Learning KiCad lesson 1 - uploading footprints from SnapMagic?

[armandine2]

A bit of a rocky start following a 5 y.o. KiCad tutorial on line - as I am using the latest 8.0 version.

It appears I may need to upload my ICL7107 [44pin MQFP]. SnapMagic, the first on the list to offer this has a professional email wall - is this  purposely excluding hobbyists?

https://www.snapeda.com/parts/ICL7107/Renesas%20Electronics/view-part/?ref=search&t=ICL7107

edited to add the right I.C. link

https://www.snapeda.com/parts/ICL7107CMH%2BD/Analog%20Devices/view-part/?ref=search&t=ICL7107

[armandine2]

... not so difficult to register with the social media links - and the download is ok.

... now I have to add the symbol & footprint to the project and get it to open [if only google was not such a pita now ]

edited for typo

[MarkS]

I'm a hobbyist and have had an account with them for over a year. Maybe they changed something?

[armandine2]

This link - may be the thing I'm looking for - [edited to add idiots guide from snap]

[armandine2]

...nobody is more surprised than me 

it's the wrong chip, PDIP rather than MQFP - but hey ho 

[armandine2]

nothing happens very quickly - except instructions - but we are making slow progress, with Phil's sat-nav vox 

[JMK]

Learn to use the Symbol and Footprint Editors that exist in Kicad.
It is usually quicker to make symbols and footprints than find something on the www, let alone go through the drama of downloading, checking and maybe modifying; and the frustration is zero.

[SiliconWizard]

Many of these footprints/symbols on these sites are auto-generated from other formats, almost never made by hand using KiCad itself.
They very often have various issues. When they appear correct (which isn't always the case), they often have some ill-formed elements (such as courtyard, pads with odd geometries which are not properly made for KiCad, etc), which will trigger DRC errrors or at least warnings.

You're usually better off designing the footprints yourself.

[MarkS]

I find them really only useful for obscure footprints and 3D models, but by the time I'm done correcting the weird mistakes, I'd just be better off making it myself.

[shabaz]

nothing happens very quickly - except instructions

Hi,

Don't really want to just plug a video, but it's for the right reasons (there's no ad revenue and so hopefully you won't get any adverts while watching it; or at least if you do, it's not something I deliberately did). It's a much shorter video here:

It is 50 minutes and covers all the essentials; KiCad can do a lot more, but those 50 minutes will get you through a decent set of capabilities, including a few extra niceties like shaped pads and trace length matching.
The video is for KiCad 6, but the user interface has not changed between KiCad 6 and KiCad 8, apart from a few additions of which most are easy to pick up from observation while you use KiCad 8.
Feedback has been good so I'm hoping you'll find it of positive benefit if you're learning and don't want to spend a lot of time watching videos. (1.1% unhappy customers according to the like/dislike ratio).