kicad-panelize

Skill for PCB panelization

Setup

Ensure KiKit is installed with kikit --version

Check this installations resources/panelizePresets/default.json and panelize_ui_sections.py before adding parameters, these are the way, the truth, and the light.

Usage

• Find the source .kicad_pcb requsted by the user
• Inspect its actual board files, Edge.Cuts, copper layers, pads and components that may interesect board edges to identify items like castellations, edge connectors, antennas, plated edges, etc.
• Resolve grid dimensions, spacing, rotation, tabs, separation, frame, and fabricator limits.
• Position tooling holes and fiducials relative to the panel outline
• Write strict json.
• Generate a versioned panel without overwriting the source in a "build" subdirectory
• Check the generated panel before notifying the user, ensuring that it looks proper from the baord file level as well as in render.

Preferred starting values

• Board routing gap: 2mm
• Tab width: 3mm
• Mouse-bite drill: 0.5mm
• Mouse-bite spacing: 0.8mm
• Mouse-bite offset: 0mm
• Full frame width: 5mm
• Frame-to-array clearance: 2mm
• Frame break cuts: none
• Exterior frame radius: 2mm
• Interior routing radius: 0.25mm
• Tooling: three 1.5mm holes
• Tooling stencil apertures: enabled
• Fiducials: three, 1mm copper with 1mm openings
• Fiducial paste apertures: disabled

KiKit behavior

• source.type: "auto" is appropriate for an ordinary single-board file.

• tabs.type: "spacing" places tabs symmetrically and cannot exclude a particular side.

• With fixed tabs:

  • hcount controls tabs projecting from left/right edges.
  • vcount controls tabs projecting from top/bottom edges.
  • A zero count suppresses that pair of directions.

• Use annotation tabs when only selected segments or one side must be excluded.

• Protected tab directions must be derived from each board’s geometry and rotation. Never hardcode “bottom” or “right” as a universal rule.

• The global mouse-bite cut method processes every generated cut path, including framing.cuts.

• Therefore, framing.cuts: "both" with mouse bites drills break rows through the rails.

• Use framing.cuts: "none" for a continuous frame.

• Tooling and fiducial offsets are measured inward from the panel’s outer edges.

• To center a feature across a 5 mm frame, use a 2.5 mm perpendicular offset.

• Tooling holes and fiducials with identical counts and offsets overlap. Separate them along the rail.

• paste: true means the feature gets an aperture on the stencil paste layers. It does not control whether a drilled hole is visible.

• framing.fillet rounds exterior panel corners.

• post.millradius rounds concave interior routed corners.

• post.reconstructarcs: true produces real Edge.Cuts arcs instead of dense line-segment approximations.

Useful commands

python3 -m json.tool panelize.json kikit panelize -p panelize.json input.kicad_pcb output-panel.kicad_pcb

Dump the fully merged KiKit configuration with:

kikit panelize -p panelize.json -d resolved.json input.kicad_pcb output-panel.kicad_pcb

Render and open it with:

kicad-cli pcb render
--output panel-top.png
--width 1600
--height 1200
--side top
--background opaque
--quality high
panel.kicad_pcb

kicad-cli pcb render
--output panel-iso.png
--width 1600
--height 1200
--perspective
--rotate 325,0,35
panel.kicad_pcb