KiCAD Quick-Start Tutorial

[@dougalan5614]

Not only is this a great tutorial video on KiCad, but an example of how a tutorial video should be made. Unobtrusive background music, good pacing, professional looking edits, and an enthusiastic and clear narration. A cracking experience all'round!

[@trungdoanhoang9541]

i 'm reakky want to create working background like you .. Could you give me instruction to set up it ? Thank you !!!

[@maxwang2537]

You said all I wanted to say. Can’t agree more. One good thing is, I’d like to watch this far more than one time. It’s so info dense and spot on!

[@ShaneDillingham]

This is one of the most well organized and speedy tutorials I have ever seen for Kicad. Thank you!

[@gavincurtis]

It helps when the software is well organized and a pleasure to use. KiCAD is amazing.

[@timucinbahsi445]

This is one of the most well organized and speedy tutorials I have ever seen period.

[@albertsandberg]

@@timucinbahsi445 true dat.

[@trungdoanhoang9541]

i 'm reakky want to create working background like you .. Could you give me instruction to set up it ? Thank you !!!

[@trungdoanhoang9541]

@@albertsandberg i 'm reakky want to create working background like you .. Could you give me instruction to set up it ? Thank you !!!

[@Sembiance]

Just have to say that this was the BEST TUTORIAL VIDEO I've ever watched. I was a bit daunted by the multiple-part, multiple hour long Kicad videos others had and thought it would be super hard to learn. Your video zips right through things and was the perfect thing to help me design my first PCB! THANK YOU!!!!

[@keithjohnson4242]

Wow, thanks for actually creating a quick tutorial that lives up to the name. Most of the "quick" tutorials I've seen on KZbin play out more along the lines of, "Before I begin... I want... to talk... about... the history... of... KiCAD...."

[@WindsorSchmidt]

I know exactly what you mean. You're welcome!

[@Cars0ndh]

Dude this was the best youtube tutorial I've ever seen. Thank you! I love that you don't waste any time or talk slow so I have to skip around to the useful parts.

[@Rob_65]

The best tutorial ever! Instead of skipping forward all the time, I keep skipping backward and re-watching to see what I missed. Also great in that this is excellent for people who are already using other packages (I used ultiboard, protel, eagle and altium) and I was just looking for an introduction how to create a board outline, route, change track width and some more. These 20+ minutes saved me a lot of clicking around. Thanks!

[@groovethaang]

That was really helpful - a quick breeze through before there's a risk of getting bogged down and overwhelmed in the detail of the learning process. Thank you.

[@geoffreygriffiths1487]

This is not a tutorial it is a demonstration. A tutorial enables the student to be able to complete a task, the pace here is to fast and glosses over the tools being used. Having said that this is a really good demonstration and has been very useful to me in that regard.

[@uwezimmermann5427]

Thanks a lot - I successfully ported my first project from Eagle to KiCAD while watching your video! After more than 20 years it's good-bye Eagle now!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Uwe, that's awesome! It really feels good to know that I can contribute to the KiCad community and help others. I'm still learning a lot about KiCad and Electronics in general. Thanks for the comment!

[@GlennHamblin]

Uwe Zimmermann Agreed.

[@benjaminanderson6597]

this is one of the best tutorials I have ever seen. Please make more tutorials!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Thanks, I really appreciate the positive comments here! I don't have any other ideas for tutorials. KiCad is approaching a new stable release, so maybe an update to this video is due soon.

[@JonahTrojek]

Man, this video edit is ahead of its time. Normally when you watch some old tutorials they look a bit like shit, but this video is really good, even after 7 years. Thanks for your work, it helped me a lot.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

LOL no problem, and thank you, I'm glad it was helpful!! Don't forget, vesion 7.x is out, and KiCad has improved immensely since this video was posted.

[@shingabiss]

Very well done. I'm a long time Orcad and Pads user and these are strikingly close to both, which is great. This tutorial was presented well for mid level users and above, not needing to cover the already known basics of schematic capture and pcb layout.

[@sciencoking]

From downloading the software to ordering my first boards in two hours with only this video. Now that's what I call a tutorial!

[@te0nani]

Thanks to you I'm now 100% done with 2,54mm to SMD adapter boards. Great tutorial, I didn't realize what this program is capable of before. Now i can finally make boards for all my circuits.

[@JK360noscope]

A speedy tutorial - fully comprehensive with some bonus content too! Best 20 minutes spent on KZbin thus far!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Thanks for the compliment! KiCad has really improved in the year since I posted this video. Time to make another one!

[@RaigonZelo]

Great pacing. Most tutorials force me to tap the right key to speed up the pace but you were really concise and fast. I hope you do more of these in the future, there needs to be more fast paced tutorials out there.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Thanks! I felt the same way about pacing, that's part of why I made this. :D I'll do another when I have time; hopefully soon.

[@AvinashChaure5922]

The best PCB design tutorial I have seen yet. Very glad because of this I designed my first board (as per instructions.) Thank you.

[@warnerlosh]

I've been reading schematics from the hardware guys for years. Was able to puzzle through creating one of my own for simple project that I had going on, but was at a total loss for how to turn that into something I could send out to a fab to get made so I could make my thing. This tutorial helped me get a nice mental road map for how to get things done. There's still a ton of stuff for me to learn before I have gerbers to send out, but now I know what I don't know and know how to learn it. A wonderful return for 20 minutes of watching...

[@FernandoMumbach]

I've been watching some tutorials for kicad, and this is the most speedy yet to-the-point and easy-to-understand one. It even shows some keybinds! That shows you use this tool a lot and really know what you're talking about : )

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Fernando Mumbach my pleasure. Thanks for the compliment!

[@kubix200prod]

This is one of the best and most substantive tutorials I've ever seen, great job.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Thank you!

[@cheaterman49]

Hahaha, so many years after first watching this video, so much electronics I've done since, yet this is still what I recommend to people wanting to learn KiCAD :-) really excellent tutorial!

[@msyrjala]

I just hated video tutorials due to wasting time and not being thought through, but that was until I saw this. Great work, followed the video and got my first board drawn right away!

[@rebelScience]

This is awesome. Just proves you can do all the work on open software like this. I am on Linux full-time for more then 6 month now. No Windows partitions. Programming robotics and IoT. Linux has all the tools and they work amazing.

[@vincentghd7325]

Quick thank you for that exhaustive, short and perfectly paced tutorial. Really made my day !

[@ManchesterBlackSheep]

Great tutorial, really useful and helpful for someone who knows how to use CAD, but wants to get started with kicad. Thank you very much for taking the time to make it. Your comments, excitement at the system and humming etc made me smile! :D

[@WindsorSchmidt]

+ManchesterBlackSheep Haha, I don't even get embarrassed about my compulsive enthusiasm anymore. Thanks for the positive feedback, I really appreciate it!

[@RFGSwiss]

Thanks for this tutorial. Very clear, no unnecessary stuff, friendly voice. Perfect!

[@jeffbisscrx]

I decided to get back into engineering, I had used Ivex WinDraft and WinBoard a long time ago to create my schematics and boards for an embedded system, and so searched for similar tools and stumbled onto KiCAD. I am very pleasantly surprised, you saved me from using the XP VM in Windows 7 to use the Ivex apps! Also, thank you for the video! I also hope to help out the community by submitting parts and footprints.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

+Jeff Biss you're welcome! I made this video because my roommate is using an old tool called Tango for PCBs and I wanted to target an audience familiar with EDA tools, but new to KiCad. Glad I could help.

[@mitchdavis3279]

Wow, I'm definitely going to be pointing people to this video! Your demo takes all the "it's too hard" out of KiCad.

[@trungdoanhoang9541]

i 'm reakky want to create working background like you .. Could you give me instruction to set up it ? Thank you !!!

[@hardwareful]

The time is NOW for KiCAD tutorials! "So you're fed up with Eagle - here's how to get started with KiCAD" !!

[@JK360noscope]

Eagle is OVER. Autodesk will rue the day

[@gavincurtis]

KiCAD library system SUCKS! Who designed it this way and why are they not at the bottom of a river somewhere?

[@trungdoanhoang9541]

i 'm reakky want to create working background like you .. Could you give me instruction to set up it ? Thank you !!!

[@joeysr20det4454]

Thanks for a most excellent demo. I was able to fully build out a PCB using just this 20 minute video! Thanks man!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

No problem! Happy to help.

[@Perezosos309]

Thks for the video. Is amazingly helpful. In only 20 min you have enough knowledge of KidCad to make a circuit ready for manufacture! well done

[@paretech5528]

I appreciate the fast paced nature of your information. Others, please take note. Bonus points for using Awesome WM!

[@rustyzipperband]

I wish I had come across this tutorial first. Good job. This program so far is a piece of cake! Much easier than I had anticipated. I’ve only been using it for a week and I’m getting really quick at it. Hopefully the pcb design is gonna be as easy.

[@douglarue8485]

Thank you very much for this. We needed a small board for an Arduino Pro Mini LoRaWAN node and with your video I was able to build a board. I will try cutting it on an Other Mill tonight. Thanks again for the quick and precise walk-thru.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Doug LaRue Awesome! I'm glad it helped. I am still learning a lot myself.

[@jasonnguyen3224]

one of the most soothing voices ever

[@trungdoanhoang9541]

i 'm reakky want to create working background like you .. Could you give me instruction to set up it ? Thank you !!!

[@shivas737]

The best tutorial video for beginners. Thank you KiCAD team.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Shivanand Saunshi thanks so much!

[@RobertMassaioli]

I just wanted to know what was possible in KiCAD and see how it should be used and this was super handy! Going to give it a better crack now.

[@TheLazyKey]

Same here. This video provides a great overview of KiCAD (well, as far as I can tell).

[@polymetric2614]

Allow me to introduce you to the HackRF and the DuetWifi. Both of these boards were completely designed in KiCad, and the project files are provided under an open source license. greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/ github.com/mossmann/hackrf/ www.duet3d.com/ github.com/T3P3/Duet

[@gordonmacpherson1218]

Thanks for your video @Windsor Schmidt it really helped me finish off a bit of work I was doing as I was an avid eagle user. Now finally moved to kicad with help of this single tutorial.

[@simonmerrett]

Thank you for covering so much ground in such a straightforward and succint way!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

You're welcome!

[@790Lexx]

Excellent, quick and enough info to get going fast...

[@keithnoneya]

Nice to be what can be done with KiCAD. A little fast for me as a newbie, but I can watch it multiple times and pick out what I need. Thanks for sharing. Best Wishes n Blessings. Keith Noneya

[@cheaterman49]

This is excellent - got me started to KiCAD and now I'm doing awesome electronics stuff for my company. It would be worth creating a follow up video with a demonstration of the interactive router. Thanks a lot for the tutorial!

[@RajaRajan-yc6uh]

This is the best tutorial available, thanks a lot for the short one!!

[@carlossless]

Great tutorial. In 20mins from nothing to full schematic and pcb.

[@idogendel]

Thank you! I just started learning about PCB design, and this tutorial made things clearer and easier than I thought.

[@andymouse]

I used your vid to get going with Kicad, thanks!.....It's got even better now !

[@WindsorSchmidt]

I'm glad it helped you! This tutorial was done with KiCad 4. Maybe after version 6 drops (this year?) I can do a revision.

[@andymouse]

@@WindsorSchmidt please!

[@Project23D]

excellent tutorial, indeed. This one covered in enough detail to be very dangerous, and, one of the most organized. The video quality is great, and the voice is well synced and level-ed.

[@timc2219]

just what I was looking for- great example of start-to finish- i havent even opened the program yet, this should help a lot :) thanks!

[@montymintypie]

Been using Altium for ages (thanks uni!), but it's time to move on and go completely OSS. This tutorial has me convinced!

[@nacefsofiene4828]

think you very much...very good tutorial..quick and concentrated...you have a talent to do good tutorials...please add some more..detailed ones from beginning to finish...it will be the best..

[@MrGnidlih]

Thank you for your work, I really liked that you included how to create your own component.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

+Ake Hilding no problem. It was fun making the video!

[@davidhudd5777]

Great introduction. I will have a closer look at KiCad now.

[@elijahpuga3501]

Speedy tutorials are the best! Good job. 👍👍👍

[@jerril42]

Good video, quick and clear. I would have liked to see some edits of on lower layer and usinf vias, but I think I can explor and figure it out. Thanks.

[@theaddies]

Echoing the comments below, this is fantastic. Thank you very much.

[@crumpet_]

You just helped me finish my first build! Excellent tutorial, thank you very much

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Jack Walsh happy to help!

[@nosuchthing4789]

Simple and straightforward! Thank you very much!

[@jemstanners1117]

How every tutorial should be. About Kicad, not about the presenter LOL. Full marks!

[@adynizamani]

What a concise way to explain it! Thanks man!

[@Joe-bu2zr]

This was immensely helpful for a beginner, thank you.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

+Joe Beck No problem, thanks for the compliment!

[@javierv.5242]

Tip I got from another video: You can have the software automatically place the tracks for you to avoid having to do it by hand. I found it a bit tedious when I was doing it myself. The button is "Mode track: autorouting". It is at the top under the drop down menus, 3rd from the left on my version; click it and it should stay lit. Make sure you the mouse cursor is on (not on the add tracks and vias button). Right click on your PCB screen and select Autoroute > Automatically Route all Footprints

[@AlejandroThacker]

Great tutorial! Very clear and well synthesized. Thank you!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Thanks! Maybe it's time for a refresh now that KiCad 5 is out.

[@ferdaozturk9082]

@@WindsorSchmidt yessss its timeeee!!!!

[@PlaywithJunk]

A very good tutorial! I just started to make a PCB myself and this video helps me a lot. Thank you!!! :-)

[@andrew80s]

A truly excellent tutorial, thanks for posting.

[@brantwinter]

I spent 5mins with Autodesk Eagle and then deleted it, glad I did because KiCad is awesome ! Need to understand more about what you did with the vias and the design rules relating to ground planes.

[@antonmoric1469]

Wow, really outstanding job on all levels. Thanks so much!

[@kitanowitsch]

Great tutorial. Simple and clear.

[@davidmoore4788]

I would like to thank you and all who participated in the creation of KICAD. I`m a 50 year old hobbyist that simply doesn`t have thousand of dollars to get started. I`ve used EAGLE and its ok but, I`ve been nickel and dimed to death. To get 100 X 160 mm board. I`ll give my 200 American dollar to to CERN. THANKS AGAIN.

[@charlessci8464]

Excellent, concise video!

[@andymouse]

Nice, clear and to the point, hope you do more Kicad tutorials (damm those pesky library's)

[@yvanblom]

Clear, fast but nevertheless complete and extremely useful tutorial. Several clever hints! Thanks!

[@IanScottJohnston]

Really great video......just what i needed to speed learn Kicad basics. V6 is just out......be great if you could do same again for that new version.......i'm not sure how different it is now.

[@carlossless]

A tutorial including your best practices for custom footprint editing would be awesome!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Hi! I don't think I have enough experience yet to share any valuable best practices for footprints. However, it's certainly important to read through the KiCad library convention: github.com/KiCad/kicad-library/wiki/Kicad-Library-Convention

[@nicholashunt6293]

Extremely well done tutorial. Quick and to the point!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Thanks!

[@foofighter1933]

really nice tutorial, you got me trying kicad again. Thanks!

[@emagdali]

This dude really REALLY likes 3d modellings and black and white schematics :P

[@VexedPhoenix]

Great tutorial, thanks for taking the time to make this video.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

+Andrew Wright No problem! It's great to know that people find it useful.

[@uppalurisravanthi7277]

Excellent Vedio for starters in designing.. am exhiting to learn and using this tool ..thank you very much

[@katanaswordfish]

Great run-through of the basics! This video helped me a lot getting started with KiCAD. =]

[@qbitsday3438]

Excellent Tutorial ! PLease add some info on the units and measuring the sizes of board etc.-Thank you.

[@hayden867]

Solid tutorial!! Thank you

[@CVEGeek]

Good quick-start. Thanks

[@korra76]

Thanks for the great video!! I like Kicad so much!!!!

[@dogastus]

Very nice tutorial. Many thanks.

[@b3nnn92]

Awesome tutorial, keep up the good work!

[@Slot1Gamer]

THANKS TO THIS TUTORIAL, I AM A KICAD GOD!

[@WindsorSchmidt]

Oh yeah? :D Show us.

[@gavincurtis]

KiCAD is so intuitive and fun, anybody can be a KiCAD god. :)

[@ryujohn909]

Thank you so much and Gerv is good to see Gerber files.

[@junits15]

Great tutorial! Just finished making my first board!

[@derknistermann5613]

the most helpful video so far °^°

[@addisair2861]

perfect tutorial, nice and fast, thx!

[@debuti]

Awesome tutorial, looks like you've been working with kicad way long time

[@GatorCamForCnc]

Great video! Your skills are benefiting us all. Thank you! Something seems redundant to me: Even though you connected everything in the schematic (and created a netlist), you STILL need to connect them again with "traces" in the "pcb-board layout" tool? If so, why do you need connect them in the schematic? Also, I noticed that pin 7 label on the schematic changed magically at 7:13 to 8:20. (Maybe you just edited offscreen?)

[@oleandreasutstumo8413]

A quick start tutorial couldn't be any better! No fuzz, straight to the essentials. Is that the default colour theme for Linux builds?

[@WindsorSchmidt]

+Ole Andreas Utstumo Thanks for the compliment! I wanted the tutorial to live up to the title of "quick" and not waste time. There's always pause/rewind :D ... The color theme is affected by my GTK theme (system color theme); at the moment KiCad doesn't have many user settings to change the UI appearance on its own. If you scroll down the comments I posted a couple pictures showing light and dark color themes applied (link to comment: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHyWo3eef9aAq5I&lc=z120wb5qnv2vevas5231cd3g1qj3f1brt04).

[@oleandreasutstumo8413]

+Windsor Schmidt The colours of all the components, tracks, pads etc. in your KiCad setup look a lot more comfortable than my stock Ubuntu and Windows build. Neat stuff!

[@RichardEricCollins]

Thanks, helped me, a noob at this, to make a simple 8 led breakout. :)

[@larryslobster7881]

best tutorial ever. thx

[@DavidMichiels]

This was really helpful, thank you!

[@javierv.5242]

Thanks for the great tutorial! At 12:20 what are filled zones? i guess what are power and ground planes... sorry, this is my first PCB ever! do i need filled zones? my board is low voltage/power. thanks.

[@WindsorSchmidt]

javier v. Power & ground planes are a common use for zones, but you can assign the zone to any defined net/signal. You might want to do some research on your own to decide if you need to use filled zones a.k.a copper pours for your PCB. Even if you have a low power design, filled zones can be used for heat-sinking, easy current return on a ground plane, or they may be required if you need to deal with EMI regulations. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_pour Good luck!

[@DerTabak]

Wow, this was very informative and well explained, thanks.

[@Sizifus]

Concise video, introduces the core KiCAD functions in a clear and energetic manner. After watching this I can confidently build beginner PCB circuits. I don't get one thing though (this has more to do with the electronics, rather than the tutorial itself) - where are the routes to the 3.3V? Is that why you used the copper filling on the front side?

[@jobarjo78]

3.3v and gnd are nets like any other. On the schematics they are connected on multiple pins. fillings for both power supply nets is a common practice in pcb design, this allows both large currents and shielding. It is also a common practice to have dedicated layers for power (4 layers or more)

[@Sizifus]

@@jobarjo78 Got it, thanks!

[@MrWaalkman]

Excellent tutorial!