FW: 83 YR OLD NEWBIE HELP

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Sent from for Windows

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From:
Sent: Saturday, March 5, 2022 8:20 AM
To: KICAD-USERS@GROUPS
Subject: 83 YR OLD NEWBIE HELP

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Good morning!? I’m using KICAD 5.1.9 on Windows 10. I’m using OSHPARK for the PWB’s.? I have completed a design, but don’t know what file(s) to send them.? Also, what is the difference between ARCHIVE and ZIP?

Thank you for any help,?? Jeff? (I may need a lot more help!)

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Sent from for Windows

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Re: How to print the front silkscreen so that it could be used for toner transfer to milled PCB #gettingstarted

#23229

Hope it works Burt,

I've been using Kicad for a long time, version 2 or 3 I think.
I do recall that printing did have a few problems, early on, but once I
started to use the photo resist type boards I needed to mirror the output
so that the toner was in direct contact with the photoresist before UV
exposure. Which is exactly what you need for the silk screen.

I've been using plot to pdf for that method ever since. 

I'm now trying out coating the boards myself with photo resist film,
which in addition to mirror needs a negative print as well (the film is a
positive type)

Andy


On Thu, 03 Mar 2022 17:10:14 -0800
burt@... wrote:

Thanks Andy,

I'll try plotting to PDF like you were doing.? When I just try printing the F.Silkscreen Mirrored the text is mirrored, but the footprints also appear to be flipped, and looking at how the silk screen would be transferred it definitely would not be correct in my case.

I did find a work around but it's a bit of a pain.? If I select all of the text on the Silkscreen layer, including all of the associated footprint references and click on mirror the text then when I print without selecting the mirror of the layer I get a proper transfer and after applying it to the PCB everything is correct, all the lettering is properly oriented and all of the components are in their proper locatinos.

So tomorrow I'll give it a shot with plotting to a PDF and see if that makes a difference.? Hoping it does for future boards.

Thanks again,
Burt

Re: How to print the front silkscreen so that it could be used for toner transfer to milled PCB #gettingstarted

#23228

Thanks Andy,

I'll try plotting to PDF like you were doing.? When I just try printing the F.Silkscreen Mirrored the text is mirrored, but the footprints also appear to be flipped, and looking at how the silk screen would be transferred it definitely would not be correct in my case.

I did find a work around but it's a bit of a pain.? If I select all of the text on the Silkscreen layer, including all of the associated footprint references and click on mirror the text then when I print without selecting the mirror of the layer I get a proper transfer and after applying it to the PCB everything is correct, all the lettering is properly oriented and all of the components are in their proper locatinos.

So tomorrow I'll give it a shot with plotting to a PDF and see if that makes a difference.? Hoping it does for future boards.

Thanks again,
Burt

Re: How to print the front silkscreen so that it could be used for toner transfer to milled PCB #gettingstarted

#23227

I've only just got kicad up and running due to a system rebuild (linux)
Also I've not yet used K6 in anger, However all you need is a mirrored
plot

I've just outputted the f-silkscreen of the demo PIC programmer project
and it looks correct. The print is all backwards, but printed on the
top of the paper, so when flipped over everything is as needed. Ready to
be transferred top the top of the board.

Now there is ONE difference which might be a clue. Because I'm a bit of a
cheapskate I tend to cut the film I use in half as most things I make
are less than A5 size and that means I need to move the print to a more
convenient location, so I've always PLOTTED to pdf rather than PRINTING.

It also helps that the linux printing system is basically a pdf format
anyway and is easy to manipulate.  

I've attached the output pdf that it produced.

Andy


On Thu, 03 Mar 2022 13:00:42 -0800
burt@... wrote:

HI,

Just diving back into Kicad 6 after being away from it for a while.? Needed to do a small PCB which I've milled successfully and have tested.

Since this is a one off I'm not planning on sending it out to a board house and I just for fun wanted to try doing a silk screen using the toner transfer method.

In the PCB Editor the view is from the bottom of the board, but it looks like the F.Silkscreen is displaying as if it was on the bottom of the PCB.

So I tried printing the F.Silkscreen Mirrored.? But while that gives me horizontal text that would transfer OK the rest of the board is flipped as well so that is not going to work.

For example I have a connector that is in the upper left corner of the PCB (looking at the top of the PCB) and another connector that is about in the middle on the right hand side of the PCB.

The mirrored print of the F.Silkscreen layer has then one connector in the upper left corner and the other one in the middle on the right side.

But when you turn the printed layer over to transfer the toner to the PCB you now have the first connector in the upper RIGHT corner and the 2nd one in the middle on the LEFT side, which of course is incorrect.

If I print the F.Silkscreen without mirroring then it will transfer properly as far as component locations and vertical text, but horizontal text would be reversed.

So what am I missing?? Is there a way to do what I'm trying to accomplish?

I guess for now I can change all the horizontal text to vertical orientation and print without mirroring.

Thanks,
Burt

pic_programmer-F_Silkscreen.pdf

How to print the front silkscreen so that it could be used for toner transfer to milled PCB #gettingstarted

#23226

HI,

Just diving back into Kicad 6 after being away from it for a while.? Needed to do a small PCB which I've milled successfully and have tested.

Since this is a one off I'm not planning on sending it out to a board house and I just for fun wanted to try doing a silk screen using the toner transfer method.

In the PCB Editor the view is from the bottom of the board, but it looks like the F.Silkscreen is displaying as if it was on the bottom of the PCB.

So I tried printing the F.Silkscreen Mirrored.? But while that gives me horizontal text that would transfer OK the rest of the board is flipped as well so that is not going to work.

For example I have a connector that is in the upper left corner of the PCB (looking at the top of the PCB) and another connector that is about in the middle on the right hand side of the PCB.

The mirrored print of the F.Silkscreen layer has then one connector in the upper left corner and the other one in the middle on the right side.

But when you turn the printed layer over to transfer the toner to the PCB you now have the first connector in the upper RIGHT corner and the 2nd one in the middle on the LEFT side, which of course is incorrect.

If I print the F.Silkscreen without mirroring then it will transfer properly as far as component locations and vertical text, but horizontal text would be reversed.

So what am I missing?? Is there a way to do what I'm trying to accomplish?

I guess for now I can change all the horizontal text to vertical orientation and print without mirroring.

Thanks,
Burt

Fedora Linux: 6.0.2 for F34 and F35

#23225

Normally, we don't do major version changes in stable Fedora releases, but because of several CVE's against 5.1.12, we are in the process of releasing KiCad 6.0.2 into Fedora 34 and 35.

Right now, the new builds for F34 and F35 are in the "testing" stage; here are links to the relevant bodhi pages:

I've set the karma requirements to "1", so if anyone using Fedora 34 or 35 is willing to test and up-vote, then we can distribute the new versions quickly.  If not, they should be distributed after a 7 day delay.

While it is discouraged, if you want/need to stay on 5.1.12, you can edit /etc/dnf/dnf.conf and add the following line at the end of the file:

exclude=kicad*

That will prevent all further updates to KiCad - you will remain on 5.1.12 until you remove that line again.

	Thanks,
	Steve

Re: Kicad 6.x problems with project path contents under windows ...

#23224

Show quoted text

On 3/1/2022 11:38 AM, John Stoffel wrote:
"David" == David Slipper <softfoot@...> writes:David> I have noticed that if the path name to a project contains
David> windows specific characters (eg spaces) when closing a project
David> it throws an error that it was unable to write to a backup
David> file.

David> Happens every time with v6.02 under win 10 64 bit.

David> There is no problem accessing schematics and pcb files or
David> symbols/footprints.

Can you open a problem report in the Kicad github repo?  That would be
a good thing to do.

Re: Kicad 6.x problems with project path contents under windows ...

#23223

"David" == David Slipper <softfoot@...> writes:David> I have noticed that if the path name to a project contains
David> windows specific characters (eg spaces) when closing a project
David> it throws an error that it was unable to write to a backup
David> file.

David> Happens every time with v6.02 under win 10 64 bit.

David> There is no problem accessing schematics and pcb files or
David> symbols/footprints.

Can you open a problem report in the Kicad github repo?  That would be
a good thing to do.

Kicad 6.x problems with project path contents under windows ...

#23222

I have noticed that if the path name to a project contains windows specific characters (eg spaces) when closing a project it throws an error that it was unable to write to a backup file.

Happens every time with v6.02 under win 10 64 bit.

There is no problem accessing schematics and pcb files or symbols/footprints.

Dave

Re: Plugins ...

#23221

I have found the document on the .json file and the plugin structure.

I am more interested in how to trouble shoot plugins and any changes to the API(s)

Dave

Show quoted text

On 26/02/2022 11:40, David Slipper wrote:
What would the procedure be to convert a V5 plug-in to V6 ???

I have several I would like to use ...

Dave

Plugins ...

#23220

What would the procedure be to convert a V5 plug-in to V6 ???

I have several I would like to use ...

Dave