Do you know what is kicad?
Kicad is a free and open source software for electronics design, that can be used to design printed circuit boards (PCBs). It is written in C++, and runs on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The application is designed to be intuitive, meaning that it’s straightforward to use even if you have no prior experience with PCB design software.
Kicad was originally developed by Jean-Pierre Charras (GPLv3) and is now maintained by a community of developers and users who contribute their time and expertise to the project.
Kicad supports all major schematic capture features such as multi-sheet schematics and multi-page data sheets. It also offers a wide range of tools for PCB layout such as hierarchical schematic symbol libraries, autorouter and 3D viewer.
Kicad comes with a set of libraries that are compatible with other EDA software, including:
* Eagle
* DipTrace
* Ultiboard
As well as a library of symbols and footprints wich over 40,000 components and sub-components, as well as an integrated schematic editor.
Download and install kicad
Kicad is free, open source software available for Linux, Windows, and OSX. Kicad can be installed in the same way as any other software package on your computer. If you are using a Linux based operating system such as Ubuntu, then there is a good chance that all you need to do is download and install the .deb file from here: https://www.kicad.org/download/ubuntu/
If you are using a Windows or Mac operating system then you will need to run through the following steps:
Download the latest version of Kicad from here: https://www.kicad.org/download/
Extract the compressed folder and double click on kicad-4.0rc3-win64-setup.exe or kicad-4.0rc3-macosx106b1-setup to install Kicad
First kicad project
To open a new project in KiCad, first click the “Create New Project” button in the top-right corner of the KiCad window.
Next, you can start designing your schematic or PCB. You can choose to design either one by clicking on “New Schematic” or “New PCB” from KiCad’s main menu.
To begin drawing your schematic, click on “Edit Design,” which is located under the “Schematic” tab in KiCad’s main menu.
From here, you can either draw your circuit manually or import an existing design from another program like Eagle CAD or Altium Designer.
When you’re done creating or importing your schematic, click on “File > Export.” This will allow you to export the result as an image file that can be uploaded onto other platforms (such as GitHub) or printed out for physical use.
Conclusion
Kicad is a great tool for creating PCBs and schematics. It’s open source, so it’s free to use, and it’s compatible with many different operating systems. It provides a lot of tools for designing your circuit boards, from schematic capture to layout tools to autorouting functionality.
Kicad isn’t a perfect tool—it can be difficult to get started if you’re not familiar with the program or electronics in general, and it may lack some features that other software has. But overall, Kicad is an excellent tool for designing circuit boards at home or in a small business setting.