Importing kicad symbols/footprints

Help
1

Hello all

I have just started using LibrePCB (about 60m ago). I have a set of KiCAD symbols/footprints that I would like to import. The set is from here: https://files.seeedstudio.com/wiki/XIAO_WiFi/Resources/Seeeduino-XIAO-ESP32C3-KiCAD-Library.zip

I cannot figure out:

  • How to import KiCAD from the library manager

OR, if KiCAD import is not supported

  • How to convert the library to LibrePCB format. This thread mentions a tool, but I cannot find this tool anywhere.

OR, if that tool is not available

  • I cannot figure out how to create my own symbols/footprints. Is there an editor that I have to download separately?

OR, if it has to be done via editing files

  • I cannot find a link describing the file format for symbols+footprints.

Warm Regards,
Lee

2

That tool was a perl script that only worked with an older version of the kicad library. It doesn’t work with the current version

3

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate that.

For now I have (reluctantly) moved back to KiCAD for the current project (Client is on a timeline).

Now, maybe I have missed it in the forums, but is there anywhere that the LibrePCB file formats are defined? When I have the time, I wouldn’t mind taking a quick whack at producing usable (even if not perfect) symbols and footprints from a KiCAD file.

I had a quick look at some library files in KiCAD and library files in LibrePCB; they both use s-expressions as the textual representation of the data structures (which is great, for me anyway!) but an exhaustive list of types, keywords, etc is necessary to produce the correct datastructures.

For KiCAD I will have to ask on their forums (or search the net, or something) but if LibrePCB has a document prescribing the s-expressions that sort of halves the work.

Warm Regards
Lee

4

Please take a look here:
https://librepcb.org/docs/quickstart/create-library-elements/

no need to do manual editing of any files.

5

Creating the LibrePCB files was easy once you parsed the kicad files. My problem was that the old kicad files were easy to parse but the new s-format would need a complete rewrite.
Other problems were that kicad parameters were not always consistent. A solution would get 95% of the symbols but then needed extra coding to figure out the rest. The big problem is that LibrePCB can do a closed polygon and turn any side into an arc. Kicad can’t do that. Look in kicads library for a 74ls02 nor gate to see how they do their fill. It is ugly.

LibrePCBs library does need a lot of work. Can we get some volunteers to help ?

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