How to make custom pcbs for Fritzing using Inkscape.

Needing to make a fairly simple 2 sided pcbs that was not a standard square or circle variant used in Fritzing I found any info very lacking on the web. Here I hope to show you how to accomplish that fairly painlessly. There are a few examples on how to do but they're old and vague. I hope for the average user this guide will attempt to make it as painless as possible as to show the basics of designing a custom pcb. I will be using Inkscape on a Mac but it should very similar on other os's.

You can download this repository for the .svg file used in this how-to.

You can download Inkscape here:

Step 1.

1.1

Fire up Inkscape and create a new file with no_boarders.

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1.2

Open Document Properties...

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1.3

1. Change Default units to millimeters.
2. Change Units to millimeters.

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1.4

1. Select Grids tab and click New.

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1.5

1. Select Grid.
2. Change Grid Units to millimeters.
3. Choose a Spacing X.
4. Choose a Spacing Y.

Step 2.

2.1

1. Open Layers... up.

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2.2

1. Rename this layer to "board".

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2.3

1. Add a new layer.
2. Name it "silkscreen".
3. Select Below Current.
4. Click Add.

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2.4

1. Add a new layer.
2. Name it "silkscreen0".
3. Select Below Current.
4. Click Add.

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2.5

Now you have three layers. Board layer is the pcb. Silkscreen is the top silkscreen layer and silkscreen0 is the bottom silkscreen layer.

Step 3.

3.1

1. Select "board" layer.
2. Select "Star" tool.
3. Use either one.
4. Select number of corners.
5. Draw pcb shape.

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3.2

1. Set "width" to something reasonable.
2. Set "height" to something reasonable.

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3.3

1. Select shape.
2. Double click Fill.
3. Select flat color.
4. Change color to what you want, light colors work best.

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3.4

1. Select Stroke paint.
2. Make no paint.

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3.5

1. Select Duplicate.

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3.6

1. Select "Layer" and Move Selection to Layer Below.

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3.7

1. Select "silkscreen" layer.
2. Select Duplicate.

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3.8

1. Select "Layer" and Move Selection to Layer Below.

Step 4.

4.1

1. Lock "board" layer.
2. Unlock "silkscreen" layer.
3. Lock "silkscreen0" layer.
4. Select graphic.
5. Select Fill "no paint".

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4.2

1. Select Stroke paint.
2. Set RGBA to "ffffffff".

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4.3

1. Select Stroke style.
2. Set Width to "0.1" mm.

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4.4

1. Lock "board" layer.
2. Lock "silkscreen" layer.
3. Unlock "silkscreen0" layer.
4. Select graphic.
5. Select Fill "no paint".

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4.5

1. Select Stroke paint.
2. Select flat color.
3. Set RGBA to "ffffffff".

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4.6

1. Select Stroke style.
2. Set Width to "0.1" mm.

Step 5.

5.1

1. Select XML Editor....

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5.2

1. Select "silkscreen0" layer.
2. Select "id" Attribute.
3. Change "id" Value to "silkscreen0".
4. Click Set.

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5.3

1. Select "silkscreen" layer.
2. Select "id" Attribute.
3. Change "id" Value to "silkscreen".
4. Click Set.

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5.4

1. Select "board" layer.
2. Select "id" Attribute.
3. Change "id" Value to "board".
4. Click Set.

Step 6.

6.1

1. Select Document Properties....

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6.2

1. Select "page" tab.
2. Select Resize to content....
3. Click Resize page to drawing or selection.

Step 7.

7.1

1. Select Save As....

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7.2

1. Select Plain SVG.

Step 8.

8.1

1. Open Fritzing to PCB tab, select the pcb and click load image file.

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8.2

1. Select .svg file we just made and click Open.

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8.3

Click OK.

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8.4

Now we see the pcb we just created!