Design Tools
Footprint Editor
Build the land patterns your parts sit on. The Footprint Editor gives you precise pad control, a parametric generator for standard packages, pad arrays for BGAs and connectors, silkscreen and courtyard drawing tools, and a checker that flags problems before they reach the board.
# Opening & Creating
Footprints open in their own editor tab. Start one by editing a footprint from the library, or let the AI Component Lab generate one for you and refine it here. The view auto-fits on load, with a 0.5 mm grid and snap enabled.
# Pads
Press P and click to place a pad, then double-click it to open the full Pad Properties dialog.
Pad types
- SMD — surface-mount
- Through-hole — plated, with a drill
- NPTH — non-plated mechanical hole
- Edge connector — board-edge contacts
Pad shapes & properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Shape | Rectangle, circle, oval, rounded rectangle (with corner ratio), trapezoid, or custom polygon |
| Number | Pad identifier; can be blank for paste-only aperture pads |
| Position & size | X/Y location and pad dimensions in mm, plus rotation |
| Drill | Round or oval (slot) hole for through-hole pads, with optional shape offset |
| Layers | Copper, mask, and paste layers the pad appears on (front, back, or both) |
| Fabrication | Mark a pad as BGA, fiducial, test point, heatsink, castellated, or mechanical |
| Clearances | Per-pad overrides for clearance, mask expansion, and paste, plus thermal-relief settings |
Pad Properties dialog with shape, drill, layer, and clearance settings
# Parametric Generator & Pad Arrays
Don’t place pads one at a time for standard parts. The Footprint Generator builds a complete package — pads, courtyard, silkscreen, and fab outline — from a few parameters.
Supported package families
Chip (0402–2512), SOIC / SOP / SSOP / TSSOP, SOT-23, SOT-223 / DPAK, QFP / LQFP / TQFP, QFN / DFN / SON (with optional exposed pad), DIP, pin header / SIP, and BGA / LGA. Enter pad count, pitch, row span, pad and body size, drill, and thermal-pad dimensions as relevant to the family.
Pad arrays
Use Create Pad Array (Cmd+T) for grid or circular arrays:
- Grid array — set columns, rows, and pitch, with continuous or JEDEC-style alphanumeric numbering (A1, A2…) for BGAs
- Circular array — set pad count, radius, and start angle, and optionally rotate pads to face outward
Footprint Generator dialog for a QFN package with an exposed thermal pad
# Silkscreen, Courtyard & Fab
Draw graphics with the line (L), arc (A), rectangle (G), circle (C), polygon (O), and text (T) tools, choosing the target layer from the status bar.
- Silkscreen (F.SilkS / B.SilkS) — outlines, polarity marks, and labels
- Courtyard (F.CrtYd / B.CrtYd) — the keep-clear boundary used for collision checks
- Fabrication (F.Fab / B.Fab) — the true component body for documentation
The one-click Generate Courtyard + Fab Outline action builds both at the 0.25 mm minimum width recommended by the KiCad Library Convention.
# Footprint Properties
Set the footprint’s name, reference template, value, description, and keywords, plus attributes that flow through to manufacturing:
- Type — SMD, through-hole, or unspecified
- Exclusions — exclude from position files or BOM, mark board-only, or do-not-populate (DNP)
- Clearance overrides — footprint-wide clearance, mask, and paste settings
- 3D models — attach STEP / WRL / X3D models that ride along to the 3D view and exports
# Footprint Checker
Run the Footprint Checker to validate your work. It flags a missing courtyard, silkscreen that overlaps pads, overlapping copper, and annular-ring problems on drilled pads — reporting each as an error or warning, or confirming “no problems found.”
Next Steps
- → Place your footprints on a board in the PCB Editor
- → Draw the matching schematic symbol in the Symbol Editor
- → Generate a footprint automatically with the AI Component Lab