PosOrient

KiCad plugin for positioning and orientation of footprints

Features

✅ get footprints position and orientation
✅ work interactively, drag footprints and update data table
✅ go on the list to the footprint selected in the PCB editor
✅ set new position, orientation and update PCB editor
✅ work with footprints groups
✅ sort data in the table by the columns
✅ save/open position, orientation configuration files
✅ check log for changes
✅ GUI highlighting and tooltips

Installation

PosOrient is part of the KiCad officiel repository. Simply open KiCad's Plugin and Content Manager, find the plugin in the repository, click Install and finally Apply Pending Changes.

To install the very latest version download the release package from the github on your local drive. Open KiCad and the Plugin and Content Manager. Click button Install from File ... and select the plugin zip package, Apply Pending Changes.

That's it, it's done!

The plugin should be available in the toolbar under the PosOrient icon: or selecting in the menu: Tools -> External Plugins

How to Use the Plugin from KiCad

Create schematic with assigned footprints to the symbols. Open PCB Editor and Update PCB from Schematic.
You can provide the footprints to the PCB Editor by any possible means.

Run the plugin from the toolbar or menu.
If the PCB editor contains footprints, the dialog window of the plugin will display a data table with their details.

Now you can:

• Activate the footprints by clicking on Active column header.
• Sort the table by clicking on column headers.
• Save and make backups of the data at any time.
• Drag footprints directly in the main PCB editor without closing the plugin.
• Update the table after moving footprints using the List button.
• Jump to a footprint selected in the PCB editor using the Selected button.
• Change position/orientation directly in the table — edited cells turn yellow until applied.
• Work with footprints groups create groups of footprints which are active and move them together.
• Apply changes with the Orient button (yellow highlight clears).
• Manipulate saved data in external tools like spreadsheets, then reload it into the table.
• Restore state from logs or saved backups if needed.

The plugin uses tabbed interface with three main sections: File, Single, and Group.

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1. File Tab

This tab is for managing footprint data files.

Button	Description
Open	Load a saved data file containing footprint positions and orientations.
Save As	Save the current footprint data to a new file.
Save	Save the current footprint data to the currently opened file.
Close	Close the plugin window.

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2. Single Tab

This tab is for working with individual footprints.

Button	Description
List	Refresh the table with the latest footprint data from the KiCad PCB Editor.
Selected	Jump to and highlight the footprint currently selected in the PCB editor.
Orient	Apply the edited position/orientation from the table to the selected footprint.

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3. Group Tab

This tab is for working with multiple footprints at once.

Button	Description
List	Refresh the table with the latest footprint data from the KiCad PCB Editor.
Selected	Activate all currently selected footprints for group editing.
Shift dX	Move all selected footprints by a specified distance along the X axis.
Shift dY	Move all selected footprints by a specified distance along the Y axis.
Revers X	Mirror all selected footprints across the X axis.
Revers Y	Mirror all selected footprints across the Y axis.
Rotate	Rotate all selected footprints by a specified angle (degrees). Positive values rotate counterclockwise.
Orient	Apply the edited positions/orientations to all selected footprints.

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