copper_thief

Kicad Copper Thief Pattern Generator

This is a repo for a KiCad Plugin which converts a filled copper zone into an array of circular dots. This is a technique used to balance the chemical plating process. More detail here

Installation:

Updated for KiCad 9

Clone the repository into your local plugin folder for your KiCad major version:

• Linux: ~/.local/share/kicad/9.0/scripting/plugins/ (or 8.0)
• macOS: ~/Documents/KiCad/9.0/scripting/plugins/ (or 8.0)
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\KiCad\9.0\scripting\plugins\ (or 8.0)

Usage:

• Draw a zone and leave it unconnected to any net. (This allows the zone to create unconnected copper fills). For now only single-layer zones are supported
• Set the zone name to "thieving".
• Select the zone
• Click on the Copper Thief icon
• Set the separation and dot diameter parameters, the thieving pattern, and if the zone you created can be deleted by the script
• Go!

WARNING:

Currently only single-layer zones are supported, script will crash for multi-layer zones. Draw separate zones for each layer where you want to add dots

Note: Due to This Bug The resultant dots are not shown until the board is saved and the board reloaded. - Fixed in KiCAD 7