Welcome to kinet2pcb’s documentation!

kinet2pcb

Convert KiCad netlist into a PCBNEW .kicad_pcb file.

• Free software: MIT license

• Documentation: https://devbisme.github.io/kinet2pcb .

Features

• Converts a KiCad netlist file into a .kicad_pcb file that can be edited with PCBNEW.

Credits

This package was created with Cookiecutter and the audreyr/cookiecutter-pypackage project template.

Installation

This is a Python package, and it requires the pcbnew module included with KiCad. Therefore, you’ll have to install it using the pip executable included in the KiCad bin directory like so:

$ pip install kinet2pcb

This is the preferred method to install kinet2pcb, as it will always install the most recent stable release.

You can also install kinet2pcb in the Python interpreter on your system using its pip command, but your system libraries probably won’t include the pcbnew module. By default, kinet2pcb adds /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages to the Python library search path which is where KiCad normally stores pcbnew in a linux system. If your system doesn’t follow this convention, then you’ll have to search for the pcbnew.py file and add its path to the PYTHONPATH environment variable.

Usage

kinet2pcb can be used as a module to provide other scripts with the ability to create KiCad PCB files, but it is mainly intended to serve as its own stand-alone utility:

usage: kinet2pcb [-h] [--version] [--input file] [--output [file]] [--overwrite] [--nobackup]
                [--libraries footprint_dir [footprint_dir ...]] [--debug [LEVEL]]

Convert KiCad netlist into a PCBNEW .kicad_pcb file.

optional arguments:
-h, --help            show this help message and exit
--version, -v         show program's version number and exit
--input file, -i file
                        Input file containing KiCad netlist.
--output [file], -o [file]
                        Output file for storing KiCad board.
--overwrite, -w       Allow overwriting of an existing board file.
--nobackup, -nb       Do *not* create backups before modifying files. (Default is to make backup files.)
--libraries footprint_dir [footprint_dir ...], -l footprint_dir [footprint_dir ...]
                        Specify one or more directories containing .pretty footprint libraries.
--debug [LEVEL], -d [LEVEL]
                        Print debugging info. (Larger LEVEL means more info.)

Examples

Assuming you’ve generated a KiCad netlist file called example.net, then the following command would create a KiCad PCB file called example.kicad_pcb:

kinet2pcb -i example.net

If a files called example.kicad_pcb already exists, then kinet2pcb will halt and not over-write the file. To override this behavior, use the -w option:

kinet2pcb -i example.net -w

The above command will rename the pre-existing example.kicad_pcb file to example.kicad_pcb.bak.

If you have one or more libraries of part footprints that are not listed in your KiCad fp-lib-tables file, you can specify them on the command line like so:

kinet2pcb -i example.net --libraries /my/path/to/lib_1.pretty /my/path/to/lib2.pretty

If you have a lot of libraries that are all stored in a single directory, then you can shorten the command by just listing the parent directory:

kinet2pcb -i example.net –libraries /my/path/to

Preventing Disasters

A lot of work goes into creating a PCB. For this reason, kinet2pcb makes a backup of any .kicad_pcb file it is about to overwrite (using file names such as example.1.kicad_pcb, example.2.kicad_pcb, etc.). You can turn off this behavior using the --nobackup option.

In addition, if kinet2pcb would overwrite an existing .kicad_pcb file and the --nobackup option is enabled, then you must also use the --overwrite option or the operation will be aborted.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, and they are greatly appreciated! Every little bit helps, and credit will always be given.

You can contribute in many ways:

Types of Contributions

Report Bugs

Report bugs at https://github.com/devbisme/kinet2pcb/issues.

If you are reporting a bug, please include:

• Your operating system name and version.

• Any details about your local setup that might be helpful in troubleshooting.

• Detailed steps to reproduce the bug.

Fix Bugs

Look through the GitHub issues for bugs. Anything tagged with “bug” and “help wanted” is open to whoever wants to implement it.

Implement Features

Look through the GitHub issues for features. Anything tagged with “enhancement” and “help wanted” is open to whoever wants to implement it.

Write Documentation

kinet2pcb could always use more documentation, whether as part of the official kinet2pcb docs, in docstrings, or even on the web in blog posts, articles, and such.

Submit Feedback

The best way to send feedback is to file an issue at https://github.com/devbisme/kinet2pcb/issues.

If you are proposing a feature:

• Explain in detail how it would work.

• Keep the scope as narrow as possible, to make it easier to implement.

• Remember that this is a volunteer-driven project, and that contributions are welcome :)

Get Started!

Ready to contribute? Here’s how to set up kinet2pcb for local development.

1. Fork the kinet2pcb repo on GitHub.

2. Clone your fork locally:

   $ git clone git@github.com:your_name_here/kinet2pcb.git
   

3. Install your local copy into a virtualenv. Assuming you have virtualenvwrapper installed, this is how you set up your fork for local development:

   $ mkvirtualenv kinet2pcb
   $ cd kinet2pcb/
   $ python setup.py develop
   

4. Create a branch for local development:

   $ git checkout -b name-of-your-bugfix-or-feature
   

   Now you can make your changes locally.

5. Commit your changes and push your branch to GitHub:

   $ git add .
   $ git commit -m "Your detailed description of your changes."
   $ git push origin name-of-your-bugfix-or-feature
   

6. Submit a pull request through the GitHub website.

Pull Request Guidelines

Before you submit a pull request, check that it meets these guidelines:

1. If the pull request adds functionality, the docs should be updated. Put your new functionality into a function with a docstring, and add the feature to the list in README.rst.

2. The pull request should work for Python 2.7, and >=3.6

Credits

Development Lead

• Dave Vandenbout <devb@xess.com>

Other Contributors

History

1.1.2 (2024-02-26)

• Added FPID setting to part, otherwise only the fp_name and not the fp_lib appears in the final board.

• Added iterator to connect all pads of the same number to a given net. This mimics the behavior of the GUI editor.

• Added Python 3.12 to test environments.

1.1.1 (2023-09-10)

• net.get_pins() is now used when a SKiDL Circuit object is used as the input for generating a PCB.

1.1.0 (2022-08-13)

• Added –libraries command-line option to specify footprint library directories.

1.0.1 (2022-06-30)

• Fixed incompatibilities with KiCad V6 Python API (pcbnew).

1.0.0 (2021-09-16)

• Decided this tool was mature to the point it could be called 1.0.0.

0.1.3 (2021-05-19)

• The parts in the PCB are now given a non-overlapping arrangement grouped according to their hierarchical nesting.

0.1.2 (2021-05-18)

• The kinet2pcb() function will now generate a KiCad PCB file when given a netlist file name, a PyParsing object, or a SKiDL Circuit object.

• kinet2pcb can now be installed in the default Python interpreter on a system and it will look in /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages to find the pcbnew module installed by KiCad. If the pcbnew module is not found there, add the correct location to the PYTHONPATH environment variable.

0.1.1 (2019-03-09)

• Now runs under Python 2 & 3.

0.1.0 (2019-10-28)

• First release on PyPI.

Indices and tables

• Index

• Module Index

• Search Page