kicad-laser-stencil-plugin

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kicad-laser-stencil-plugin

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KiCAD Pcbnew plugin to generat laser cutter GCode files for solder paste stencils

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# G-Code Laser Stencil Generator for KiCAD PCBs
 
KiCAD Pcbnew plugin to generat laser cutter G-Code files for solder paste stencils

![Screenshot](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ma-ha/kicad-laser-stencil-plugin/main/screen.png)

Generated G-Code files:

* `<NAME>_F_Edge.gcode`: Front side stencil border (laser off): for adjusting the position of the stencil
* `<NAME>_F.gcode`: Front side stencil containing border markings and footprint cuttings
* `<NAME>_B_Edge.gcode`: Back side stencil border
* `<NAME>_B.gcode`: Back side stencil cutting

The plugin is based on the awesome [iBom plugin](https://github.com/openscopeproject/InteractiveHtmlBom) code.

# Installation
## KiCad 5.1.x
Copy the whole `laser-stencil` folder (including all files and sub-folders) into your KiCAD plugin directory.

* Windows
  * `%APPDATA%\kicad\scripting\plugins`
  * (e.g. `C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\kicad\scripting\plugins`)

* Linux
  * `~/.kicad/scripting/plugins` or
  * `~/.kicad_plugins`

* MacOS
  * `~/Library/Application Support/kicad/scripting/plugins`
  * or on newer versions: `~/Library/Preferences/kicad/scripting/plugins`

Restart of Pcbnew.

The plugin icon should appear in the tool bar.

## KiCad 6

Plugin directory canged! 
If you open Pcb Editor and "Tool" menu > "External Plugins" > "Open Plugin Directory", 
you will see where KiCad is searching for plugins. 
Please copy the `laser-stencil` folder to this dir.

For **Linux**, installation should be like:

git clone https://github.com/ma-ha/kicad-laser-stencil-plugin.git
    cd kicad-laser-stencil-plugin
    cp -r laser-stencil ~/.local/share/kicad/6.0/scripting/plugins
    
On **Windows** install works for me like this:
- Clone or Download this repository as Zip file and extract it
- Copy the folder `laser-stencil` with Ctrl-C
- In Explorer navigate to the KiCad installation folder, e.g. `C:/Program Files/KiCad/6.0`
- Navigate to `share/kicad/scripting/plugins`
- Paste the `laser-stencil` folder into the plugins folder with Ctrl-V
- In the PCB Editor open the "Tools" Menu, there the "External Plugins" and click "Refresh Plugins"

# Config

Not all configuration parameters are in the dialog. 
To change these defaults, open the dialog, click "Save current settings" and
edit the "stencil-config.ini" text file in the plugin folder.

These settings are available only via config file:
* laser_x_width (defauly=0.08)
* laser_y_width (default=0.08)
* laser_border_speed (default=200)

To reset settings, just delete the respective config lines or the whole file.

# TODO

* support other than "rect" and "roundrect" pads 
* make "roundrect" with rounded corners, not simply rectangular
* clean up non used code
* test on other than Ubuntu (sorry, no Win or Mac here)

# Feedback welcome

Please feel free to create a GitHub "issue" for feature requests, issues or questions.

# License

kicad-laser-stencil-plugin

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