To load a symbol into your schematic you can use the icon . A dialog box allows you to type the name of the symbol to load.

The Choose Symbols dialog will filter symbols by name, keywords, and description according to what you type into the search field.

Some advanced filters are available:

If the symbol specifies a default footprint, this footprint will be previewed in the lower right. If the symbol includes footprint filters, alternate footprints that satisfy the footprint filters can be selected in the footprint dropdown menu at right.

After selecting a symbol to place, the symbol will be attached to the cursor. Left clicking the desired location in the schematic places the symbol into the schematic. Before placing the symbol in the schematic, you can rotate it, mirror it, and edit its fields, by either using the hotkeys or the right-click context menu. These actions can also be performed after placement.

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If the Place repeated copies option is checked, after placing a symbol KiCad will start placing another copy of the symbol. This process continues until the user presses Esc.

For symbols with multiple units, if the Place all units option is checked, after placing the symbol KiCad will start placing the next unit in the symbol. This continues until the last unit has been placed or the user presses Esc.

A power symbol is a symbol representing a connection to a power net. The symbols are grouped in the power library, so they can be placed using the symbol chooser. However, as power placements are frequent, the tool is available. This tool is similar, except that the search is done directly in the power library and any other library that contains power symbols.

Symbols can be moved using the Move (M) or Drag (G) tools. These tools act on the selected symbol, or if no symbol is selected they act on the symbol under the cursor.

The Move tool moves the symbol itself without maintaining wired connections to the symbol pins.

The Drag tool moves the symbol without breaking wired connections to its pins, and therefore moves the connected wires as well.

You can also Drag symbols by clicking and dragging them with the mouse, depending on the Left button drag gesture setting in the Mouse and Touchpad section of Preferences.

Symbols can also be rotated (R) or mirrored in the X (X) or Y (Y) directions.

A symbol’s fields can be edited in the symbol’s Properties window. Open the Symbol Properties window for a symbol with the E hotkey or by double-clicking on the symbol.

The Symbol Properties window displays all the fields of a symbol in a table. New fields can be added, and existing fields can be deleted, edited, reordered, moved, or resized.

Each field’s name and value can be visible or hidden, and there are several formatting options: horizontal and vertical alignment, orientation, position, font, text color, text size, and bold/italic emphasis. Field autoplacement can also be enabled on a per-field basis. The displayed position is always indicated for a normally displayed symbol (no rotation or mirroring) and is relative to the anchor point of the symbol.

The Update Symbol from Library…​ button is used to update the schematic’s copy of the symbol to match the copy in the library. The Change Symbol…​ button is used to swap the current symbol to a different symbol in the library.

Edit Symbol…​ opens the Symbol Editor to edit the copy of the symbol in the schematic. Note that the original symbol in the library will not be modified. The Edit Library Symbol…​ button opens the Symbol Editor to edit the original symbol in the library. In this case, the symbol in the schematic will not be modified until the user clicks the Update Symbol from Library…​ button.

Symbols have several attributes that affect how the symbols are treated by other parts of KiCad.

Exclude from simulation prevents the symbol from being included in SPICE simulations.

Exclude from bill of materials prevents the component from being included in BOM exports.

Exclude from board means that the symbol is schematic-only, and a corresponding footprint will not be added to the PCB.

Do not populate means that the component should not be attached to the PCB, although a corresponding footprint should still be added to the board. DNP symbols appear desaturated and with a red "X" over them in the schematic, as shown below.

The Symbol Fields Table allows you to view and modify field values for all symbols in a spreadsheet interface. You can open the Symbol Fields Table with the button.

Cells are navigated with the arrow keys, or with Tab / Shift+Tab to move right / left and Enter / Shift+Enter to move down / up, respectively.

A range of cells can be selected by clicking and dragging. The whole range of selected cells will be copied (Ctrl+C) or pasted into (Ctrl+V) on a copy or paste action. Copying a range of cells from the table can be useful for creating a BOM. More details of copying and pasting cells are described below.

Any symbol field can be shown or hidden using the Show checkboxes on the left, or by right-clicking on the header of the table. New symbol fields can be added using the Add Field…​ button.

Similar symbols can optionally be grouped by any symbol field using the Group By checkboxes. Grouped symbols are shown in a single row in the table. The grouped row can be expanded to show the individual symbols by clicking the arrow at the left of the row.

You can use the Export as CSV…​ button to save the symbol fields to an external file. This can be used as a simple BOM generation tool, although the BOM tool provides better control over the generated output.

When auto-annotation is enabled, symbols will be automatically annotated when they are added to the schematic. You can enable auto-annotation by checking the Automatically annotate symbols checkbox in the Schematic Editor → Annotation Options pane in Preferences. Auto-annotation can also be toggled using the button in the left toolbar.

When multiple symbols are added simultaneously, they are annotated according to the Order setting, sorted by either X or Y position.

The Numbering option sets the starting number for new reference designators. This can be the lowest available number, or a number based on the sheet number.

For more information about annotation options, see the documentation for the Annotation tool.

The Annotation tool automatically assigns reference designators to symbols in the schematic. To launch the Annotation tool, click the button in the top toolbar.

The tool provides several options to control how symbols are annotated.

Scope: Selects whether annotation is applied to the entire schematic, to only the current sheet, or to only the selected symbols. If the Recurse into subsheets option is selected, symbols in subsheets of the selected scope will be reannotated; otherwise symbols in subsheets will not be reannotated. For example, if Recurse into subsheets and Selection only selected, symbols in any selected subsheets will be reannotated.

Options: Selects whether annotation should apply to all symbols and reset *existing reference designators, or apply only to unannotated symbols.

Order: Chooses the direction of numbering. If symbols are sorted by X position, all symbols on the left side of a schematic sheet will be lower numbered than symbols on the right side of the sheet. If symbols are sorted by Y position, all symbols on the top of a sheet will be lower numbered than symbols at the bottom of the sheet.

Numbering: Selects the starting point for numbering reference designators. The lowest unused number above the starting point is picked for each reference designator. The starting point can be an arbitrary number (typically zero), or it can be the sheet number multiplied by 100 or 1000 so that each part’s reference designator corresponds to the schematic page it is on.

The Clear Annotation button clears all reference designators in the selected scope.

Annotation messages can be filtered with the checkboxes at the bottom or saved to a report using the Save…​ button.

Wires are used to directly establish electrical connections between two points. To establish a connection, a segment of wire must be connected by its end to another segment or to a pin. Only wire ends create connections; if a wire crosses the middle of another wire, a connection will not be made.

Unconnected wire ends have a small square that indicates the connection point. The square disappears when a connection is made to the wire end. Unconnected pins have a circle, which also disappears when a connection is made.

Labels are used to assign net names to wires and pins. Wires with the same net name are considered to be connected, so labels can be used to make connections without drawing direct wire connections.

A net can only have one name. If two different labels are placed on the same net, an ERC violation will be generated. Only one of the net names will be used in the netlist. The final net name is determined according to the rules described below.

There are three types of labels, each with a different connection scope.

Buses are a way to group related signals in the schematic in order to simplify complicated designs. Buses can be drawn like wires using the bus tool , and are named using labels the same way signal wires are.

In the following schematic, many pins are connected to buses, which are the thick blue lines in the center.

When the power pins of a symbol are visible, they must be connected, as with any other signal. However, symbols such as gates and flip-flops are sometimes drawn with hidden power input pins which are connected implicitly.

KiCad automatically connects invisible pins with type "power input" to a global net with the same name as the pin. For example, if a symbol has a hidden power input pin named VCC, this pin will be globally connected to the VCC net on all sheets.

It may be necessary to join power nets of different names (for example, GND in TTL components and VSS in MOS components). To accomplish this, add a power symbol for each net and connect them with a wire.

If hidden power pins are used, it is not recommended to use local labels for power connection, as they will not connect to hidden power pins on other sheets.

Power symbols are symbols that are conventionally used to represent a connection to a power net, such as VCC or GND. In addition to being a visual indicator that the attached net is a power rail, power symbols make global connections: two power symbols with the same pin name connect to each other anywhere in the schematic, regardless of sheet.

In the figure below, power symbols are used to connect the positive and negative terminals of the capacitors to the VCC and GND nets, respectively.

In the KiCad standard library, power symbols are found in the power library, but power symbols can be created in any library. To create a custom power symbol, make a new symbol with a power input pin that is set to be invisible. Name the pin according to the desired power net. In addition, set the "Define as power symbol" symbol property. As described in the hidden power pins section, invisible power input pins make global connections based on the hidden power pin’s name. The process of creating a power symbol is described in more detail in the Symbol Editor section.

Every net in the schematic is assigned a name, whether that name is specified by the user or automatically generated by KiCad.

When multiple labels are attached to the same net, the final net name is determined in the following order, from highest priority to lowest:

If there are multiple labels of one type attached to a net, the names are sorted alphabetically and the first is used.

If a net travels through multiple sheets of a hierarchy, it will take its name from the highest level of the hierarchy where it has a hierarchical label or local label. As usual, local labels take priority over hierarchical labels.

If none of the label types above are attached to a net, the net’s name is automatically generated based on the connected symbol pins.

Two PWR_FLAG symbols are visible in the screenshot above. They indicate to ERC that the two power nets VCC and GND are actually connected to a power source, as there is no explicit power source such as a voltage regulator output attached to either net.

Without these two flags, the ERC tool would diagnose: Error: Input Power pin not driven by any Output Power pins.

The PWR_FLAG symbol is found in the power symbol library. The same effect can be achieved by connecting any power output pin to the net.

No-connection flags () are used to indicate that a pin is intentionally unconnected. These flags do not have any effect on the schematic’s connectivity, but they prevent "unconnected pin" ERC warnings for pins that are intentionally unconnected.

Netclasses are managed in the Net Classes panel of the Schematic Setup dialog.

The top pane lists the netclasses that exist in the design. The Default netclass always exists, and you can add additional netclasses with the button or remove the selected netclass with the button.

Each netclass can have unique graphic properties that determine how wires of that netclass are displayed in the schematic. Wire and bus thicknesses, color, and line style (solid, dashed, dotted, etc.) can all be adjusted. Setting the color to transparent will use the theme’s default wire/bus color for the netclass, which is configurable in Preferences.

You can also set board design rules for each netclass, although the DRC fields are hidden by default. Right click the header row to show or hide additional columns. For more information about setting netclass design rules, see the PCB editor documentation.

The bottom pane lists pattern-based netclass assignments. Each row has a net name pattern and a netclass; nets with names that match the pattern are assigned to the specified netclass. If a net matches multiple patterns, the first match is used. Pattern-based netclass assignments are dynamic: when a new net is added that matches an existing pattern, it will be assigned to the associated netclass automatically. Net patterns can use both regular expressions and wildcards (* to match any number of any characters, including none, and ? to match zero or one of any character). The nets that match the selected pattern are displayed to the right of the pattern list.

Use the button to add a net class assignment pattern or the button to remove a pattern.

Instead of adding netclass patterns in the Schematic Setup dialog, you can directly create netclass patterns from the schematic canvas. Right click a net and select Assign Netclass…​ to bring up the Add Netclass Assignment dialog. The netclass pattern is pre-filled with the name of the selected net, but the pattern can be changed if desired. All nets matching the pattern are displayed in the dialog.

As an alternative to pattern-based netclass assignment, netclasses can be graphically assigned to nets in the schematic using either net class directives or labels. Netclasses must be created in Schematic Setup before they can be assigned graphically.

In the image below, a net class directive is used to assign signals to the 50R netclass.

Net class directives are added with the button in the right toolbar. They behave like labels, except that they cannot be used to name a net. The attached net is assigned a netclass according to the value of the directive’s Net Class field. The Net Class field presents a dropdown list of all the net classes in the design.

If a directive is attached to a bus, all members of the bus are assigned to the specified net class.

In addition to the associated netclass, you can edit the directive’s shape (dot, circle, diamond, or rectangle), orientation, pin length, and color in the directive’s properties.

Net labels can also be used to assign netclasses to nets by adding a Net Class field to the label.

If more than one different netclass is graphically assigned to a single net, ERC will report an issue. Graphical netclass assignments override pattern-based assignments: if a net matches a netclass pattern assignment and also has a netclass assigned graphically, the graphically assigned netclass will be used.

Two kinds of text can be added to schematics, which are referred to as text () and text boxes (). Both are added using their respective buttons in the right toolbar.

Both kinds of text item support multiline text and basic formatting features, but text boxes wrap text to fit in the outline and have additional formatting options. All text has adjustable fonts, color, size, bold and italic emphasis, left and right alignment, and vertical and horizontal orientation. Text boxes additionally support horizontal centering, vertical alignment options, and colored borders and fill.

Graphic rectangles (), circles (), arcs (), and lines () can all be added using their respective buttons in the right toolbar.

Line width, color, and style (solid, dashed, or dotted) can be configured in the properties dialog for each shape (E). Rectangles, circles, and arcs can also have a fill color set and have their outlines removed.

Setting a shape’s line width to 0 uses the schematic default line width, which is configurable in Schematic Setup. Spacing for line dashes is also configurable there. Removing a line or fill color uses the color theme’s graphics color, which is configurable in Preferences.

Like wires, graphic lines obey the line drawing mode setting (90 degree, 45 degree, or free angle), which you can set using the toggle buttons on the left toolbar (, , and , respectively). Shift+Space cycles through the modes.

As with PCB tracks, the / hotkey switches line posture.

Bitmap images can be added to the schematic with the button. Images in the schematic can be moved and scaled. The properties dialog allows setting a location and scale as well as converting the image to greyscale.

Properties of text and graphics can be edited in bulk using the Edit Text and Graphic Properties dialog (Tools → Edit Text and Graphic Properties…​). The tool can also modify visual properties of wires and buses.

The title block is edited with the Page Settings tool ().

Each field in the title block can be edited, as well as the paper size and orientation. If the "Export to other sheets" option is checked for a field, that field will be updated in the title block of all sheets, rather than only the current sheet.

You can set the date to today’s or any other date by pressing the left arrow button by "Issue Date", but the date in the schematic will not be automatically updated.

A drawing sheet template file can also be selected.

The sheet number (Sheet X/Y) is automatically updated, but sheet page numbers can also be manually set using Edit → Edit Sheet Page Number…​.

Electrical connections between sheets are made with labels. There are several kinds of labels in KiCad, each with a different connection scope.

After placing hierarchical labels within the subsheet, matching hierarchical pins can be added to the subsheet symbol in the parent sheet. You can then make connections to the hierarchical pins with wires, labels, and buses. Hierarchical pins in a subsheet symbol are connected to the matching hierarchical labels in the subsheet itself.

For every hierarchical label in the subsheet, import the corresponding hierarchical pin into the sheet symbol by clicking the button in the right toolbar, then clicking on the sheet symbol. A sheet pin for the first unmatched hierarchical label will be attached to the cursor, where it can be placed anywhere along the border of the sheet symbol. Clicking again with the tool will continue to import additional sheet pins until there are no more hierarchical pins to import from the subsheet. Sheet pins can also be imported by selecting Import Sheet Pin in a sheet symbol’s right-click context menu.

You can edit the properties of a sheet pin in the Sheet Pin Properties dialog. Open this dialog by double-clicking a sheet pin, selecting a sheet pin and using the E hotkey, or right-clicking a sheet pin and selecting Properties…​.

The sheet pin’s name can be edited in the textbox or by selecting from the dropdown list of hierarchical labels in the subsheet. A sheet pin’s name has to match the corresponding hierarchical label in the subsheet, so if a pin name is changed the label must change as well.

The connection type changes the shape of the sheet pin, and has no electrical effect. It can be set to Input, Output, Bidirectional, Tri-state, or Passive. The pin’s text size can also be changed.

An example of a simple hierarchy is the video demo project included with KiCad. The root sheet contains seven unique subsheets, each with hierarchical labels and sheet pins linking the sheets to each other in the root sheet. Two of the subsheet symbols are shown below.

The complex_hierarchy demo project is an example of a complex hierarchy. The root sheet contains two subsheet symbols, which both refer to the same sheet file (ampli_ht.kicad_sch). This allows the design to include two copies of the same amplifier circuit. Although the two sheet symbols refer to the same filename, the sheet names are unique (ampli_ht_vertical and ampli_ht_horizontal). Inside each subsheet the circuits are identical except for the reference designators, which as always are unique.

This project contains no sheet pin connections. The only connections between the root sheet and the subsheets are global power connections made with power symbols. However, sheets in a complex hierarchy could include sheet pin connections if appropriate for the design.

The flat_hierarchy demo project is an example of a flat hierarchy. The root sheet contains two unique subsheet symbols with no hierarchical sheet pins. The root sheet in this project does nothing except hold the subsheets, and the subsheets are used only as additional pages in the schematic.

There are three errors in the screenshot above.

Selecting an ERC marker displays a description of the violation in the message pane at the bottom of the window.

It is common to have an "Input Power pin not driven by any Output Power pins" error on power pins, as shown in the example below, even though the power pins seem to be properly connected to a power rail. This happens in designs where the power is provided through connectors or other components that are not marked as power outputs. In these cases ERC won’t detect any Output Power pins connected to the net and will determine the Input Power pin is not driven by a power source.

To avoid this warning, connect the net to PWR_FLAG symbol on such a power net as shown in the following example. The PWR_FLAG symbol is found in the power symbol library. Alternatively, connect any power output pin to the net; PWR_FLAG is simply a symbol with a single power output pin.

Ground nets often need a PWR_FLAG as well, because voltage regulators have outputs declared as power outputs, but their ground pins are typically marked as power inputs. Therefore grounds can appear unconnected to a source unless a PWR_FLAG symbol is used.

For more information about power pins and power flags, see the PWR_FLAG documentation.

The Violation Severity panel in Schematic Setup lets you configure what types of ERC messages should be reported as Errors, Warnings, or ignored.

The Pin Conflicts Map panel in Schematic Setup allows you to configure connectivity rules to define electrical conditions for errors and warnings based on what types of pins are connected to each other. For example, by default an error is produced when an output pin is connected to another output pin.

Rules can be changed by clicking on the desired square of the matrix, causing it to cycle through the choices: allowed, warning, error.

An ERC report file can be generated and saved by clicking the Save…​ button in the ERC dialog. The file extension for ERC report files is .rpt. An example ERC report file is given below.

Rather than editing the properties of each symbol individually, the Symbol Fields Table can be used to view and edit the properties of all symbols in the design in one place. This includes assigning footprints by editing the Footprint field of each symbol.

The Symbol Fields Table is accessed with Tools → Edit Symbol Fields…​, or with the button on the top toolbar.

The Footprint field behaves the same here as in the Symbol Properties window: it can be edited directly, or footprints can be selected visually with the Footprint Library Browser.

For more information on the Symbol Fields Table, see the section on editing symbol properties.

The image below shows the main window of the Footprint Assignment Tool.

The top toolbar contains the following commands:

The following table lists the keyboard commands for the Footprint Assignment Tool:

To manually associate a footprint with a component, first select a component in the component (middle) pane. Then select a footprint in the footprint (right) pane by double-clicking on the name of the desired footprint. The footprint will be assigned to the selected component, and the next component without an assigned footprint is automatically selected.

When all components have footprints assigned to them, click the OK button to save the assignments and exit the tool. Alternatively, click Cancel to discard the updated assignments, or Apply, Save Schematic & Continue to save the new assignments without exiting the tool.

The Footprint Assignment Tool allows you to store footprint assignments in an external file and load the assignments later, even in a different project. This allows you to automatically associate symbols with the appropriate footprints.

The external file is referred to as an equivalence file, and it stores a mapping of a symbol value to a corresponding footprint. Equivalence files typically use the .equ file extension. Equivalence files are plain text files with a simple syntax, and must be created by the user using a text editor. The syntax is described below.

You can select which equivalence files to use by clicking Preferences → Manage Footprint Association Files in the Footprint Assignment Tool.

Relevant environment variables are shown at the bottom of the window. When the Relative path option is checked, these environment variables will automatically be used to make paths to selected equivalence files relative to the project or footprint libraries.

Once the desired equivalence files have been loaded in the correct order, automatic footprint association can be performed by clicking the button in the top toolbar of the Footprint Assignment Tool.

All symbols with a value found in a loaded equivalence file will have their footprints automatically assigned. However, symbols that already have footprints assigned will not be updated.

The Footprint Assignment Tool contains a footprint viewer. Clicking the button in the top toolbar launches the footprint viewer and shows the selected footprint.

The top toolbar contains the following commands:

The left toolbar contains the following commands:

The tool has several options to control its behavior.

The tool has several options to control its behavior.

Select changes can also be synced from the PCB back to the schematic by exporting a CMP file from the PCB editor (File → Export → Footprint Association (.cmp) File…​) and importing it in the Schematic Editor (File → Import → Footprint Assignments…​).

Print drawing sheet: Include the drawing sheet border and title block in the printed schematic.

Output mode: Print the schematic in color or black and white.

Print background color: Include the background color in the printed schematic. This option is only enabled if Print in black and white only is disabled.

Use a different color theme for printing: Select a different color scheme for printing than the one selected for display in the Schematic Editor.

Page Setup…​: Opens a page setup dialog for setting paper size and orientation.

Preview: Opens a print preview dialog.

Close: Closes the dialog without printing.

Print: Opens the system print dialog.

Output directory: Specify the location to save plotted files. If this is a relative path, it is created relative to the project directory.

Output Format: Select the format to plot in. Some formats have different options than others.

Page size: Sets the page size to use for the plotted output. This can be set to match the schematic size or to another sheet size.

Plot drawing sheet: Include the drawing sheet border and title block in the printed schematic.

Output mode: Sets the output to color or black and white. Not all output formats support color.

Plot background color: Includes the schematic background color in the plotted output. The background color will not be plotted if the output format does not support color or the output mode is black and white.

Color theme: Selects the color theme to use for the plotted output.

Default line width: Selects the default width for lines without a specified thickness (lines that have thickness set to 0). Lines that have a set thickness will be plotted at that thickness instead.

Position and units: Sets the plotter origin and units. This option only applies for HPGL output.

Pen width: Sets the plotter’s pen width. This option only applies for HPGL output.

Open file after plot: automatically opens the plotted output file when plotting is complete.

Plotted PDFs have several interactive features.

By default, the BOM tool presents three output script options.

Additional generator scripts are installed with KiCad but are not populated in the generator script list by default. The location of these scripts depends on the operating system and may vary based on installation location.

Additional scripts can be added to the list of BOM generator scripts by clicking the button. Scripts can be removed by clicking the button. The button opens the selected script in a text editor.

For more information on creating and using custom BOM generators, see the advanced documentation.

KiCad offers several additional ways to generate a BOM, although the BOM tool is recommended.

Netlists are exported with the Export Netlist dialog (File→Export→Netlist…​).

KiCad supports exporting netlists in several formats: KiCad, OrcadPCB2, CADSTAR, Spice, and Spice Model. Each format can be selected by selecting the corresponding tab at the top of the window. Some netlist formats have additional options.

Clicking the Export Netlist button prompts for a netlist filename and saves the netlist.

Custom generators for other netlist formats can be added by clicking the Add Generator…​ button. Custom generators are external tools that are called by KiCad, for example Python scripts or XSLT stylesheets. For more information on custom netlist generators, see the section on adding custom netlist generators.

Below is the schematic from the sallen_key project included in KiCad’s simulation demos.

The KiCad format netlist for this schematic is as follows:

In Spice format, the netlist is as follows:

The first time the KiCad Schematic Editor is run and the global symbol table file sym-lib-table is not found in the KiCad configuration folder, KiCad will guide the user through setting up a new symbol library table. This process is described above.

Symbol libraries can only be used if they have been added to either the global or project-specific symbol library table.

Add a library either by clicking the button and selecting a library or clicking the button and typing the path to a library file. The selected library will be added to the currently opened library table (Global or Project Specific). Libraries can be removed by selecting desired library entries and clicking the button.

The and buttons move the selected library up and down in the library table. This does not affect the display order of libraries in the Symbol Library Browser, Symbol Editor, or Add Symbol tool.

Libraries can be made inactive by unchecking the Active checkbox in the first column. Inactive libraries are still in the library table but do not appear in any library browsers and are not loaded from disk, which can reduce loading times.

A range of libraries can be selected by clicking the first library in the range and then Shift-clicking the last library in the range.

Each library must have a unique nickname: duplicate library nicknames are not allowed in the same table. However, nicknames can be duplicated between the global and project library tables. Libraries in the project table take precedence over libraries with the same name in the global table.

Library nicknames do not have to be related to the library filename or path. The colon character (:) cannot be used in library nicknames or symbol names because it is used as a separator between nicknames and symbols.

Each library entry must have a valid path. Paths can be defined as absolute, relative, or by environment variable substitution.

The appropriate library format must be selected in order for the library to be properly read. "KiCad" format is used for KiCad version 6+ libraries (.kicad_sym files), while "Legacy" format is used for libraries from older versions of KiCad (.lib files). Legacy libraries are read-only, but can be migrated to KiCad format libraries using the Migrate Libraries button (see section Migrating Legacy Libraries).

There is an optional description field to add a description of the library entry. The option field is not used at this time so adding options will have no effect when loading libraries.

The symbol library tables support environment variable substitution, which allows you to define environment variables containing custom paths to where your libraries are stored. Environment variable substitution is supported by using the syntax ${ENV_VAR_NAME} in the symbol library path.

By default, KiCad defines several environment variables which are described in the project manager documentation. Environment variables can be configured in the Preferences → Configure Paths…​ dialog.

Using environment variables in the symbol library tables allows libraries to be relocated without breaking the symbol library tables, so long as the environment variables are updated when the library location changes.

${KIPRJMOD} is a special environment variable that always expands to the absolute path of the current project directory. ${KIPRJMOD} allows libraries to be stored in the project folder without having to use an absolute path in the project library table. This makes it possible to relocate projects without breaking their project library tables.

Symbol libraries can be defined either globally or specifically to the currently loaded project. Symbol libraries defined in the user’s global table are always available and are stored in the sym-lib-table file in the user’s KiCad configuration folder. The project-specific symbol library table is active only for the currently open project file.

Ada keuntungan dan kerugian untuk masing-masing metode tersebut. Mendefinisikan keseluruhan pustaka di dalam tabel global berarti pustaka-pustaka tersebut akan selalu tersedia saat dibutuhkan. Namun kerugiannya adalah waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk memuat pustaka-pustaka tersebut akan bertambah.

Mendefinisikan keseluruhan pustaka simbol di dalam tabel proyek berarti bahwa Anda hanya memiliki pustaka yang dibutuhkan oleh proyek saja, sehingga akan mengurangi waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk memuat pustaka-pustaka tersebut. Namun kekurangannya adalah Anda harus selalu mengingat untuk menambahkan setiap pustaka simbol yang dibutuhkan untuk setiap proyek.

Maka pola pemakaian yang baik adalah mendefinisikan secara global pustaka-pustaka yang umum digunakan. Sedangkan untuk pustaka-pustaka yang spesifik yang hanya dibutuhkan oleh proyek, kita definisikan di dalam tabel pustaka proyek. Tidak ada batasan bagi suatu pustaka untuk didefinisikan ke tabel manapun.

Legacy libraries (.lib files) are read-only, but they can be migrated to KiCad version 6 libraries (.kicad_sym). KiCad version 6 libraries cannot be viewed or edited by KiCad versions older than 6.0.0.

Legacy libraries can be converted to KiCad 6 libraries by selecting them in the symbol library table and clicking the Migrate Libraries button. Multiple libraries can be selected and migrated at once by Ctrl-clicking or shift-clicking.

Libraries can also be converted one at a time by opening them in the Symbol Editor and saving them as a new library.

When loading a schematic created prior to the symbol library table implementation, KiCad will attempt to remap the symbol library links in the schematic to the appropriate library table symbols. The success of this process is dependent on several factors:

A symbol is a schematic representation of a component. A symbol is composed of:

Suatu pustaka simbol memiliki satu atau lebih simbol. Secara umum, simbol dikelompokkan berdasarkan fungsi, jenis, dan/atau manufaktur.

Symbols can be derived from another symbol in the same library. Derived symbols share the base symbol’s graphical shape and pin definitions, but can override the base symbol’s property fields (value, footprint, footprint filters, datasheet, description, etc.). Derived symbols can be used to define symbols that are similar to a base part. For example, 74LS00, 74HC00, and 7437 symbols could all be derived from a 7400 symbol. In previous versions of KiCad, derived symbols were referred to as aliases.

KiCad provides a symbol editing tool that allows you to create libraries, add, delete or transfer symbols between libraries, export symbols to files, and import symbols from files.

In general, the flow for designing a symbol involves:

The Symbol Editor main window is shown below. It consists of three toolbars for quick access to common features and a symbol viewing/editing area. Not all commands are available on the toolbars, but all commands are available in the menus.

The button displays or hides the list of available libraries, which allows you to select an active library. When a symbol is saved, it will be placed in this library.

Clicking the icon on the left toolbar toggles the treeview of libraries and symbols. Clicking on a symbol opens that symbol.

After modification, a symbol can be saved in the current library or a different library.

To save the modified symbol in the current library, click the icon. The modifications will be written to the existing symbol.

To save the symbol changes to a new symbol, click File → Save As…​. The symbol can be saved in the current library or a different library. A new name can be set for the symbol.

To create a new file containing only the current symbol, click File → Export → Symbol…​. This file will be a standard library file which will contain only one symbol.

Graphical elements create the visual representation of a symbol and contain no electrical connection information. Graphical elements are created with the following tools:

Bilah alat vertikal di sebelah kanan jendela utama berguna untuk meletakkan semua elemen grafis yang diperlukan untuk mendesain tampilan sebuah simbol.

Symbols can have up to two body styles (a standard symbol and an alternate symbol often referred to as a "De Morgan equivalent") and/or have more than one unit per package (logic gates for example). Some symbols can have more than one unit per package each with different symbols and pin configurations.

For example, consider a relay with two switches, which can be designed as a symbol with three different units: a coil, switch 1, and switch 2. Designing a symbol with multiple units per package and/or alternate body styles is very flexible. A pin or a body symbol item can be common to all units or specific to a given unit or they can be common to both symbolic representation so are specific to a given symbol representation.

By default, pins are specific to a unit and body style. When a pin is common to all units or all body styles, it only needs to be created once. This is also the case for the body style graphic shapes and text, which may be common to each unit, but typically are specific to each body style.

To add additional units to a symbol, set the Number of Units property to the appropriate number in the Symbol Properties dialog. By default, symbol units are named Unit A, Unit B, etc., but you can set an arbitrary name for the current unit using Edit → Set Unit Display Name…​.

To add an alternate body style, set the Has alternate body style (De Morgan) property in the Symbol Properties dialog.

You can create and insert a pin by clicking on the button. Pin properties can be edited by double clicking on the pin. You can also delete or move pins that you have already added. Pins must be created carefully, because any error will have consequences on the PCB design.

All library symbols are defined with four default fields. The reference designator, value, footprint assignment, and datasheet link fields are created whenever a symbol is created or copied. Only the reference designator is required.

The Footprint field, if used, contains a reference to a footprint for the symbol. The format is LIBNAME:FOOTPRINTNAME, where LIBNAME is the name of the footprint library in the footprint library table (see the Footprint Library Table section in the PCB Editor manual) and FOOTPRINTNAME is the name of the footprint in the library LIBNAME.

Symbols defined in libraries are typically defined with only these four default fields. Additional fields such as vendor, part number, unit cost, etc. can be added to library symbols but generally this is done in the schematic editor so the additional fields can be applied to all of the symbols in the schematic.

Power symbols are symbols that are used to label a wire as part of a power net, like VCC or GND. The behavior of power symbols is described in the electrical connections section. Power symbols are handled and created the same way as normal symbols, but there are several additional considerations described below.

It may be useful to place power symbols in a dedicated library. KiCad’s symbol library places power symbols in the power library, and users may create libraries to store their own power symbols. If the Define as power symbol box is checked in a symbol’s properties, that symbol will appear in the Schematic Editor’s Add Power Symbol dialog for convenient access.

Below is an example of a GND power symbol.

Power symbols consist of a pin of type "Power input" that is marked invisible. They must also have the Define as power symbol property checked. Invisible power input pins have a special property of making implicit global connections based on the pin name.

Untuk membuat sebuah simbol power, lakukan langkah-langkah berikut:

An easier method to create a new power symbol is to use another symbol as a starting point, as described earlier.

The Symbol Editor can check for common issues in your symbols. Run the symbol checker using the button in the top toolbar.

The symbol checker checks for:

Di tab Passive, kita bisa menerapkan sebuah model divais pasif (resistor, kapasitor, atau induktor) ke suatu komponen. Namun hal ini jarang digunakan, karena umumnya komponen pasif telah memiliki model yang diterapkan secara implisit, kecuali jika referensi komponen tidak cocok dengan tipe divais aktual.

Tab Model digunakan untuk menetapkan suatu semikonduktor atau model kompleks yang didefinisikan pada sebuah berkas pustaka eksternal. Pustaka model Spice terkadang disediakan oleh manufaktur.

Kotak teks utama menampilkan isi berkas pustaka yang dipilih. Sudah menjadi praktik yang umum untuk memasukkan penjelasan model ke dalam berkas pustaka, termasuk urutan node.

Tab Source digunakan untuk menetapkan model sumber sinyal atau power. Ada dua bagian: DC/AC analysis dan Transient analysis. Masing-masing mendefinisikan parameter sumber untuk tipe simulasi yang terkait.

Opsi Source type diaplikasikan untuk semua tipe simulasi.

Silakan mengacu ke dokumentasi ngspice, Bab 4 (Voltage and Current Sources) untuk informasi lebih lanjut.

Bilah alat bagian atas digunakan untuk mengakses perintah-perintah yang sering dijalankan.

Memvisualisasikan hasil simulasi dalam bentuk plot. Kita bisa membuka beberapa plot pada tab yang berbeda, namun ketika simulasi dijalankan, hanya tab yang aktif saja yang akan diperbarui. Dengan demikian dimungkinkan untuk membandingkan hasil simulasi dengan parameter yang berbeda.

Plot dapat diatur dengan menampilkan/menyembunyikan grid dan legenda menggunakan menu View. Ketika legenda ditampilkan, kita bisa menggeser untuk mengubah posisinya.

Interaksi panel plot:

Konsol keluaran menampilkan pesan-pesan dari simulator. Kita perlu memeriksa konsol untuk memastikan tidak ada pesan kesalahan dan peringatan.

Menampilkan daftar sinyal yang ditampilkan pada plot yang aktif.

Interaksi daftar sinyal:

Menampilkan daftar kursor dan koordinatnya. Setiap sinyal bisa memiliki satu kursor yang ditampilkan. Konfigurasi visibilitas kursor diatur menggunakan daftar Signals.

Menampilkan komponen-komponen yang diambil menggunakan alat Tuner. Panel ini digunakan untuk memodifikasi nilai komponen secara cepat dan mengamati pengaruhnya pada hasil simulasi - setiap kali nilai sebuah komponen diubah, simulasi akan dijalankan ulang dan plot akan diperbarui.

Untuk setiap komponen, ada beberapa kendali yang terkait:

Ketiga atribut teks di atas mengenali prefiks satuan Spice.

Alat Tuner digunakan untuk memilih komponen untuk keperluan tuning.

Untuk memilih komponen untuk tuning, klik pada satu komponen di editor skematik ketika alat ini aktif. Komponen yang dipilih akan muncul di panel Tune. Kita hanya bisa melakukan tuning komponen pasif.

Alat Probe digunakan untuk memilih sinyal untuk dilakukan plotting.

Untuk menambahkan sinyal yang akan diplot, klik pada wire yang diinginkan di editor skematik ketika alat ini aktif.

Kotak dialog pengaturan simulasi digunakan untuk mengatur tipe dan parameter-parameter simulasi. Ada empat tab pada kotak dialog ini:

Tiga tab pertama digunakan untuk memasukan parameter-parameter simulasi. Tab yang terakhir digunakan untuk menuliskan direktif kustom Spice untuk membuat sebuah simulasi. Untuk informasi lebih lanjut mengenai tipe dan parameter-parameter simulasi, lihat dokumentasi ngspice, Bab 1.2.

Cara lain untuk mengkonfigurasi sebuah simulasi adalah dengan menuliskan direktif Spice ke atribut teks pada skematik. Setiap direktif atribut teks yang berhubungan dengan tipe simulasi akan ditimpa dengan pengaturan yang dipilih pada kotak dialog. Hal ini berarti bahwa setelah Anda menggunakan kotak dialog simulasi, kotak dialog akan menimpa direktif-direktif skematik hingga simulator dibuka kembali.

Ada dua opsi yang umum untuk semua tipe simulasi:

To create a database library, you must create a configuration file that contains the necessary information for KiCad to connect to your database and retrieve data from tables. Copy the template below into a new file and save it with a kicad_dbl extension. You can then add this file to your global symbol library table using the Configure Symbol Libraries dialog.

After creating your configuration file and adding it to your symbol library table, you can place parts from the database tables using the Symbol Chooser. Parts placed from a database library can be updated using the Update Symbols from Library function, which will update any fields that were changed in the database as well as updating the underlying symbol if it was changed in the source library.

Note that any source library referenced by a database table must also be present in the symbol library table for the database library to function. If you want to use a library only as a source of symbols for a database library, you can hide it from the Symbol Chooser by clearing the "Visible" checkbox in the Manage Symbol Libraries dialog.

New netlist generators are added to the Export Netlist dialog by clicking the Add Generator…​ button.

New generators require a name and a command. The name is shown in the tab label, and the command is run whenever the Export Netlist button is clicked.

When the netlist is generated, KiCad creates an intermediate XML file which contains all of the netlist information from the schematic. The generator command is then run in order to transform the intermediate netlist into the desired netlist format.

The netlist command must be set up properly so that the netlist generator script takes the intermediate netlist file as input and outputs the desired netlist file. The exact netlist command will depend on the generator script used. The command format is described below.

Python and XSLT are commonly used tools to create custom netlist generators.

KiCad also uses the intermediate netlist file to generate BOMs with the Generate BOM tool.

Additional scripts can be added to the list of BOM generator scripts by clicking the button. Scripts can be removed by clicking the button. The button opens the selected script in a text editor.

Generator scripts written in Python and XSLT can contain a header comment that describes the generator’s functionality and usage. This header comment is displayed in the BOM dialog as the description for each generator. The header comment must contain the string @package. Everything following that string until the end of the comment is used as the description for the generator.

KiCad automatically fills the command line field when a new generator script is added, but the command line might need to be adjusted by hand depending on the generator script. KiCad attempts to automatically determine the output file extension from the example command line in the generator script’s header.

The command line for a netlist or BOM exporter defines the command that KiCad will run to generate the selected output file.

For a netlist exporter using xsltproc, an example is:

xsltproc -o %O.net /usr/share/kicad/plugins/netlist_form_pads-pcb.asc.xsl %I

For a BOM exporter using Python, an example is:

/usr/bin/python3 /usr/share/kicad/plugins/bom_csv_grouped_by_value.py "%I" "%O.csv"

Some character sequences like %I and %O have a special meaning in the command line, because KiCad replaces them with a filename or path before executing the command.

When exporting BOM files and netlists, KiCad creates an intermediate netlist file and then runs a separate tool which post-processes the intermediate netlist into the desired netlist or BOM format.

The intermediate netlist uses XML syntax. It contains a large amount of data about the design. Depending on the output (BOM or netlist), different subsets of the complete intermediate netlist file will be included in the final output file.

The structure of the intermediate netlist file is described in detail below.

Because the conversion from intermediate netlist file to output netlist or BOM is a text-to-text transformation, the post-processing filter can be written using Python, XSLT, or any other tool capable of taking XML as input.

Contoh berikut ini menunjukkan format berkas Netlist.

Some example netlist exporters using XSLT are included below.

XSLT itself is an XML language very suitable for XML transformations. The xsltproc program can be used to read the Intermediate XML netlist input file, apply a style-sheet to transform the input, and save the results in an output file. Use of xsltproc requires a style-sheet file using XSLT conventions. The full conversion process is handled by KiCad, after it is configured once to run xsltproc in a specific way.

The document that describes XSL Transformations (XSLT) is available here: http://www.w3.org/TR/xslt