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Dougspcbdesigns [licensed for non-commercial use only] / KiCAD Design Software. Kicad Tutorial: Copper pours / fills. This is part of a series of short tutorials on advanced topics of using Kicad, the favorite schematic/PCB design software here at Wayne and Layne.

Kicad Tutorial: Copper pours / fills

A copper pour or fill refers to an area on a printed circuit board where the original copper is not etched away, and remains in place, usually electrically connected to the Ground signal, producing a “Ground Plane”. This has a number of advantages, including decreasing the amount of etching fluid required during manufacturing, as well as reducing the amount of electrical noise and signal crosstalk experienced by the circuit elements.

It is relatively easy to create a copper fill in Kicad. We usually add fills after having already drawn in the PCB outline in the Edges layer. First, select the proper tool from the toolbar on the right side of the screen. Next, click in one corner of the PCB outline to start drawing the copper fill. Once you click in the first corner, the following properties box will appear. Other tutorials in this series: How to design a circuit board by Doug Paradis using KiCAD. Homebrew_PCBs : Homebrew Printed Circuit Boards. Designing, making, etching, soldering, printed circuit boards yourself.

Homebrew_PCBs : Homebrew Printed Circuit Boards

Any method allowed by law and local custom including photo, CAM, toner transfer, direct printing, plotter, laundry pen, silkscreening, toaster oven, paint stripper heat gun, conductive paint or epoxy, storebought or homemade etchant, etc. Suggestions, recommendations and such to professionals and companies are welcome. If you are posting for your own business, please limit ads to once a month and feel free to post your site in the Links area. Please be sure to add helpful links to the Links area and use the File area for pictures, PDFs, text, etc. I only ask that you don't use MS Word DOC or Excel XLS files due to the potential virus risk. A list has been set up just for discussion about converting inkjet printers to print etch resist directly onto PCBs. Questions on general electronics should go to the Electronics_101 list. Kicad-users : kicad-users. This group is for users of KiCad, the amazing integrated EDA program.

kicad-users : kicad-users

Not only does it capture schematics and layout PCBs, it is open source, free and runs on a range of platforms. This group concentrates on actually using KiCad, so post your questions, hints, tips and suggestions for improvements. Download KiCad from The KiCad documentation can be found at : For details of uploading your libraries, symbols and footprints go to. KiCad Lib. This is another set of KiCad component symbols created by Numato for the Quandary/CygnusAT Spartan 6 prototype boards.

KiCad Lib

MT46V32M8 and MT46V32M16 has 8 bit and 16 bit data bus width respectively, other than that these ICs are pretty similar. MT46V32M8 is actually used in Quandary/CygnusAT as Spartan 6 CSG225 package does support only 8 bit data bus width. This symbol is part of Numato KiCad Library Archive and can be downloaded here.