> > Hi, > what is the recommended way to deal with different footprints for the > same sort of device? e.g. an opamp may be DIP8 or SO8. A resistor may be > 0603, 0805, 1208, or with wires.
Everybody does this differently. I typically draw almost all my footprints and keep them in a local directory. Then I draw the schematic and attach the footprints attributes with gattrib. Gattrib makes it easy to bulk edit your schematic attributes, so changing footprints is easy. It is part of the standard gEDA/gaf installation. Some info from the wiki about dealing with footprints, and getting their names: http://geda.seul.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=geda:pcb_tips#i_want_to_use_pcb_to_do_layout._how_do_i_know_what_value_to_use_for_the_footprint_attribute > In protel there is a list of possible footprints that is associated with > every symbol. That way you only have to choose between a few preselected > footprints instead of the whole library. This is the old "light" vs. "heavy" footprint issue which Phil alluded to: http://geda.seul.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=geda:faq-gschem#what_s_this_business_about_heavy_vs._light_symbols gEDA will likely remain a "light" footprint system unless an advocate of "heavy" footprints takes the time and effort to incorporate a footprint attribute browser directly into gschem and gattrib. However, some folks have produced "heavy" footprint libraries which they have been known to share if you ask nicely on the list. Stuart
