kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Chris Pavlina <pavlina.chris@xxxxxxxxx>]

I don't see any reason why values on *.Fab shouldn't exceed the size of 
the package. Also, printing values on the silkscreen is something that 
is only ever done by a small handful of hobbyists. When was the last 
time you saw a real PCB with values on the silk? It looks ugly and 
serves little purpose. You can print out the *.Fab layers to get a value 
listing for assembly if you like.

I disagree *100%* that it's more intuitive to set them visible than to 
change layer. What's so hard about changing the layer? You even do it in 
the same place!

What I *do* think is that a way to move them *all* to a layer in batch 
would be very, very helpful. KiCad really needs more batch tools in 
general. And no, not just Python, not everybody who makes a PCB is a 
software developer.

On Thu, Sep 03, 2015 at 08:06:55PM +0200, nnn wrote:
> Some time ago after short discussion on librarians mailing list it was
> decided to change default reference and value fields of footprints and move
> values to F.Fab layer.
> I think it was bad decision. I'm asking here to get more opinions.
> 
> Full names of components can be long and their length is unpredictable so
> it's hard to set size of value so that it's not extending footprints outline
> and isn't smaller that necessary.
> It's better to have footprints outline with refdes within on F.Fab (IPC
> calls it "assembly") - it's quite common (this kind of documentation can be
> found in service manuals) and it's extremely helpful with hand soldering,
> servicing, measurements when silkscreen isn't (it may be incomplete or ugly
> when miniaturization requires it)
> Also there is need to keep values on silkscreen because sometimes it's good
> to have them printed on a board. Before changes user could select "force
> plotting of invisible values/references", now it's broken. It's also common
> to have selected values on a board and it's more intuitive to set them
> visible than to change layer.
> 
> Do you agree? Can I move values back to silkscreen? Can I also add %R on
> F.Fab and start adding assembly outline to libraries (examples attached)?



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