The KiCad project is proud to announce the release of version 5.1.0. This is the first ever minor version release of KiCad and was developed primarily to resolve compatibility issues with Linux GTK3 and long awaited support for python3. In addition to the primary focus, there have been many important changes that make this release a substantial improvement over the 5.0 series and a worthwhile upgrade for users on all platforms.

The KiCad project is excited to announce the first ever KiCad Conference (KiCon) in Chicago from April 26th through the 27th. The conference will be held at the mHub. This conference is geared towards KiCad users. There will be lots of talks from users of all skill levels as well as some of the members of the KiCad Lead Development Team. The conference keynote talk will be given by the KiCad project leader.

The KiCad project is proud to announce the latest series 5 stable release of KiCad. The 5.0.2 stable version contains critical bug fixes and other minor improvements since the 5.0.1 release. It also includes improved footprint, symbol, and 3D model libraries, translations, and documentation. A list of all of the fixed bugs since the 5.0.1 release can be found on the KiCad 5.0.2 milestone page. This release contains several critical bug fixes so please consider upgrading as soon as possible.

The KiCad project is proud to announce the latest series 5 stable release of KiCad. The 5.0.1 stable version contains critical bug fixes and other minor improvements since the 5.0.0 release. It also includes improved footprint, symbol, and 3D model libraries, translations, and documentation. A list of all of the fixed bugs since the 5.0.0 release can be found on the KiCad 5.0.1 milestone page. This release contains several critical bug fixes so please consider upgrading as soon as possible.

The KiCad project recently merged the Eeschema modern canvas code into the development branch. This represents a significant change in the way the schematics and symbols are rendered by using the same modern canvas code used in Pcbnew. The schematic and symbol editing tools will not use the advanced tool framework used in Pcbnew so there will be no new editing features such as advanced selection, snapping, etc. The advanced tool framework features will be introduced into Eeschema during version 6 development.

It is already a week since 5.0 has been released, meaning it is a good moment to sum up the release. Many Windows users have reported problems, most frequently related to wxWidgets assert dialogs showing up in pcbnew. The problem has been resolved, therefore if you still experience any issues please reinstall KiCad using the current Windows installer. There is still one problem that has appeared very late in the 5.

Almost a year after the release of KiCad 4.0.7, the KiCad development team is proud to present a new and improved KiCad 5.0 release! The stable release version 5.0.0 is made from the stable 5.0 branch. KiCad binaries should be available now or in the very near future for download for Windows, macOS and Linux. See the download page for guidance. Instructions for packagers can be found on the download page describing how to build from source .

As of version 5.0.0-rc2 (commit be0978f3 to be precise), there was a change made to the way the template path is determined. The ambiguous environment variable KICAD_PTEMPLATES has been deprecated and replaced by KICAD_TEMPLATE_DIR which by default should point to the template folder installed with KiCad. This path may not always be correct depending upon how KiCad was installed. At least it can be configured by the user if the default path is incorrect.

As of version 5.0.0-rc2 (commit 93c7f65d to be precise), there is a change in way the solder mask and solder paste clearances are determined. For pads defined with copper layers, the solder mask and solder paste clearance calculations remain the same. For pads defined with no copper layers (referred to as aperture pads), the inherited clearance and ratio settings are no longer applied and the pad is plotted as defined.

The KiCad project is proud to announce that the official KiCad libraries are now featured on the KiCad website. The library team has invested a large amount of time improving the standard of the KiCad libraries. As part of this effort, a new set of KiCad Library Conventions (KLC) are now available on the KiCad website at /libraries/klc. These conventions help to ensure that contributions to the libraries are held to a high standard.