KiCad

Silkscreen filled area in BRD $MODULE

Asked by CJlano

Hello,

Is it possible to make a filled zone in a KiCad module?
I am creating logos for my boards as KiCad modules. I would like to have filled areas in silkscreen to "paint" my logo. I know that "Bitmap2Component" can do it but the result can be huge and not easily editable.

I managed to do a silkscreen filled zone in PCBNew, using the "Add filled zone" button after selecting the silkscreen layer. But it seems not to be possible in the module editor.

The KiCad file format http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~kicad-developers/kicad/doc/view/head:/doc/help/file_formats/file_formats.pdf (recently updated :-) ) does not talk about $ZONE nor $CZONE_OUTLINE / $POLYSCORNERS for $MODULE.

So I wonder if it is possible at all, if not why not, or if it might be possible in future versions. What as the technical limitations of such feature?

Thanks!

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Lorenzo Marcantonio (l-marcantonio) said : 		#1

On Tue, Mar 05, 2013 at 05:11:12PM -0000, CJlano wrote:
> So I wonder if it is possible at all, if not why not, or if it might be possible in future versions. What as the technical limitations of such feature?

No, at the moment it's not possible. I think there is no really serious
technical issue preventing it, it's just not implemented (also a solid
fill in a module wasn't asked anyway...)

--
Lorenzo Marcantonio
Logos Srl

Revision history for this message
CJlano (cjlano) said : 		#2

According to comments in bug #1147455 it is possible to make filled polygon for component in silkscreen. This was just not documented.

As JP Charras suggested, I had a look at demos/interf_u/image.mod and found the "filled polygon" syntax. Here is a sample:

DP 0 0 0 0 5 1 21
Dl -3783 4516
Dl -3766 -4466
Dl 3850 -4483
Dl -3800 -4500
Dl -3783 4516

The KiCad file format at http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~kicad-developers/kicad/doc/view/head:/doc/help/file_formats/file_formats.pdf has been updated since, and here is the polygon documentation:
------
3.10.3.4 - Polygon:

DP 0 0 0 0 corners_count width layer Draw Polygon
First line of a polygon.
The polygon should be closed, otherwise this is a poly-line.
width is the thickness of outlines.

Dl corner_posx corner_posy Corner coordinate (corners_count lines like this)
------

Problem solved!