Datasheet to Footprint
Upload the datasheet PDF, paste a URL, or drop in a screenshot of the package drawing. Get a PCB footprint built to IPC-7351B for KiCad, EAGLE, Altium, or Allegro. Free, in the browser.
Want more? Do it all in the ProtoFlow app
The web tool is just a taste. In the desktop app you can fine-tune every part, save it straight to your component library, and drop it into KiCad, Altium, EAGLE or Allegro — all in one place.
Symbol
Footprint
Your generated symbol and footprint will appear here.
Generations are AI-assisted, review before production use.
This free tool converts a datasheet into a PCB footprint. Upload the PDF, paste a datasheet URL, enter a manufacturer part number, or drop in a screenshot of the package drawing, and the AI reads the recommended land pattern — pad pitch, pad dimensions, courtyard, and pin 1 position — and builds the footprint to IPC-7351B conventions. It works on scanned datasheets where only an image of the outline drawing is available, returns the complete pad table so every dimension can be verified against the drawing, and exports for KiCad, EAGLE, Altium, and Allegro with 10 free generation units a month.
How it works
- Supply the datasheet. Upload the PDF, paste the datasheet URL, enter the part number, or drop in a screenshot of the mechanical drawing.
- The AI reads the mechanical drawing. The recommended land pattern is extracted: pad pitch, pad dimensions, courtyard, body outline, and pin 1 position.
- Check every dimension and export. Compare the returned pad table against the drawing, then export for KiCad, EAGLE, Altium, or Allegro.
A worked example
Input
A scanned PDF for an obscure connector — only a photo of page 7, the mechanical drawing
What comes back
- A footprint with pads placed from the documented land pattern
- A matching schematic symbol with the pin count from the drawing
- A pad table in millimetres for every pad, plus warnings where the drawing was ambiguous
What to verify before you trust it
- Every dimension in the pad table traces back to a number printed on the drawing.
- Units are right — millimetres against inches is the single most common scanned-datasheet error.
- Mechanical mounting holes and keep-outs from the drawing are present if the part needs them.
- Where a warning says the drawing was ambiguous, resolve it by hand rather than trusting the guess.
Generations are AI-assisted and meant to be reviewed. The full pin and pad tables are shown with every result so you can check the output against the datasheet before it reaches a board.
The land pattern is not the package outline
This is the mistake that hand-drawn footprints make most often. The mechanical drawing gives you the physical dimensions of the part: body size, lead length, lead width, pitch. The recommended land pattern is a separate drawing, and its pads are deliberately larger than the leads, sized to form a proper solder fillet at the toe, heel, and sides of each lead.
Copy the package outline dimensions into your pads and the part will physically fit while the joints are marginal. Reading the land pattern drawing instead is what IPC-7351B is about, and it is the first thing to confirm in the pad table that comes back.
Scanned, badly formatted, and image-only datasheets
The datasheets that make you want a tool like this are rarely the clean ones. They are the twelve-year-old scan from a manufacturer with no web presence, the PDF where the drawing is a raster image, the page from a Chinese supplier where the only usable information is a photo. The tool accepts an image directly for exactly that reason: screenshot the drawing and let the AI read it.
Be more suspicious of the output in these cases, not less. Ambiguous drawings produce warnings, and a warning here means a dimension was inferred rather than read. That is the moment to open the drawing and check the number yourself.
Units, tolerances, and the errors that survive review
Check units first, every time. Datasheets that give dimensions in both millimetres and inches, often with the inch values in brackets, are the most common source of a footprint that is out by a factor of 25.4. It is an obvious error that is surprisingly easy to miss when you are scanning a table quickly.
Then check tolerances on anything mechanical. A connector that mates with an enclosure, a card edge, or a mounting hole pattern has to be right within the tolerance the drawing states, and a nominal-only footprint can pass every electrical check and still not physically assemble.
Where the file goes next
Export bundles are ready to import: KiCad (.kicad_mod with its .kicad_sym), EAGLE (.lbr), Altium (.SchLib and .PcbLib), and Allegro. No plugin is required for any of them, and the symbol and footprint stay linked across all four formats.
If your next step is a schematic rather than a library, the generated part opens directly in the free ProtoFlow desktop editor, where you can place it, wire it up, and run ERC without exporting anything.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI create a PCB footprint from a datasheet PDF?
Yes. Upload the PDF and the AI reads the recommended land pattern — pad pitch, pad dimensions, courtyard, and pin 1 position — and builds the footprint from those documented values to IPC-7351B conventions, returning the full pad table so you can verify it.
Does it work with scanned or image-only datasheets?
Yes. You can drop in a screenshot or photo of the mechanical drawing instead of a PDF. Check the output more carefully in this case, and treat any ambiguity warning as a dimension to confirm by hand.
Which EDA tools can I export to?
KiCad (.kicad_mod and .kicad_sym), EAGLE (.lbr), Altium (.SchLib and .PcbLib), and Allegro. The schematic symbol and PCB footprint stay linked across all four, and no plugin is needed.
What is the difference between the package outline and the land pattern?
The package outline describes the physical part: body, leads, and pitch. The land pattern describes the copper it solders to, with pads deliberately larger than the leads to form proper toe, heel, and side fillets. Footprints must be built from the land pattern, not the outline.
Is it free?
A free signed-in account includes 10 generation units a month, with Pro at 30 and Max at 70. It runs in the browser with nothing to install.
Making one part is the small version of the problem. The free ProtoFlow desktop app generates whole schematics from a plain-English description, imports real LCSC, DigiKey, and Mouser components, runs ERC and DRC, and exports native KiCad projects.
Download for DesktopRelated
- KiCad Footprint Generator
- KiCad Symbol Generator
- Ultra Librarian alternative
- Free PCB footprint libraries
Last reviewed: 2026-08-09
