Every package of software suite comes with an amount of collateral applications, extensions and/or libraries.
KiCad does the same; but sometimes default components aren't enough for specific goals.
Thanks to KiCad's popularity people around the world spent some of their time to enrich the base: so that you can find useful libraries or scheme directly for free on websites. Here some of them (in my opinion the most important):
- KiCADlib.org;
- kicadlibraries.com (contains material for LTSpice too, for electrical circuits analysis);
- ohsec (libraries converted from Eagle to KiCad);
- smisioto (old but good).
Now think you don't find component you need among default and external or third-part libraries.
Two main solutions show to yourself:
- desperation, with profession abandon or change;
- design your own.
Second is my favourite, even because KiCad (like its cousins) has an internal editor!
When we talk about component ready to use, we intend the schematic bound to the pcb corresponding; they are united.
Here we'll see two ways to design a component: first from scratch, second from a component.
[If you felt here without any previous knowledge about KiCad, i recommend to take a look to Part 1 and Part 2, where Schematic and PCBnew are shown and explained]
Let's begin!
Open KiCad - no need to start a new project, for our practice - ; launch EESchema (Schematic editor) and then the Library editor.