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How to install KiCad in Ubuntu

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To install KiCad in Ubuntu

KiCad is an open source software used to capture and design the printed electronic circuit boards. This inbuilt tool allows the user to create a bill of materials, artwork, Gerber files, and 3D views of the PCB and its respective components. Installation of KiCad in Ubuntu is explained in this article.

Features

  • Integrated designing environment
  • Supports all Linux distributions
  • Well documented configuration files
  • Supports multiple languages

Installation of KiCad

First add the KiCad repo by using “ add-apt-repository” command.

root@linuxhelp:~# add-apt-repository ppa:js-reynaud/kicad-4
 This ppa provide a daily build for KiCad 4.0 branch (lp:kicad/4.0).
 More info: https://launchpad.net/~js-reynaud/+archive/ubuntu/kicad-4
Press [ENTER] to continue or ctrl-c to cancel adding it

gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmp2mw_z676/secring.gpg'  created
gpg: keyring `/tmp/tmp2mw_z676/pubring.gpg'  created
gpg: requesting key 910F124E from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: /tmp/tmp2mw_z676/trustdb.gpg: trustdb created
gpg: key 910F124E: public key " Launchpad PPA for j2010"  imported
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)
OK


Update the added repo by using the following command.

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get update
Hit:1 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security InRelease              
Hit:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net/atareao/sunflower/ubuntu xenial InRelease       
Hit:4 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates InRelease      
Hit:5 http://in.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-backports InRelease     
Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/dhor/myway/ubuntu xenial InRelease        
Hit:7 http://ppa.launchpad.net/djcj/hybrid/ubuntu xenial InRelease
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Hit:20 http://ppa.launchpad.net/teejee2008/ppa/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Hit:21 http://ppa.launchpad.net/wereturtle/ppa/ubuntu xenial InRelease
Get:22 http://ppa.launchpad.net/js-reynaud/kicad-4/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages [5,644 B]
Get:23 http://ppa.launchpad.net/js-reynaud/kicad-4/ubuntu xenial/main i386 Packages [5,632 B]
Get:24 http://ppa.launchpad.net/js-reynaud/kicad-4/ubuntu xenial/main Translation-en [1,852 B]
Fetched 30.7 kB in 3s (7,792 B/s)
Reading package lists... Done


Now its time to install the KiCad by using “ apt-get install” command.

root@linuxhelp:~# apt-get install kicad
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following additional packages will be installed:
  kicad-doc-en kicad-library libboost-context1.58.0 libboost-thread1.58.0
  python-wxgtk3.0 python-wxversion
Suggested packages:
  extra-xdg-menus kicad-demo kicad-locale-ko | kicad-locale-ru
  | kicad-locale-pl | kicad-locale-pt | kicad-locale-ja | kicad-locale-id
  | kicad-locale-ca | kicad-locale-it | kicad-locale-el | kicad-locale-zh
  | kicad-locale-de | kicad-locale-sl | kicad-locale-cs | kicad-locale-bg
  | kicad-locale-sv | kicad-locale-lt | kicad-locale-fi | kicad-locale-fr
  | kicad-locale-hu | kicad-locale-nl | kicad-locale-es | kicad-locale-sk
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  kicad kicad-doc-en kicad-library libboost-context1.58.0
  libboost-thread1.58.0 python-wxgtk3.0 python-wxversion
0 upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 56 not upgraded.
Need to get 114 MB/120 MB of archives.
After this operation, 918 MB of additional disk space will be used.
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Setting up libboost-thread1.58.0:amd64 (1.58.0+dfsg-5ubuntu3.1) ...
Setting up libboost-context1.58.0:amd64 (1.58.0+dfsg-5ubuntu3.1) ...
Setting up python-wxversion (3.0.2.0+dfsg-1build1) ...
Setting up python-wxgtk3.0 (3.0.2.0+dfsg-1build1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/lib/wx/python/wx3.0.pth to provide /usr/lib/wx/python/wx.pth (wx.pth) in auto mode
Setting up kicad (4.0.3+e1-6302~38~ubuntu16.04.1) ...
Setting up kicad-doc-en (4.0.3+e1+1108~16~ubuntu16.04.1) ...
Setting up kicad-library (4.0.2-0+596~2~ubuntu16.04.1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu3) ...

Open the installed software from the terminal or Unity dash. Type KiCad in the search bar and click on the displayed application.

search_kicad

At first, blank page will appear as shown below.

Blank_space

To create new project, click on File option in menu bar and then select “ new project” .

New_Project

Type the file name and click on save option.

create_new_project

Confirmation prompt will display to save empty project. Click on Yes option.

Project_confirmation

Now the first project page will appear as given below.

project_page

Here double click on the .sch file to view menu.

view_menu

Start designing the own project.

design_own_project

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Frequently asked questions ( 5 )

Q

How to check the version of kicad?

A

You can find the KiCad version information in the About KiCad go to application > About kicad. On Linux, go to Help > About. then check your kicad application version.

Q

How to remove KiCad application??

A

# apt-get remove kicad

Q

Where should i install the libs?

A

KiCad holds the information about installed libs in so called fp-lib-table files. There is a global fp-lib-table located in the home directory of the user. Linus: ~/.config/kicad/fp-lib-tabl

Q

How do I output other netlist formats?

A

have a NetList plugin system. eeschema creates a generic (intermediate) NetList output (generic list of components, list of pins and list of nets). The plugin reads this generic file and creates the new NetList format, and eeschema can run automatically this plugin

Q

How do I copy and paste from one schematic to another?

A

To copy a block from a schematic, open your previous schematic, select the block to copy and in pop-up menu (right click), and choose Save Block (or delete block but DO NOT SAVE YOUR OLD SCHEMATIC).

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