Kicad Copper Thief Pattern Generator
This is a repo for a KiCad Plugin which converts a filled copper zone into an array of circular dots. This is a technique used to balance the chemical plating process. More detail here
Updated for KiCAD 8
Clone the repository into your local plugin folder
~/.local/share/kicad/8.0/scripting/plugins/
If you are using KiCAD 7, place the plugin here: ~/.local/share/kicad/7.0/scripting/plugins/
- Draw a zone and leave it unconnected to any net. (This allows the zone to create unconnected copper fills). For now only single-layer zones are supported
- Set the zone name to "thieving".
- Select the zone
- Click on the Copper Thief icon
- Set the separation and dot diameter parameters, the thieving pattern, and if the zone you created can be deleted by the script
- Go!
Currently only single-layer zones are supported, script will crash for multi-layer zones. Draw separate zones for each layer where you want to add dots
Note: Due to This Bug
The resultant dots are not shown until the board is saved and the board reloaded. - Fixed in KiCAD 7