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PCB Design (PCB Editor)

Route traces, check design rules (DRC), export a 1:1 PDF and Gerber files to manufacture a real board.

Bounding Box, Footprint, and Board Panel

Bounding box

Used when the real component is larger than the standard size inferred from its pinout. Only affects the PCB, not the Diagram.

  1. The PCB Bounding Box (mm) section: Width/Height fields default to the real size, and cannot be set smaller.
  2. Increasing the size: the bounding box expands while the real silkscreen stays the same.
  3. Align bounding box to component: horizontal alignment buttons (Align Left/Center/Right) and vertical alignment buttons (Align Top/Middle/Bottom) decide which direction the extra space grows toward.
  4. Hide bounding box (checkbox).
  5. A Reset to Default button appears when there's an override, to clear it.

Result: the override is kept after saving and reloading. The Board panel (nothing selected) has an additional Bounding Box Color field that applies to the whole board.

Current footprint

  1. A section showing the name of the currently used footprint.
  2. Click Replace Footprint → opens a dropdown grouped by Mine / Community / system categories.
  3. Choose a footprint.

Result: the name + silkscreen image change immediately. Click Reset Footprint (only shown when there's an override) to return to the shape inferred from the real pinout. This is kept after saving and reloading.

Board panel: size, padding, alignment

Shown when no module/wire is selected.

  1. Width (mm) / Height (mm): cannot be smaller than the minimum auto-fit size.
  2. Auto-Fit to Components: the board automatically shrinks to the minimum size that encloses all components + padding.
  3. Auto-Fit Padding (mm): the margin around components, with a minimum value.
  4. Align Board to Components: horizontal/vertical alignment, similar to the bounding box.
  5. 4-Corner Mounting Holes (⌀3.2mm) (checkbox).
  6. Bounding Box Color: a color picker for the whole board.

Example

A real DHT22 sensor has a plastic housing larger than its 4 pins — open the module panel, increase the PCB Bounding Box wider than the default size so the board leaves enough room to mount the sensor, preventing the silkscreen of a neighboring component from overlapping the DHT22's housing during real assembly.