WHY2025

KiCad for Beginners
2025-08-09 , Electronics (Hardware Hacking Village)
Language: English

Learn to make your own PCBs with KiCad, a free and open source tool that anyone can learn.
Bring your own computer, ideally also a mouse
Please install KiCad9 before the workshop
KiCad8 or even KiCad7 are also acceptable if your distro does not have KiCad9


Bring your own computer, ideally also a mouse
Please install KiCad9 before the workshop

KiCad8 or even KiCad7 are also acceptable if your distro does not have KiCad9
Linux users can also go for a FlatPak install of KiCad
Most distros have extra packages for the library, sometimes they are not installed automatically. Make sure you have them as well (does not apply to Windows or Mac users)
- kicad-symbols
- kicad-footprints
- kicad-packages3D

The workshop consist of 15-20 minutes introduction and demo, then you will replicate the demo

A handout will help you to remember all the steps
Experienced KiCad users will be there to answer all your questions
At the end of the workshop you will have designed a functional PCB

It will teach you how to
- create a schematic drawing
- assign physical components (footprints)
- place them on the board
- layout (routing) of the board
- ordering
- and various bit and tricks
It will not include electronics design stuff. We focus on the usage of the software

The handout for the workshop can be found here: https://gitlab.com/evils/kicad-workshop/-/blob/main/handout.pdf (you don't need to prepare it, I will bring plenty of copies)

Workshop given by cpresser