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4ms-kicad-lib

Intro:

4ms-kicad-lib is a collection of symbol and footprint libraries for KiCad 10. These libraries were created by and for people working at 4ms Company. We share them publicly in hopes they help others design great circuits. Have fun.

There are also some legacy symbol libraries for KiCad 5.1.x in symbols-legacy, but they will not be updated or maintained, and they aren't included in the KiCad Plugin and Content Manager archive.

We tried to follow the KiCad Library Conventions, although we made breaks from that where it made sense. We also tried to keep the look and feel of the official KiCad symbols, to make using this library and the official KiCad libraries seamless.

What's in here:

Libraries (KiCad PCM archive):

symbols: The symbol library (schematic symbols). As of May 2020, we have switched to using a unique symbol for each physical component that might appear on a BOM line.

footprints: The footprint library (pcb). Library names tend to follow the standard of the official KiCad .pretty libraries, but with a "4ms_" prefix. One interesting library is the 4ms_Faceplate.pretty: these are intended to be used with our faceplate generation scripts. Each component is a hole or slot that's the correct size for a particular faceplate-mounted component.

3dmodels: 3D models for the footprints, organized similar to how the official KiCad 3dmodels are organized.

Other stuff (not in KiCad PCM archive):

design-blocks: These are design blocks that we re-use. We're still new to this workflow, so it's not part of the PCM release until we figure out how to best package these.

symbols-legacy/kicad5-2021: The legacy symbol library for KiCad 5.1.x. This is a snapshot of the libraries at Nov 19, 2021. It will not be updated or maintained.

symbols-legacy/kicad5-2019: An even older library using non-atomic symbols (generic resistor, capacitor, etc). This was deprecated in May 2020. It is no longer maintained or updated.

footprints-legacy: The legacy footprint library, not really of much use since PCBs embed the footprints they used.

packages3d: Legacy random 3d models, please verify dimensions before relying on the accuracy of these models.

lib-table-files: The library table files. People working on 4ms projects should copy these into a project directory (see Option B, Step 3 below).

schematic-blocks: KiCad schematic sheets of basic circuits we use over and over. These building blocks are intended to be used as hierarchical sheets, or just copy/pasted into your design. They are in KiCad 5 format at the moment but can be used by KiCad 6 as well.

How to Install Symbol and Footprint Libraries:

There are two ways to install these libraries:

• Option A: KiCad's Plugin and Content Manager (PCM). Easiest. Recommended unless you work at 4ms, or are very comfortable with KiCad library management.
• Option B: Clone this git repo. Gets you the latest changes as soon as they're pushed, but you have to manually manage this library in KiCad. This is what people working at 4ms use.

Option A: Install with the Plugin and Content Manager

Step 1) Install the package

• In the KiCad project window, open the Plugin and Content Manager.
• Select the Libraries tab and find 4ms Kicad Libraries.
• Click Install, then click Apply Pending Changes.
• Restart KiCad.

KiCad will add all the symbol and footprint libraries to your global library tables, and the 3D models are installed and linked automatically.

Step 2) Find the libraries

PCM adds each library with a PCM_ prefix on its nickname, so 4ms_Resistor shows up as PCM_4ms_Resistor in the symbol chooser and footprint browser. The symbols in the PCM package already link to the PCM_4ms_... footprint libraries, so footprints are filled in for you when you place a symbol.

Notes

• The footprint links in the symbols assume KiCad's default PCM settings: "Automatically add installed libraries to global library table" turned on, and "Library nickname prefix" set to PCM_. Both are in KiCad's Preferences, under Plugin and Content Manager. If you've changed either of these, you'll need to add the libraries to your tables yourself, using the PCM_ prefix on each nickname.
• PCM installs files into your ${KICAD10_3RD_PARTY} folder (on macOS: ~/Documents/KiCad/10.0/3rdparty), in subfolders named com_github_4ms_4ms-kicad-lib.
• You can also download the .zip from this repo's Releases page and install it with Install from File... in the Plugin and Content Manager.
• Updates show up in the Plugin and Content Manager when we publish a new release.

Option B: Clone the git repo

Step 1) Download the libraries

Clone this repo (or download it as a zip) and save it wherever you keep your KiCad libraries.

Step 2) Set the KICAD_4MS_LIBS path variable

The footprints find their 3D models through this variable, and the library table files use it too, so set it even if you add the libraries by hand. You only need to do this once, it's a global setting.

• In the KiCad project window, select Configure Paths... in the Preferences menu.
• Add a new entry named KICAD_4MS_LIBS, and set its path to the 4ms-kicad-lib folder, for example /Users/YOURUSERNAME/MyKiCadProjects/4ms-kicad-lib

Step 3) Add the libraries to your library tables

To add all the 4ms libraries to a project (what anyone working at 4ms will want), copy the two files in lib-table-files/ (fp-lib-table and sym-lib-table) into your project folder. Or you can add those library table files to an existing project:

Or, to add only some libraries, or to add them globally:

• Select Manage Symbol Libraries (in the schematic editor) or Manage Footprint Libraries (in the PCB editor) in the Preferences menu.
• Select the Global tab to use these libraries in all your projects, or the Project tab to use them only in the current project.
• Click the folder icon below the list, and browse to the libraries you want to add. On macOS you can Cmd-click to select several at once.
• Repeat for both the symbol libraries and the footprint libraries.
• Keep the nicknames as they are (e.g. 4ms_Resistor), because the symbols link to footprints by those names.

A note on mixing the two

The PCM package and the git repo use different library nicknames (PCM_4ms_Resistor vs. 4ms_Resistor), and each version's symbols link to its own footprints. You can have both installed, but stick to one per project, or a symbol from one may point to a footprint library that the project doesn't use.

More resources

The symbol library works well with our BOM scripts (exporting files compatible with JLCPCB, for example). We also have a series of scripts that generate a Eurorack faceplate from a PCB, and more. These can be found in our script repo: https://github.com/4ms/4ms-kicad-script

LICENSE

These are in the public domain under the Unlicense.

TODO

• Add better descriptions for each library