Kicad/Introduction

Introduction edit

The KiCAD suite is a group of programs for schematics and PCBs that is available for the following operating systems:

  • FreeBSD
  • GNU/Linux
  • Mac OS X -- Installing on Mac OS
  • Most unix-like operating systems
  • Microsoft Windows

Programs edit

The following programs are delivered with the Kicad EDA Suite:

The software package includes:

  • KiCad - the project manager program that facilitates the use of all the other programs.
  • Eeschema - Schematic editor used to draw schematics
  • Pcbnew - PCB editor used to layout PCBs; generates the production files (Gerber files)
  • Cvpcb - Associate schematic components with physical modules (packages/padlayout) for placement on the PCB.
  • Gerbview - Visualize Gerber files.
  • Bitmap2Component - Convert bitmaps into symbols or footprints.
  • PCB Calculator - Calculator around PCB issues.

Further reading edit