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How to merge two KiCad 7.x PCB circuits into one

colporteur

What is your technique for combining two KiCad  projects into one?

I'm trying to develop some skill in KiCad  7, for combining the schematic and PCB of two completed projects into one. I've a small power supply circuit I would like to reuse in other projects. I was hoping to copy and paste the details into an existing project thereby avoiding some overhead. I wouldn't have to draw the schematic and I wouldn't have to layout the components on the PCB.

I've become frustrated and am thinking the best approach is to start from scratch each time. That seem so inefficient. Maybe you have project starting points as a template to begin with no a project.  I've little over a year in KiCad so an expert I am not. I was hoping to draw on some experience of the members who have a strong grasp of KiCad. I just like to become more efficient. Starting from scratch is so boring.

Any suggestions KiCad aficionados? 

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  • Hi Sean,

    I've not tried to reuse portions of a PCB layout, but, there's a good feature in KiCad 7 to at least speed up the PCB portion, especially for modular bits of functionality.

    It is called 'Pack and Move'. The way it works, is in the schematic, drag to highlight in a box selection around all the parts that make up the portion that (say) you've copy-pasted from a different project.

    Then, in the PCB editor, you'll see that all those parts are highlighted. Now press 'P' and it will group all those parts together, so you can quickly drop them on a PCB somewhere and then tweak their positions and lay out the traces as usual, etc.

    It's a time-saver for having bits of circuitry easily positioned together on a PCB. Not quite what you asked for, but speeds up the task that perhaps raised the question.

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  • Hi Sean,

    I've not tried to reuse portions of a PCB layout, but, there's a good feature in KiCad 7 to at least speed up the PCB portion, especially for modular bits of functionality.

    It is called 'Pack and Move'. The way it works, is in the schematic, drag to highlight in a box selection around all the parts that make up the portion that (say) you've copy-pasted from a different project.

    Then, in the PCB editor, you'll see that all those parts are highlighted. Now press 'P' and it will group all those parts together, so you can quickly drop them on a PCB somewhere and then tweak their positions and lay out the traces as usual, etc.

    It's a time-saver for having bits of circuitry easily positioned together on a PCB. Not quite what you asked for, but speeds up the task that perhaps raised the question.

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