I agree: it's a pest.
On 2025-04-12 23:58, Ian Bell via
groups.io wrote:
The Kicad documentation states that "By convention,
through-hole footprints have pin 1 located at (0,0) and are
oriented with pin 1 in the top left."
?
This puzzles me. A footprint is a physical thing so you want
its origin to be in an appropriate place that simplifies the job
of positioning it on the PCB. A Pin 1 origin is fine for many
parts like ICs, resistors and capacitors but this is very
definitely not the case for many electro-mechanical parts like
switches, pots and connectors which need to interface physically
with other parts of the design. For these you need an origin
that makes it straightforward to position the part on the PCB
such that it interfaces in a consistent way with the outside
world. For vertical pots or toggle switches for example you want
the origin to coincide with the centre of the hole that the
parts fits into. And for any part that
interfaces with a hole in a panel, for example, you at least
need the origin to be on the centre line of that hole.
?
Despite this, I still find that the library footprints of
every electro-mechanical part mentioned above has its origin at
pin 1. Even in the create your own footprint example in the
Kicad documentation, which makes a new footprint for a switch,
still insists on placing the origin at pin 1.
?
Cheers
?
ian
--
Best wishes John Woodgate RAYLEIGH Essex OOO-Own Opinions Only
If something is true: * as far as we know - it's science *for
certain - it's mathematics *unquestionably - it's religion