Blog | KiCad EDA

KiCad 5.1.7 Release

Published 2020-09-30

The KiCad project is proud to announce the latest series 5 stable release. The 5.1.7 stable version contains critical bug fixes and other minor improvements since the previous release. It also includes improved footprint, symbol, and 3D model libraries, translations, and documentation.

Development Highlight: 3D Viewer Improvements

Published 2020-09-26

The 3D Viewer has seen a few incremental improvements during the course of V6 development. Not all changes to KiCad have to large by themselves to improve KiCad.

Development Highlight: CADSTAR PCB Importer

Published 2020-09-22

Roberto Fernandez Bautista had a growing desire at his workplace to migrate away from CADSTAR. After trying and finding migration paths to other EDA tools inadequate and poorly supported, he has leveraged the open source nature of KiCad to create just what he needs and contribute to the greater community :D Thanks to his hard work in MR#279,KiCad is now able to import CADSTAR PCB files! With the schematic importer coming soon.

KiCad and the Open Ventilator Project

Published 2020-05-20

The KiCad project is proud of our role as the electronic design application used by the Open Ventilator project. The Open Ventilator project is based on a release of the Medtronic PB560 ventilator mentioned in this Make article. The Open Ventilator project clearly demonstrates the potential of open hardware. The project was started by KiCad Services lead developer Seth Hillbrand early in the COVID-19 pandemic. It quickly gained more than 100 contributors from all over the world.

KiCad 5.1.6 Release

Published 2020-05-15

The KiCad project is proud to announce the latest series 5 stable release. The 5.1.6 stable version contains critical bug fixes and other minor improvements since the 5.1.5 release. It also includes improved footprint, symbol, and 3D model libraries, translations, and documentation.

Development Highlight: New Settings System

Published 2020-05-14

As a preview of a feature available in the nighty builds, a large change was made to how KiCad stores and loads settings that not only fixes a few headaches with the old system but lays the groundwork for more customization in KiCad such as color themes. This was thanks to the work of Jon Evans in MR#68

Development Highlight: New schematic and symbol library file formats are now the default

Published 2020-05-05

Since KiCad 4.0, work has been progressing to overhaul all the various project file formats that among many benefits, make them far more human friendly, easier to parse and allow easier addition of new features.

Development Highlight: Altium Pcb Importer

Published 2020-04-26

As a preview of a feature coming in the next major release, the ability to import Altium PcbDoc files is now available in the latest nightly builds. This was thanks to the work of Thomas Pointhuber in MR#60 The board import option can be found under the File > Import > Non-Kicad Board File option and changing the file type filter After which in the import file dialog you must change the file filter

Learn to Code KiCad - FOSDEM 2020

Published 2020-02-01

The first ever Learn to Code KiCad event happened in Brussels, BE on Friday, Jan 31. We had 15 new KiCad developers from Europe and the United States in attendance. 12 unique issues were addressed by the participants, ranging from OpenGL display on ARM hardware to cursor offset bugs to Eeschema rubberbanding. Wayne, Ian, Jon and Seth served as sounding boards for user questions and provided some guidance on where to find needed information.

Project Leader Joins KiCad Services Corporation

Published 2019-12-02

The KiCad project is excited to announce the project leader, Wayne Stambaugh, has joined the KiCad Services Corporation. A video interview with KiCad Services Corporation founder Seth Hillbrand is available for viewing. This new position will allow the project leader to continue work on KiCad as much as possible when not working on behalf of the corporation. On behalf of The KiCad development team and its users, we would like to say thank you to the KiCad Services Corporation for its commitment to the project.

Changes 2 Development Highlight 16 Events 2 Media 1 News 30 Release Notes 54 Status Update 2