KiCad Blog

Speedrun

KiCad[0] is an open source tool for electronics CAD/EDA [1]. You will use it to create a schematic in the schematics editor, assign a "footprint" [2a] to each component (that's the size and shape of a components) and then import it into the PCB editor to lay these components out. The board outline goes onto the Edge.Cuts layer, the traces [2b] onto the copper layers, e.g. F.Cu for the front layer and B.Cu for the backside layer. You will also place your components on these outer layers (You won't need inner layers for a while). You can switch your traces between layers using a "via" [3].

Generate Gerber and drill files then using the "Plot" dialog, zip them and upload them to a service like JLCPCB [4] (very cheap!), OSHPark [5], PCBWay [6], e.g. Aisler [7] if your based in Europe. I'd choose leadfree HASL [8] as surface finish. It's cheaper then ENIG and perfectly fine for the beginning.

If you are fine with soldering, then source the parts from e.g. Mouser [9] or Digikey [10] and solder them yourself. That will save you the trouble of having to generate a list of which parts go where for the manufacturer. Make sure you order the parts with exactly the footprint that you put on the PCB.

Start small, ideally with a circuits that you already know that it works. This way you can concentrate on getting the details of the PCB manufacturing process right.

[0] https://www.kicad.org/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_design_automation

[2a]…

In 2021, I would not recommend using proprietary EDA software and locking yourself into a single board house.

For most purposes, you can use the free KiCad EDA package ( https://kicad.org/ ) combined with a standard PCB vendor like OSH Park ( https://oshpark.com/#services ) or JLCPCB ( https://jlcpcb.com/ )

If you need boards urgently, OSH Park offers a quick turn 2-layer service, JLCPCB offers expedited service and shipping, or you can check a service like PCBShopper to view multiple PCB providers: https://pcbshopper.com/

It's not a good idea to lock yourself and your designs into proprietary systems when the alternatives are cheaper and, in the case of KiCAD, almost certainly superior.

It's always good to have more options, but I'd want to see Patchr.io become more transparent (please show pricing without forcing me to create an account first). I'm also highly skeptical of any proprietary EDA software that advertises a 30-day free trial in the era of KiCAD. KiCAD isn't at the level of professional EDA tools yet, but it's more than capable for most designs.

KiCad EDA - https://kicad.org

KiCad is a popular open-source EDA tool used by engineers and designers across the globe. We're always open to contributions from experienced C++ developers, especially those who are also familiar with the world of electrical engineering / PCB design. Check out our developer landing page[1] to find the developers email list and contribution guides. We accept merge requests on GitLab[2] and try to keep a number of lower-scope issues tagged starter [3] for new developers to take on.

We're currently in our annual feature freeze as we focus on stabilizing features added in the past year and squashing bugs ahead of our planned 9.0 release at the end of January. Any help testing the nightly builds and surfacing bugs to fix is appreciated as well as actual bug-fixing!

[1] https://dev-docs.kicad.org/en/getting-started/index.html

[2] https://gitlab.com/kicad

[3] https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad/-/issues/?label_name[]=starter

Maybe your use of Linux is limited to those things that happen to work. As far as I understand, Wayland is deliberately incomplete and a number of problems people have stem from design decisions.

Kicad, e.g., reports problems related to this. To quote https://www.kicad.org/blog/2025/06/KiCad-and-Wayland-Support/

> These problems exist because Wayland’s design omits basic functionality that desktop applications for X11, Windows and macOS have relied on for decades—things like being able to position windows or warp the mouse cursor. This functionality was omitted by design, not oversight.

Wayland might work for your or my personal selection of work cases, and currently my stance is "when it's done it's done, let's wait and see". But it might also end Linux support for entire classes of software and use cases.

Given "AI" is over 50% of all content now, even if you flip a coin chances are pretty good some article contains slop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrTrOCQZoQE

The Ubuntu repositories curate both the legacy and more modern logisim fork:

sudo apt-get install logisim

sudo snap install logisim-evolution

Microcap 12 is also still available from the archive.org web cache, was made free, and runs in Wine64 just fine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20230214034946/http://www.spectrum-soft.com/download/download.shtm

Microcap will handle both Analog and Digital simulations.

KiCad now also supports Spice, and reports it should import the free LTSpice libraries. I have yet to find a use case for the kicad sim option... so YMMV.

https://www.kicad.org/discover/spice/

Best of luck, =3

Powerful permissions are needed for powerful apps.

I don't know about this particular issue, but for example, KiCAD has multiple issues with wayland being overly protective: [0]. For example KiCAD needs the ability to move cursor to provide good user experience. KiCAD needs the ability to move and place windows wherever it likes. KiCAD needs to control focus. KiCAD needs to prevent OpenGL throttling on inactive windows. These issues led KiCAD developers to reduce support for Wayland configurations to a bare minimum.

So it's a delicate balance for operating systems to both allow powerful apps to implement complicated UI and to prevent badly written apps to do inconvenient things.

[0]: https://www.kicad.org/blog/2025/06/KiCad-and-Wayland-Support/