User guide / PCB /
Editing the board
Tools
- Select (S): click a part, track, via or zone to select it, drag a part to move it or the end of a track to bend it. Dragging on empty board pans.
- Hand (M): dragging always pans, so parts stay where they are.
- Place part (P): places parts picked in the Parts panel, see below.
- Track (X): click to add bends, finish to lay the track. A track starts on a pad, track or via and takes that net.
- Via (V), Hole (H) and Text (T): click to place one.
- Zone (Z) and Keepout (K): click the corners, finish to close the outline. A zone uses the highlighted net (click any copper of the net first) or asks for one. Zones show hatched until Board → Fill zones.
- Note (N): pins a question or request to a spot on the board. The agent reads notes with their position, so "move this cap closer" next to a capacitor is enough.
Drawing layer above the tools picks the copper layer that new tracks and zones go on. Changing it while a track is drawn continues the track on that layer through a via.
Keys
On a Mac, Ctrl is ⌘.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| S, M, P, X, V, Z, K, H, T, N | Select, Hand, Place part, Track, Via, Zone, Keepout, Hole, Text, Note |
| R, F, L | Rotate the selected part by 90°, flip it to the other side, lock or unlock it |
| U | Select the tracks connected to the selected one |
| Delete or Backspace | Delete the selection |
| V while drawing a track | Place a via and continue on the next copper layer |
| Enter or double click | Finish a track, zone or keepout |
| Esc | Cancel the drawing and clear the selection |
| Ctrl+A | Select all |
| Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z | Undo, redo |
| Shift drag, middle drag, wheel | Pan and zoom |
The right-click menu has the same commands, see PCB.
Placing parts
The Parts panel has three lists:
- Search finds KiCad footprints by name, for example "R 0603", with their pad count and size.
- Not placed yet lists the schematic's parts that are not on the board, grouped by value and footprint.
- Common parts holds a short set of everyday footprints: resistors and capacitors in 0603 and 0805, an electrolytic capacitor, an LED, a diode, SOT-23, SOIC-8, a regulator, a crystal, a push button, pin headers and a JST connector.
Picking an entry switches to Place part, and a hint above the board names the next part, for example "Click the board to place R3, then 2 more." Each click places one part, and the tool goes back to Select after the last one.
Layers
Layers sets the copper layer count (2 to 32) and the role of each inner layer: signal, ground or power. Each layer can be shown or hidden, the active one is chosen by its name, and a slider dims the others. The grid is 0.5 mm by default, 0.1 mm for fine work and 2.54 mm for headers.
Touch screens
On a phone or tablet, two fingers pan and pinch to zoom. With Select, dragging a part moves it and dragging empty board pans; Hand pans everywhere. A long press opens the right-click menu. While a track, zone or keepout is drawn, Cancel and Finish buttons show over the board.
Loading a board from KiCad
File → Load KiCad file… replaces the board with a .kicad_pcb file, or a zip holding one, edited in KiCad. The KiCad export in Checks and export gives the matching project to edit.