Kicad solder mask. Feb 27, 2017 · There is a Solder Paste Layer in KiCad.

Kicad solder mask Within Kicad. I want it to be made with a black soldermask with ENIG prints. The mask layer gerber file looks empty if the mask is applied everywhere. So if I use 3 mils then I left 2 mils solder betwean pads. May 10, 2019 · I want no shiny, smooth solder-mask in an area at the edge of my PCB. But now, I can’t say what happened, it doesn’t work correctly. Nov 24, 2024 · Hi everyone, I am quite a beginner level that try to design an esp32 project. This idea of global value for this and KLC forbids to put a value in footprint is just plain wrong. However, the mask file is translated as a negative image in production (areas where graphics are present subtract from the solder mask). This aperture bridges the RF net and the ground net. On the back side I also placed a copper pad without solder paste and solder mask. In Eagle you can set an option to disable rounded corners in the solder mask. The solder mask and pad clearances are all zero. I have just made the Gerbers and found that all of the SMD components on the back of the board and two on the front do not have a solder mask defined and hence could not be soldered. 3 on Debian 12) Oct 18, 2014 · -solder mask (everything covered (including vias) except the 0. I found this is fairly easy to do by copying the silkscreen gerber file’s graphic information to the mask file. Regardless of which values I enter for solder mask expansion, minimum web width or copper clearance nothing changes in the layout. May 15, 2018 · My Kicad PCB is almost ready to be made by 4PCB but I am using their free DFM and I am getting 52 errors on Missing Solder mask Clearance. Can anyone confirm? (KiCad v8. 1. Import the artwork in KiCad, maybe on a user layer? After creating gerber files, do not send KiCad’s own solder mask layer, but your own artwork. I had to turn Aug 24, 2018 · I have a strange situation where the solder mask is broken by the track. Your DRC addition options might be useful addition to KiCad. The result is a strange PCB where the exposed pads have these little extrusions instead of being nicely rectangular or circular shaped. Paste and B. I do not want to manually draw on the mask layer every time the Nov 18, 2018 · Hi! I have an issue with the 3D-viewer of KiCad. 0, it Jul 10, 2022 · 2b. Since the update to 6. With an aperture pad it is also easy to make rounded corners for the solder stencil, and this improves paste release, and thus a more uniform amount of paste on the pad. There are two values for solder mask in Board Setup: clearance and minimum width. which is quite narrow. Feb 16, 2016 · The solder mask clearance is almost twice the size of the pads on my SMD 0402 capacitor copper pads (they extend 0. Is there a way to “delete” where the mask should be, by drawing lines on int? If so, on what layer? I’ve seen references to such a way of doing this while looking around, but they seem to indicate drawing a solder mask onto the solder mask, which doesn’t make any sense to me. Any ideas? Mar 2, 2023 · Hello, Just installed KiCad7. info Forums [SOLVED]Unable to change solder mask color on 3D view (6. 0) Layout. I'm a rookie with ball grid array parts, but I hope my questions aren't too silly. Warning: Silkscreen clipped by solder mask. If they were to make an Feb 16, 2023 · Hello, I have a problem with understanding what does the “Subtract solder mask from silkscreen” do (This is a check box inside File → Plot ). 6) date Mar 14, 2021 · Then Added the large thermal pad in copper in the middle with solder mask and solder paste turned off; Added an the smaller pad without a pin number in the middle with solder paste and solder mask turned on. Jan 24, 2017 · I just started learning kicad today and I managed to design a small board without issues, but when I import to OSHPark I could see issues with solder masks. I have tried all the online steps (most are so out of date that menus don’t exist) to create the solder masks and the built-in Help file was of no help. Ok, this is my layout right now My problem appears at time when I try to route any chip’s pad. Probably just a menu-simplify decision. Terry Dec 26, 2020 · Hi I want create muti-color PCB solder mask (green, white, red, blue) It is possible in KiCAD? I have graphics in SVG with correct dimmensions Jun 27, 2019 · I have read that standard solder mask extension should be 4 mils. Might there be a way to mirror the mask layer? A vendor can probably do it at the CAM Feb 21, 2019 · That said, in KiCad the designer has the option to do this at gerber generation time. 05mm. Have a look at File → Board Setup → Board Stackup → Solder Mask/Paste menu for “Solder Mask Expansion” and “Solder Mask Minimum web width” (these are menus for software V8. Jun 24, 2024 · In KiCad, normally the solder mask cutouts are the same size as the pads. Because I just want these via like heat dissipation hole. Export the layers F. Nov 22, 2024 · The answer to all 3 question: it depends. You can ignore the error. I’m not sure how to do this? How do I create a solder mask over the parts that I’m interested in covering? I May 31, 2023 · In KiCad (and other EDA) the graphical layer which represents solder mask is negative. Feb 19, 2024 · what is “the solder mask layer” and where can I find this? This is the part where your homework comes into play… I suggest clicking every item in Kicad to see what they are and Hover over items and read the Tool-Tip… (in previous posted, you indicated 70yrs. This issue affects the PCB editor, 3D viewer, and generated gerber files. To create the plot file, I go to File, Plot, select the layers I need and click on “Plot”. Feb 5, 2020 · When editing the solder mask, it is rendered in reverse. RobK March 13, 2025, 2:50pm Dec 30, 2024 · Hello, I’m stuck with “some” (i don’t know if is solder mask or not) part of my component, I use that word because right now I don’t have any idea about it name. It is also saying “All component holes should have soldermask relief”. Jan 25, 2025 · From the KiVar github page: " KiVar is a tool for KiCad PCB Assembly Variant selection, provided as platform-independent…". I tried lowering the drill size from May 30, 2023 · What do the parameters in Board Stackup->Solder Mask/Paste mean? For “Solder mask expansion” I would expect that a value of e. Some solder pads have silkscreen on them. if so, did you look at the imported files? they clearly shows that all tracks are covered in solder mask (green). that would suggest that either solder mask files are not containing Solder masks are automatically created. A PADSTACK defines the characteristics of a single or multi-layer pad, in the IPC sense of the word. * G04 Created by KiCad (PCBNEW 7. I understand that the F. The effect of Apr 2, 2024 · I used Kicad to palce some via on big pad like as And how could set these GND via with solder mask setting. Thanks for any help. Is it the same? I guess so. I have a couple of QFN parts where the distance between pads is less than 0. Export your artwork again. But I am new to Kicad and have only six designs under the belt. May 20, 2019 · Hello, I designed PCB trance antenna for Bluetooth application and I am trying to convert it to gerber file for the measurement. Dec 16, 2024 · There are holes in this mask which expose copper pads. NetName == ‘GND’”)) I would imagine that the Jul 22, 2024 · At least for hobbyists, it’s common to leave this on it’s default of zero. I can see what “looks” like a solder mask on the top and bottom (red and green) when I used the “Fill Zone” (green square In this video, I show you how to change solder mask in KiCad quickly. So far I have placed Sep 19, 2023 · An aperture pad in KiCad, is a pad without copper or pin number, but you can use it to make custom sized apertures in other mask layers such as solder mask and solder stencil. In my project have some traces that I need to solder coat so I selected “Add a rule area”. That what i know is that the Boardhouse create a stencil out of this layer, right? I finished my first footprint in KiCad except the Solder mask layer. Mask). I selected the B Mask, (which is where the traces are that I need to expose) and then left the defaults in the pop-up box. 2mm. Solder mask is physical substance applied to the physical board. The padstack for a pad defines its geometry on copper, soldermask, and paste layers, as well as any drilling or milling associated with the pad (round or slot hole, back-drilling, etc). Solder mask is typically a much coarser resolution than copper pads, so any fine pitch SMD footprint will fail this check, looking like the left hand one in @straubm example above. Is there any option or script that would do this in KiCAD? Apr 30, 2018 · Hey everyone, I’m relatively new to KiCAD and I can’t quite understand what’s happening here: I am using through hole components, and the footprints are set to use the pads on both the top and bottom copper layers, but when I export the board, and in the 3D viewer, it seems as if the solder mask is covering the bottom pads, but not the Due to the terminology of different board manufacturers are slightly different as well as the problem of Chinese and English translation, the three soldermask settings in the figure above is not easy to understand, or easy to confuse, for example, many of my friends will feel that “soldermask expansion” (Solder mask expansion) and Mar 27, 2016 · Hi All I am designing my first board with Kicad. This is MSOP-10_3x3mm package with solder mask expansion of 0. I would like to write a custom drc rule that says: (rule “RF soldermask” ( constraint INSERT_SOMETHING_HERE) ( condition “A. 1 mm would create NSMD pads. This is common with many CAD systems. V8 generates solder mask openings on both F. Is there a way to get vias with defined soldermask expansion (IPC recommends drillsize + 0,15mm)? I am using kicad 2015-02-28 BZR 5464 Mar 7, 2025 · This is a known issue with kicad v9. But how do i this in KiCad on the solder mask layer ? Aug 11, 2021 · My board house requires a minimum solder mask width of 0. I found out that the “solder mask clearance” is by default set to 0 in KiCAD (Dimensions -> Pads Mask Clearance). I tried a Apr 23, 2020 · KiCAD can’t seem to decide whether the antenna is above or below the solder mask. But it’s just wrong. It may seem like a nice idea, and hierarchical and logical and nice and what not. Mask, but V9 only generates them on F. It would draw zone fills around all copper which in the mask layer means taking off the mask everywhere except on copper Feb 16, 2016 · The solder mask clearance is almost twice the size of the pads on my SMD 0402 capacitor copper pads (they extend 0. The reason for not using the silkscreen is to make it more durable. And has from at least before v4. 4 = 0. It is a pretty contrived workflow and easy to make mistakes, but I do not consider it very important. [image] IMPO… May 5, 2024 · If you want to fix it you’d need to make some of the board settings tighter - make it so that the solder mask more closely follows the pad. However I’d like the other part of the paths to be covered by solder mask. ) I probably have some setting wrong. However, in the 3D view, I still see solder mask in the masked out areas. I tried drawing over the traces on the mask layer but I can only get 6 mil traces. Oct 11, 2018 · Soldermask is considered to be already applied to the entire board; as such there is no “tool” (or option) to add soldermask. is there a way to easily avoid this in KiCad? Apr 18, 2018 · Folks, Am trying to make a footprint for this Osram TopLED. But now I am not sure anymore whether I should add a zone at all. CarlosUnch February 23, 2022, 12:46pm 1. 2mm but this creates some really strange geometry on exported Gerbers. Mask. As @Rene_Poschl mentioned, the soldermask layer representation in KiCad is a “negative”; it shows where the soldermask will be not be applied. When I want to open the 3D-view of my board,it only shows the copper and vias, with all components and the silk screen layers, too. The pads are enormous - for heatsinking reasons I guess - but the exposed area for the pads should be much smaller than the pads and in the corners of said pads. gerber export dialog offers a extra checkbox to delete soldermask layer from silkscreen output Dec 27, 2024 · There are holes in this mask which expose copper pads. Mask layer for NPTH, Mechanical pad type (#20053) · Issues · KiCad / KiCad Source Code / kicad · GitLab Feb 23, 2022 · KiCad. This is by design. 9? Is there any DRC option so I can find and manually remove Feb 6, 2024 · For very fine pitch parts, you may need a thinner solder stencil, and you can (partially) compensate for this by using a larger mask expansion for the pads that do need more solder. Next import your gerber into FlatCAM, this gerber should represent all the solder pads to be Aug 9, 2014 · At first, it was not clear to me what this meant, but then I came to know that it’s caused by the fact that the solder mask is equal in size compared to the footprints of the components. I worked out how to set the global solder mask clearance to zero and that fixed most of my problems. 3V and GND) are different from default design rules, have 20 mil track width, 40 mil via diameter, and 20 mil via drill size. You’d have to make separate pads for something like what is shown in the datasheet you linked. I assume one needs to untick the solder mask box on the pad and then draw a filled polygon on the soldermask layer. Dec 7, 2024 · maybe I used the wrong search terms, but a brief search through issues and forum threads didn’t reveal much details about the planned padstack feature. I use all defaults. You draw where you don’t want any mask. NetName == ‘GND’”)) What is the “INSERT May 15, 2018 · My Kicad PCB is almost ready to be made by 4PCB but I am using their free DFM and I am getting 52 errors on Missing Solder mask Clearance. For pads defined with copper layers, the solder mask and solder paste clearance calculations remain the same. In the datasheet is the speech about stencil design. I had used V5 a couple of years ago and recently restarted with V7. Illustration: pads and solder mask openings. NetClass == ‘CBCPW 50’ && B. I guess that isn’t possible right now. Dec 18, 2022 · KiCad will not add solder mask on top of a copper pad, though, so for vias-in-pad this has the effect of tenting the side of the via opposite the thermal pad (which is generally what you are after, I think) IPC-7093 captures the notion of Solder Mask Defined Thermal Pad so I wonder if this is what the OP is referring to. Ist this interpretation correct? And what exactly does the “Solder mask to copper clearence” mean because for me this sounds to be the same? For the constraints there are small pictograms to illustrate the exact meaning but for Feb 3, 2025 · I do a lot of RF work and have need for solder mask apertures over CBCPW (conductor backed coplanar waveguide). 3, Windows 10 Please forgive me if this has been asked and solved before. Oct 6, 2017 · I am trying to create a non masked copper pour so that when the PCB is attached to a metal plate, it will create a chassis ground connection. Hence, the equal size of footprint Nov 1, 2018 · Hi, I’ve been experimenting with translating some of my silkscreen graphics to the solder-mask layer. There are holes in this mask which expose copper pads. Aug 12, 2018 · An advantage to the negative mask (Solder Mask Defined pad) is that the Solder Mask layer is a form of epoxy and can help keep the pads from lifting off the base pcb material. In your picture above you need a soldermask opening (which may come with the pad), and a silkscreen free area. I have a project with four Layers and always it worked fine for me. PCB manufacturers often twiddle with solder mask settings and with solder stencil too. For pads defined with no copper layers (referred to as aperture pads), the inherited clearance and ratio settings are no longer applied and the Nov 5, 2023 · I’ve got an odd layout where I have two overlapping footprints, with the idea that only one will be populated. Nobody has thought about this kind of footprint yet with that feature. Jul 24, 2024 · I just noticed that the Board Setup > Solder Mask settings don’t seem to work anymore. Use the exported solder mask to keep the pads exposed. In addition to a lot of errors, I’m worried that some board house might actually print the silkscreen on the copper pads. Mask, or vice versa, tho there seems to be no fundamental database reason for that. Must be a setting somewhere for that, but I can’t find it. Cu copy, to F. kicad_pcb F. 7 / 1000 * 25. Feb 6, 2024 · For very fine pitch parts, you may need a thinner solder stencil, and you can (partially) compensate for this by using a larger mask expansion for the pads that do need more solder. mask layer switched off when I designed the board. I’m using KiCad version 4. It’s for an XLR input on a microphone preamp. What is causing this? Apr 8, 2017 · Say I put a solder mask over the entire board. Picture below (red hatch is copper fill, blue hatch is Mar 12, 2025 · I’d kind of like to leave the part as-is, and add solder mask to the solder mask layer manually. I selected the B Mask, (which is where the tr… Feb 18, 2025 · I do a lot of RF work and have need for solder mask apertures over CBCPW (conductor backed coplanar waveguide). Of course because that line around of pad it’s too large, but I don’t know where I can modify it, I’m LOST Thanks to much Mar 30, 2015 · I need to remove the soldermask on the Vias, but the build in function (“Remove soldermask on Vias” checkbox in the gerber plot dialog) has no options. My manufacturer specifies that 3 mils is minimum (too thin solder can be broken during technology processes and landing in another places of PCB can damage it there). 15mm each side). . I tried to uncheck F. Maybe 5 749×284 13. Aug 3, 2021 · I have created a 2-sided PCB in v5. I then drew around the trace area to be exposed and the hatched area popped up. I then selected aRay: the camera ray that hits the object : aHitInfo: the hit information Feb 23, 2025 · It looks like Kicad V9 is no longer correctly generating the solder mask layers for non plated holes. Being it is at the edge of my PCB, I can not have any traces or copper at the edge of the PCB. as well as zones in F,Cu (tested in r7066) What KiCad PCB does not allow, is Menu change of a F. I’ve tried setting “solder mask minimum width” to 0. I found lots of threads and infos but I still can’t make it. Cu and B. Dec 2, 2024 · Hi everyone. But, it keeps showing on 3D viewer. Jul 11, 2022 · I think Add possibility to "knockout layers" to non-copper zones (#3983) · Issues · KiCad / KiCad Source Code / kicad · GitLab would be an adequate solution for the problem. If not, how does one accomplish this? Jul 17, 2024 · Kicad 8. This value increases the size of the solder mask around a pad → therefore decreases the distance between designed silkscreen (in the footprint definition) and the pad mask. If I hover over it with a mouse it is written “Remove silk screen from areas without solder mask” so I would assume that if this box is checked, everywhere where there is no solder mask (soldering pads) there should be no silk screen. 0-rc2 (commit 93c7f65d to be precise), there is a change in way the solder mask and solder paste clearances are determined. Solder mask is physical substance which is applied to the board. I think this may have been caused by me having the b. 3D Models. Openings in the solder mask are for exposing copper (or actually the chosen copper finish). Covering plated holes with solder Dec 10, 2022 · Hi there, I’m searching a way to remove solder mask over tracks that will need to stay with visible copper. This is likely to narrow for solder mask fingers to fit between pads, and quite often PCB manufacturers remove these “fingers” silently when they are too narrow. I guess that they apply their own solder mask expansion with a value that compensates for the placement tolerances for the solder mask in their own production process. I'm not certain what the best way is to make a non solder mask defined pad in KiCAD. I am since always using 3 mils. 2c. 0. 3 on Debian 12) Apr 2, 2024 · I used Kicad to palce some via on big pad like as And how could set these GND via with solder mask setting. I wonder why zero is not the default? However, I have one component that I imported from SnapEDA that still has mask clearance. Maybe I am misunderstanding something, but I am experiencing strange behaviour when I run the DRC. Dec 21, 2024 · I have a copper fill all the way to the board edge and I want to pull back the mask to expose the top and bottom copper layers along this edge. Is this setting broken in 5. The expansion seems to be fixed to 100um, but that’s about it. In Board Stackup → solder mask/paste Allow bridged Dec 5, 2014 · Stencil is solder-paste (F. This video (Removing Soldermask and Copper Fill (Part 2/2) - YouTube) should help but I don’t get how he does the trick (he quickly clicks somewhere to refresh or do something but it is unfortunately not clear for me as a Nov 30, 2024 · Hi everyone. The land pattern shows the copper areas (F. Cu etc) and also a mask for the solder resist (F. Finally added the thermal via’s. Mask as Gerbers; Auxiliary axis as origin: Ticked; Exclude PCB edge layer from other layers: unticked; Plot these layers out as gerber files; FlatCam - Create Non Pad Region. 0. I tried lowering the drill size from Aug 3, 2021 · Hello all. But there is neither shown the board model nor the solder mask. Mar 5, 2025 · if i understand correctly, you were trying to expose high current tracks through soldermask so that wetting by solder would increase layer thickness and ampacity. However, I encounter many errors regarding to battery connector plating through hole. I never had this problem before. I’ve recently imported an Altium file into KiCAD and both top and bottom solder masks are missing, at least in the 3D view. It seems that I have bunch of DRS errors “Front solder mask apertures bridges items of different nets” on the project that I am working on. Mask” as a “knockout” layer to a mask layer zone, with some clearance. Maybe an additional one that flags only text that isn’t over solder mask (or 3 options in your furst suggestion using a drop-down; all, lines/graphics only, text only). Please help me to solve this problem. 1 connectors);-copper-Fiber Glass-copper-solder mask (everything covered, maybe put a hatched grounding plane… is that a good idea?) Vias are made by adding a copper layer to the inside of the hole? Sep 16, 2022 · This has nothing to do with solder mask. It is 4 layers with components on both sides. Inheritance diagram for DRC_TEST_PROVIDER_SOLDER_MASK: Public Member Functions DRC_TEST_PROVIDER_SOLDER_MASK (): virtual ~DRC_TEST_PROVIDER_SOLDER_MASK() Export the Solder Mask Layers. It should not be applied to pads or (larger than very small) holes. My 50 ohm traces are 38 mils. Aug 28, 2023 · If I recall correctly I added a solder mask zone. Mask, and it seems quite ok. In KiCad (and other EDA) the graphical layer which represents solder mask is negative. One method to omit mask area would be to draw a courtyard and define no mask under that; but I am guessing that would not omit the solder mask area, without a pad. And If I can still do math: 5. I was wondering if there was a simple Jul 24, 2019 · I have a fairly complex RF board and need to remove the solder mask from the RF traces - but not from around the footprints as the parts will be hand soldered. 2mm so they won’t accept my board. Because it’s hard to figure out what your PCB manufacturer does exactly with your stencil, it’s difficult to make predictions. You may already be familiar with Create a PCB assembly variant system (lp:#1767218) (#2131) · Issues · KiCad / KiCad Source Code / kicad · GitLab, where I did some research and thinking through, and concluded that a board variant is very much different thing than Mar 14, 2025 · If I put a via (which normally would get “tented” with solder mask) in a SMT pad that is not covered with solder mask, does the via stay tented? I suspect not. Paste layers in KiCad). 9 KB However, when I uploaded the layout to our PCB manufacturer’s web site and looked at their stack-up image, it looks like the antenna is protected by the solder mask, as I want it to be: Mar 17, 2016 · There is only 1 place where soldermask clearance should be defined and it is in the footprint. Mask are subtractive, meaning the assume the mask is everywhere, and graphics on this layer actually remove the mask in those areas. Mask, B. Apr 21, 2022 · Try the context menu on that DRC error message. Should be fixed already. I'm interested in creating a footprint for a ball grid array part, the Texas Instruments TMS320DM8148. May 1, 2018 · As of version 5. It would draw zone fills around all copper which in the mask layer means taking off the mask everywhere except on copper Oct 6, 2017 · I am trying to create a non masked copper pour so that when the PCB is attached to a metal plate, it will create a chassis ground connection. Below is a photo of what I mean. (yes, not so helpful). Note: The Solder Mask should probably remain square in every case as this typically gives a visual indicator of the location of pin 1 on the device. The screenshot below shows the same kicad_pcb file open in V9 on the left and V8 on the right. 14478 mm. This means that a PCB_PAD has a padstack, but also a PCB_VIA. Footprints make up the pcb, not the other way Nov 24, 2020 · I purchased a stencil cutter so I can make my own solder paste masks, and I’ll be using the software here: From what I understand, cutting the stencils will go much faster if I can restrict myself to vertical and horizontal cuts. Oct 18, 2015 · When I create the Gerber plot file, the solder mask only covers the pads completely. Reason: The “tenting” settings of KiCad don’t allow to keep only the hole free from solder resist. When I don’t use thermals with copper pour it means pads connected to ground via ground plane will effectively be twice as big as long as solder mask application is perfect. All power traces (3. You would add “F. ie I can manually edit . The 2 long pads at the bottom are for soldering cables on them, so they shouldn’t be covered in solder mask (right?). It’s basically an inverse of what the solder mask should be. g. Cu copy, to a F. 10 and can not satisfy JLCPCB inspectors when it comes to the Solder Mask. Sep 12, 2019 · Hello, I’m trying to understand how the solder mask works. (I just started using KiCad 5. I tried creating a fill zone and a keepout which only has zone selected and mask layers where I want the mask to pull back. I would like to know how to remove the solder mask on PCB antenna pad. I have the attached part. I do some microwave work where I typically don’t want solder mask on the board with the exception of certain small areas. Silkscreen printing is a separate layer. : Clearance override "Solder mask expansion" not override сlearance on B. Here is my question to ask. 2). I assumed Oct 14, 2018 · I still don’t know if you understand how the solder mask layer works, and I didn’t understand what you wrote. Where there is graphics in this layer, the physical solder mask isn’t applied and there will be a hole in the solder mask. I would like to know whether a pad stack for a via will allow also to set the solder mask for the via. 0-rc1-stable. David Nov 24, 2023 · @Vikas_Dagar: one additional reason for this warning is probably that you have some expansion value set in File–>Board Setup–>Solder mask/paste–>solder mask expansion. But for placing copper pads at the edge of the pcb it is possible to make a connector with the desired number of pads and place it where you need it. However, although it’s obvious how to draw lines, I just Feb 27, 2017 · There is a Solder Paste Layer in KiCad. mask as technical layer. The pcb is made up of footprints and traces. I am working on my seventh design - a ruler with various information and footprints on it. Mask and B. Mar 5, 2016 · (Zones in F. hblqu fhdcl uqacp fbzdxov jceu mtrj wmrxgqx vaszttm lkzvvjpc fgpao sjnael weiq jhhbn zwnyqf koezfd