Edit object position according origin by editing properties

Asked by szymon

I have following situation, I have pcb design, let it have dimensiong 50x50mm. I would like to put one component (like LED or connector) on the center of one dimensions. In other EDA tools I usually move origin point to one corner of my pcb, put component somewhere near to half of size of board and then change in its properties one of position dimensions to 25mm. How can I do this trick in KiCAD?

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Lorenzo Marcantonio (l-marcantonio) said :
#1

On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 08:46:03AM -0000, elektryk wrote:
> I have following situation, I have pcb design, let it have dimensiong 50x50mm. I would like to put one component (like LED or connector) on the center of one dimensions. In other EDA tools I usually move origin point to one corner of my pcb, put component somewhere near to half of size of board and then change in its properties one of position dimensions to 25mm. How can I do this trick in KiCAD?

Use the spacebar to zero at the origin and move with the mouse. With
a good grid (you can set the grid origin too) it's even faster than
typing the value.

--
Lorenzo Marcantonio
Logos Srl

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szymon (szymon123) said :
#2

Yes, I know the spacebar-tool, it is very usefull when used with mouse, but there are many cases when manually typing component position will be faster and easier. For example defining holes or other case dependant features like buttons, LEDs, connectors. I do not trust the mouse will put them exactly where I want.

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Lorenzo Marcantonio (l-marcantonio) said :
#3

On Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 10:15:59AM -0000, szymon wrote:
> features like buttons, LEDs, connectors. I do not trust the mouse will
> put them exactly where I want.

Look at the status bar. The dx dy fields are *exactly* where the stuff
will be put. Zoom in if necessary. It's not a trust issue, the numbers
are there (simply you can't type them in directly)

--
Lorenzo Marcantonio
Logos Srl

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szymon (szymon123) said :
#4

Yes, and not, dx/dy show where exacly origin point of component will be put, but for different project ussually different specific point of component (like pad, or screw hole, or axis of symmetry) must be put on specific location. In other EDA software I was just used to put origin at required position and type in object properties number calculated in memory, then I could check if the properties of this specific point really hit the origin. For me this operations were quick, simple and easy to check if components is located at the correct position.

This option is very usefull, but it still does not convince me, that playing with zoom, grid and mouse is faster than typing two numerical values. Probably I will get used to use calculator to add some offset to calculated position. Just treat my response like voice that this option may be usefull to be added in the future.

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