[HELP] Converting KiCad PCB's outline into DXF file while keeping the same size

Makerspace Making keyboards
1

Some time ago I tried to convert the outline of the K-Type PCB into a DXF file, so I can make a fork of it to support ISO layouts. Problem is that when I tried to do that, the resulting DXF file was for a PCB some tens of meters wide, instead of tens of centimeters.

Can anyone help me here? The KiCad files can be found on Input:Club’s Github.

2

Get the latest nightly build of KiCAD. It has STEP export which works really well. From there you can either bring it directly into your CAD program or use something like Fusion360 to create the DXF from a face if that’s what you need.

3

Trying that right now. If that works on Fusion 360 (which I’m learning to use for some time now) it will be of great help. Thank you!

4

Follow-up: my GPD Pocket took 15 minutes (!!!) to convert the K-Type PCB into a STEP file. At home I uploaded it into Fusion 360. But because it is a 3d object I couldn’t directly convert it into DXF, so I:

  1. made a drawing from the 3d object inside Fusion 360
  2. converted the drawing into PDF
  3. used an online converter to change it from PDF to DXF
  4. opened the DXF in QCAD and checked the dimensions. They were wrong, the drawing was reduced by a factor of 25.4 - not coincidentally that’s the conversion factor between Imperial and metric units (1 inch = 25.4mm)
  5. used QCAD to resize the DXF.

Finally I got the drawings right! (Well, there’s a 4 micrometers error as a matter of fact, but I can live with that. :stuck_out_tongue:)