KiCad opinion from a new user on yahoo mailing list ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <[email protected]> Date: Apr 5, 2014 5:20 PM Subject: [kicad-users] initial impressions from a new user To: <[email protected]> Cc:
I am new to KiCAD and would like to share some of my initial thoughts. I don't expect anything to come from this but as a developer myself I often appreciate the perspective of fresh eyes, sometimes you get used to the way things are and you fail to think "outside the box" (so cliche, I know). Most of my initial disappointments surround the handling of modules. I personally like the workflow model of KiCAD of separating the schematic and the package/module assignment. - The CvPcb module feels very rough and I can see why this is such a common complaint. I think it could greatly benefit from some library organization. Unless I'm missing something, module selection is always from a flat list of everything in the library. However, when you use the Module Editor > load module > select by browser, you get a reasonable split window organization with different libraries in the first split window which makes it very easy to navigate, preview and select. Could the same feature be used in CvPcb? NOTE: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/conversations/messages/17448 made effectively the same comment asking about a method to "sort" - I plan to draw all of my own modules but It strikes me that the Module Editor is slightly different than the pcbnew package. For example, I really like the layer management in pcbnew, why isn't this the same in Module Editor? The only layer management I can find is through a context menu which is quite painful and I can't find a way to change visible layers in the module editor. Wouldn't it be easier just to use a second instance of pcbnew for the module editor? - The modules seem to be missing the capability for a couple of important layers such as a document/outline layer (not silkscreen) and a courtyard/placement layer (to visualize minimum clearance for assembly). To be clear, I don't care about the provided module libraries, but I don't believe the underlying capability is available. I guess this info could all be placed in the Dwgs.User layer but that doesn't feel right, I think the definition of these layers are fairly standard across other EDA programs. I know it has been discussed plenty, but pin-swap, gate-swap and back-annotate seem like fundamental features that are missing to update the schematic based on changes made during layout. I understand that the workflow is one-direction in KiCAD but couldn't a few simple exceptions be made? (I think this is on everyone's wishlist including the CERN effort and is just lacking resources to implement it so maybe my comment is that as a fresh user this should be a high priority - but that's up to the developers) __._,_.___ Reply via web post<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/conversations/messages/17506;_ylc=X3oDMTJyazhrYnM0BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE2MDI3Njk4BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzI4MTk0MgRtc2dJZAMxNzUwNgRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNycGx5BHN0aW1lAzEzOTY3MTEyMzE-?act=reply&messageNum=17506> Reply to sender <[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20initial%20impressions%20from%20a%20new%20user> Reply to group <[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20initial%20impressions%20from%20a%20new%20user> Start a New Topic<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/conversations/newtopic;_ylc=X3oDMTJmMjBtcjczBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE2MDI3Njk4BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzI4MTk0MgRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzOTY3MTEyMzE-> Messages in this topic<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/conversations/topics/17506;_ylc=X3oDMTM3ZDQxNmhyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE2MDI3Njk4BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzI4MTk0MgRtc2dJZAMxNzUwNgRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawN2dHBjBHN0aW1lAzEzOTY3MTEyMzEEdHBjSWQDMTc1MDY->(1) Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your question. Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of Kicad. Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your symbols/modules to the kicad library. For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-devel Visit Your Group<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmOGJwYWZxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE2MDI3Njk4BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzI4MTk0MgRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEzOTY3MTEyMzE-> - New Members<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/kicad-users/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJnOWlpdDNzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzE2MDI3Njk4BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzI4MTk0MgRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2bWJycwRzdGltZQMxMzk2NzExMjMx> 23 [image: Yahoo! Groups]<https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbWZmN2ZoBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzE2MDI3Njk4BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNzI4MTk0MgRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTM5NjcxMTIzMQ--> * Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> * Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> * Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> . __,_._,___
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