Differences

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--- kicad:footprint_management [2013/06/26 02:59] – [Footprints, modules, libraries] mithat
+++ kicad:footprint_management [2018/09/09 14:12] (current) – mithat
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 ====== KiCad Footprint Management ======
+<WRAP center important 60%>
+The stuff here was written for versions of KiCad preceding 4.0. The latest versions of KiCad have introduced new library management features, rendering some of what follows obsolete.
+</WRAP>
 ===== Footprints, modules, libraries =====
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 KiCad places footprints into **footprint libraries**. Footprint libraries use the ''.mod'' extension. One ''.mod'' file typically contains definitions for several (usually related) footprints.
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+<WRAP center tip 60%>
 KiCad uses the term "module" interchangably with "footprint".
 </WRAP>
-<WRAP center round tip 60%>
+<WRAP center tip 60%>
 There are two kinds of libraries in KiCad: **footprint libraries**, which are stored in ''.mod'' files, and **component libraries** (i.e., schematic symbol libraries), which are stored in ''.lib'' files. Our concern here is with footprint libraries.
 </WRAP>
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 In addition to distributing collections of footprints in libraries (stored in ''.mod'' files), it is also possible to distribute individual footprints using ''.emp'' files.((Many/most/all of the footprints downloadable from  http://www.kicadlib.org/ are packaged as .emp files.)) However, to use a footprint stored in an ''.emp'' file, it must first be //imported// into a library.
-//**Even though you can import footprints into system and third-party libraries, you are strongly advised against making any changes to system and third-party libraries.**// When you update KiCad, there is a good chance that the system libraries will be overwritten, and you will lose any changes you have made to them. Similarly, if you download an update to a third-party library, you will lose the changes you have made to that library.
+You should add new footprints only to user footprint libraries. See [[#User footprint libraries]] and [[#Adding existing footprints to an existing user library]] below.
-Instead, you should add new footprints to user footprint libraries. See "User footprint libraries" and "Adding existing footprints to an existing user library" below.
+<WRAP center important 60%>
+**Even though you can import footprints into system and third-party libraries, you are strongly advised against making any changes to system and third-party libraries.**
+This is because when you update KiCad, there is a good chance that the system libraries will be overwritten, and you will lose any changes you have made to them. Similarly, if you download an update to a third-party library, you will lose the changes you have made to that library.
+</WRAP>
 ===== User footprint libraries =====
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 For creating new footprints and for making changes to footprints in system or third-party footprint libraries, it is highly recommended that you use only libraries you have created yourself---what we will call //user libraries//. In other words, you should create new footprints only in user libraries, and footprints in system and third-party libraries that you wish to change should first be copied to a user library and edited there.
-//**Even though you can create/add/edit footprints in system and third-party libraries, you are strongly advised against making any changes to system and third-party libraries.**// This is because when you update KiCad, there is a good chance that the system libraries will be overwritten, and you will lose any changes you have made to them. Similarly, if you download an update to a third-party library, you will lose the changes you have made to that library.
+<WRAP center important 60%>
+**Even though you can create/add/edit footprints in system and third-party libraries, you are strongly advised against making any changes to system and third-party libraries.**
+This is because when you update KiCad, there is a good chance that the system libraries will be overwritten, and you will lose any changes you have made to them. Similarly, if you download an update to a third-party library, you will lose the changes you have made to that library.
+</WRAP>
 ==== The Module Editor ====