Specify a simple drill hole in PCBNEW

Design Tools and Resources KiCad
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HI:
I`m relatively new to KiCad and specifically in this case pcbnew. I have a 4-layer pcb designed and need to specify a couple simple holes in the pcb. These are for connector alignment, no copper involved (non-plated holes)… how do I do that?

Thanks…
Tom

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@teranz
Tom,

If this is related to the footprint of a part, it would be best to specify the drill hole in the footprint itself using the footprint editor.

To do this you would place a pad in the footprint. Then edit that pad’s properties by hovering the cursor over the pad and hitting the “E” key.

When the pad properties come up, change the pad type to NPTH, Mechanical
For most mechanical holes there is no copper surrounding the hole, so you would want to set the Size X: and the Hole size X: properties to the same dimmension.

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I hope this helps, and good luck!
Let us know if you have any more questions.

Reid Landsrud
Sr. Applications Engineering Technician
Digi-Key Electronics
701 Brooks Ave S
Thief River Falls, MN 56701 USA
www.digikey.com

2 Likes
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Thanks Reid for your response! Late last night I finally saw where NPTH is the acronym for “non plated through hole”. Once that was known the rest was intuitive. I meant to update my question but just forgot.

Thanks again for your response, I`m really enjoying KiCad and it is good to know help is available.

Tom Ranz

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Great to hear you got it figured out, and glad to hear you are enjoying KiCad.

Thanks,
Reid