Drawing sheet Editor Edit drawing sheet boards and title blocks for use in
schematic and PCB design

Plug in and content Manage downloaded packages from kicad

manager

To create schematic we have to click on Schematic Editor after that it will show
the following screen
 2. Introduction to schematic editor tools

Schematic editing tools are located in the right toolbar. When a tool is activated, it
stays active until a different tool is selected or the tool is canceled with the Esc key.
The selection tool is always activated when any other tool is canceled

Selection tool (the default tool)

Highlight a net by marking its wires and net labels with a different color. If
the PCB Editor is also open then copper corresponding to the selected net will
be highlighted as well. Net highlighting can be cleared by clicking with the
highlight tool in an empty space, or by using the Clear Net Highlighting
hotkey (~).

Display the symbol selector dialog to place a new symbol.

Display the power symbol selector dialog to place a new power symbol.

Draw a wire.

Draw a bus.

Draw wire-to-bus entry points. These elements are only graphical and do not
create a connection, thus they should not be used to connect wires together.

Place a "No Connect" flag. These flags should be placed on symbol pins
which are meant to be left unconnected. "No connect" flags indicate to the
Electrical Rule Checker that the pin is intentionally unconnected and not an
error.

Place a junction. This connects two crossing wires or a wire and a pin, which
can sometimes be ambiguous without a junction (i.e. if a wire end or a pin is
not directly connected to another wire end).

Place a local label. Local labels connect items located in the same sheet. For
connections between two different sheets, use global or hierarchical labels.

Place a net class directive label.

Place a global label. All global labels with the same name are connected, even
when located on different sheets.

Place a hierarchical label. Hierarchical labels are used to create a connection

between a subsheet and the sheet’s parent sheet. See the Hierarchical
Schematics section for more information about hierarchical labels, sheets, and
pins.

Place a hierarchical subsheet. You must specify the file name for this
subsheet.

Import a hierarchical pin from a subsheet. This command can be executed

only on hierarchical subsheets. It will create hierarchical pins corresponding
to hierarchical labels placed in the target subsheet.

Place a text comment.

Place a text box.

Draw a rectangle.

Draw a circle.

Draw an arc.

Draw lines.
Note: Lines are graphical objects and are not the same as wires placed with
the Wire tool. They do not connect anything.

Place a bitmap image.

Delete clicked items.

 3. Left toolbar display controls
The left toolbar provides options to change the display of items in the Schematic
Editor.

Turns grid display on/off.

Note: by default, hiding the grid will disable grid snapping. This behavior can
be changed in the Display Options section of Preferences.

Display/entry of coordinates and dimensions in inches, mils, or millimeters.

Switches between full-screen and small editing cursor (crosshairs).

Turns invisible pin display on/off.

Switches between free angle, 90 degree mode, and 45 degree mode for
placement of new wires, buses, and graphical lines.

Opens and closes the docked hierarchy navigator pane.

4. Grid
To set grid click on right button on the mouse then select grid option set necessary
grid size
 5. Shourt for schematic boards
W= wire

R= Routing component

E= component properties

M= Move component

6. Assign footprint to components

Double click on the componet which you want to assign footprint. You will see the
following screen.

Click on footprint you will she the following screen

We can upadate , change, edit symbols of schematic file from the following
hightlighted options.
From here we can open pcb board
This screen will show after clicking on that symbol.

7. Short for PCB boards

X=select track

M=move component

R = roated component

D= move component to tracks

F= front / back roated component

Alt+3 = 3d view of PCB

Envert key = To highlight tracks

8. Perference setting
9. Constraint angle 45, 90 , free angle

10. Route setting

 11. Editing a board

Placement and drawing operations

Placement and drawing tools are located in the right toolbar. When a tool is
activated, it stays active until a different tool is selected or the tool is canceled with
the Esc key. The selection tool is always activated when any other tool is canceled.
Some toolbar buttons have more than one tool available in a palette. These tools are

indicated with a small arrow in the lower-right corner of the button:

To show the palette, you can click and hold the mouse button on the tool or click
and drag the mouse. The palette will show the most recently used tool when it is
closed.

Selection tool (the default tool).

Local ratsnest tool: when the board ratsnest is hidden, selecting footprints
with this tool will show the ratsnest for the selected footprint only. Selecting
the same footprint again will hide its ratsnest. The local ratsnest setting for
each footprint will remain in effect even after the local ratsnest tool is no
longer active.

Footprint placement tool: click on the board to open the footprint chooser,
then click again after choosing a footprint to confirm its location.

Route tracks / route differential pairs: These tools activate the interactive
router and allow placing tracks and vias. The interactive router is described in
more detail in the Routing Tracks section below.

Tune length: These tools allow you to tune the length of single tracks or the
length or skew of differential pairs, after they have been routed. See the
Routing Tracks section for details.

Add vias: allows placing vias without routing tracks.

Vias placed on top of tracks using this tool will take on the net of the closest
track segment and will become part of that track (the via net will be updated if
the pads connected to the tracks are updated).
Vias placed anywhere else will take on the net of a copper zone at that
location, if one exists. These vias will not automatically take on a new net if
the net of the copper zone is changed.

Add filled zone: Click to set the start point of a zone, then configure its
properties before drawing the rest of the zone outline. Zone properties are
described in more detail below.

Add rule area: Rule areas, formerly known as keepouts, can restrict the
placement of items and the filling of zones and can also define named areas to
apply specific custom design rules to.

Draw lines.
Note: Lines are graphical objects and are not the same as tracks placed with
the Route Tracks tool. Graphical objects cannot be assigned to a net.

Draw arcs: pick the center point of the arc, then the start and end points. By
 right clicking this button, you can change the arc editing mode between a
mode that maintains the existing arc center and a mode that maintains the arc
radius.

Draw rectangles. Rectangles can be filled or outlines.

Draw circles. Circles can be filled or outlines.

Draw graphical polygons. Polygons can be filled or outlined.

Note: Filled graphical polygons are not the same as filled zones: graphical
polygons cannot be assigned to a net and will not keep clearance from other
items.

Add bitmap image.

Add text.

Add a textbox.

Add dimensions. Dimension types are described in more detail below.

Deletion tool: click objects to delete them.

Set drill/place origin (used for fabrication outputs) or grid origin.

Interactively measure the distance between two points.

You have defined how you want to connect the components in the schematic
editor, and now it’s time to put that onto your board. You need to decide where to
place the components, then draw tracks to create the connections between them
By clicking on this it will update pcb board that means you we get footprints of all
the compnents that you have assigned.

If you zoom in on the components, using either your mouse-wheel or F1/F2,

you’ll see white straight lines between the pins. These are called air-wires and tell
you which pins to connect – according to your schematic. Your next task is to
position your components so that it becomes easy to connect the components
according to your air-wires. If you’re able to place the components in a way that no
air-wires cross, that’s the easiest.

To move a component, move your mouse over it and press M. If you already have
a group selected, the whole group will move. To deselect the group,
press ESCAPE. To rotate a component, press R.
If you accidentally place your mouse over the component name, you’ll move only
the name. Just press ESCAPE to try again.

Place the components in an orderly way, similar to the way you placed them in
your schematic diagram.

12.Drawing the Tracks

The next step is to replace the air-wires by drawing tracks to connect the
components. The tracks you draw will become copper traces on your finished
board.

Start drawing tracks by clicking on the Route Tracks button on the toolbar on the
right or press X on your keyboard.
 You can choose if you want to draw on the front or the back of the board, by
selecting a layer in the Layer Manager. The little blue triangle on the left shows
the selected layer.

 F.CU is the front (or top) side.

 B.CU is the back (or bottom) side

Click at the beginning of an air-wire to start drawing a track. Click again where the
air-wire ends to finish drawing the track.

When there are no more white lines, you’re done routing the tracks.
Tip– Avoid Using 90 Degree Trace Angles
And at its worst, you might get a bunch of 90-degree traces back that aren't
fully etched, resulting in shorts. Avoid using 90-degree trace angles, opt for 45
degrees, with a smooth angle being the best. As a solution to this problem, try
to use 45-degree angle traces.

13.Drawing Your Board Outline

Next, draw the outline of your board. To do this, you need to add a polygon on
the Edge Cuts layer.
14. Set origin
 15. Set track width

By double clicking on tracks we can set size

16. Setting track width , via hole, via pad
 17. Running the Design Rules Check

To check if you’ve made any errors, you need to run the Design Rules Checker –
also called the DRC. Typical errors are placing two components too close to each
other, or forgetting to draw a track.

Select the Edge Cuts layer.

Click on the Design Rules Checker button , find it under the Inspect menu. Leave
the default options and click on Run DRC button. Check both the Problems tab and
the Unconnected Items tab. The Problems tab will list any design issues, such as a
track being too close to another track. The Unconnected Items tab will list any air-
wires that you have not yet connected by drawing a track.
If you see any items on any of these tabs, make sure you fix them before moving
on. If you have a lot of errors, do not despair. When you have zero errors listed
here, you are done. Your board is finished. Click on the View menu and select 3D
Viewer to see your finished board.
 18. Add filled zone

After clicking on filed zone you will see the following screen and then you have to
select which layer you want to fill.
 19. For Round PCB

Steps:

1. Check how many radius of circle you want then draw it by selecting edge
cut as a circular shape
2. Place origin

3. Update PCB

4. Place components in circular form.

Select 1 component by right clicking you will get following option. In that
you have to select following highlighted option
After this you have will see this window click on circular array
Make the necessary changes in that
 20. Set angle of component

Double clicking on componet you can set the angle

 21. Generate Gerber file

File-> plot-> select gerber option -> plot

And also select the layer that you want in gerber file

Here you get the path where our gerber file is generated

Copy paste that path in file exploer

You will see all gerber files in that folder.

Select them all make seprate folder by naming gerber and copy all this files into
that new gerber folder

Then select all file click right button on mouse selecte following highlighted option
Then you will see the following screen select the highlighed options by doing this
your gerber zip file will generate.
 22. Generate NC drill

Click on highlighed option

Then select folder
Make a new folder of NC drill and select it.

After that you will get the selected folder then click on generate drill file
Select the path you will get the drill file
Then select both file and hightlighed options

Select following options , and your drill file is also generated.

 23.Generate DXF : select the following option DXF->Plot

Plotting of DXF is done.

 24.Generate BOM(Bill of Material)

Select the following option