Create A New KiCad Project From Scratch

2 ways of creating a new KiCad project

KiCad offers you two ways to start a new project:

1. A new blank project.
2. A new project from a template.

When you start a new project from a template, you can take advantage of work that you (or the original author of the template) have done in the past. Project templates offer an excellent way to speed up the initial time-consuming steps for projects that share a common base. For example, if you create Arduino shields, you can set up an Arduino shield base template and use it to create new Arduino shield projects. You can learn more about project templates in a dedicated chapter or lecture in the Recipes part of the KiCad Like a Pro 3e eBook or course.

Creating a new, blank KiCad project

In this article, you will create a new blank project. In the File menu, click on “New Project…”. In the window that appears, set a name (“1”, below), check the new folder box to have KiCad automatically create a new folder for your project (“2”), and click Save (“3”).

KiCad will set up your new project. In the project folder, you will see three new files:

1. The main project file with extension “.kicad_pro.”
2. The schematic design file with extension “.kicad_sch.”
3. The layout design file with extension “.kicad_pcb.”

The KiCad project window will show the project as a hierarchy tree. At the top of the hierarchy is the project file (“.kicad_pro”), and inside of that are the schematic and layout files.

At this point, your new project is ready. You can open the schematic editor and begin work on the schematic. This is where you will begin work in the next part of this book, in which you will work on your first KiCad project. In the next article, you will learn how to create a new KiCad project from a template.