as a bit of a learning exercise I am muckin= g around and coding a java based kicad module conversion utility. It is alr= eady generating pin and pad definitions from kicad pad definitions. The nex= t step is the drawing primitives. I was thinking of creating a library of u= seful footprints imported from kicad that could then be made available for = PCB users.

I second the suggestion of a default library for ne= w users with consistent naming, minimal duplication and really just consist= ing of essential parts, like R025, TO92_CBE, etc... to aid new users.

I agree that developing a local symbol and package subdirectory is = a good way to recycle known, working, ueful parts with each new design. My = workflow relies on each new design having its own directory with subdirs fo= r datasheets, packages, symbols, as well as a default gcshemrc, newproject.= gsch2pcb files etc... based on a template that is copied for each new desig= n. With this arrangement, I rename newproject.gsch2pcb and then launch it w= ith gsch2pcb and I find that it works pretty flawlessly, allowing me to the= n create a schematic and then the PCB layout. Without a systm like this in = place things can get a bit hairy with gsch2pcb.

Alexander may = not know about the cyrillic font I have hosted on gedasymbols. He can exper= iment with it if he needs some cyrillic on his PCBs :-)

=C2=A0<= br>

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 11:01 PM, <gedau AT igor2 DOT repo DOT hu= > wrote:

=

On Wed, 18 Mar 2015, Bernd Walter wrote:

On Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 07:50:36AM +0100, Bernhard Kraft wrote:

Hi,

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 8:17 PM, ?????????????????? ???????????? <alushanov92 AT gmail DOT com<= /a>> wrote:

Bernhard Kraft, can I see your make scripts?

Here it is:
https://gist.github.com/kraftb/9765e93862562c2d6c4a

I use the prefix "tom-" for all my designs (means "think-ope= n module")
and then an appropriate city name. "tom-alexandria" is a project = for
having a SD-card ext2 filesystem module with I2C/SPI interface doing
all the low level SD and ext2 stuff. A microcontroller could then do
fopen/read/write/seek stuff on filehandles.

I also use my own set of footprints.
The reason is that footprints need to be compatible with the production
technology.
When you run with solder paste, stencil, oven, be capable to position
precisely enough, then you can go with short pads.
For soldering with iron, or if you are not very expirienced with hot air repair you better go with long pads.
The structure is still a mess and very often I just run an editor to
extract footprints from known good older designs.

This could be done by having multiple libs. This makes it easy for the user= if there is a single process: just install the lib you are going to use. O= f course if you need multiple processes you'll need to do some more, wh= ich is extra cost on advanced users. However, "easy for the simple cas= es and more work required for advanced cases" is a good balance imo.
An alternativ is what some parts of the pcb default lib does (or did?): pre= fix/suffix in the name of the footprint. I don't have PCB on this amchi= ne at the moment but I have some faint memory of 1206-like smd footprints w= ith the "N" suffix for normal, and two other suffices for thin an= d thick pad.

Regards,

Igor2