Summary： Initiating a project based on an established design.
This year, I began learning KiCad and currently have four shared projects on PCBWay. Recently, I initiated a new project by leveraging an existing one as a template. If you have a working project and wish to base a new design on it, follow these steps:
For example, if your current project is "ProjectA", navigate to the 'MyProjects' directory (in my case, this is located in the Documents folder). Copy the entire ProjectA folder and rename the copy to "ProjectB". Within the ProjectB folder, retain only the following files: ProjectA.kicad.pcb, ProjectA.kicad.sch, and ProjectA.kicad.pro. Rename these files to ProjectB.kicad.pcb, ProjectB.kicad.sch, and ProjectB.kicad.pro respectively.
Next, open ProjectB.kicad.pro to launch the new project and access the schematic. Remove all components except the portion of the circuit you want to keep, save your changes, and update the PCB layout accordingly. Be sure to delete any unused tracks and vias. For reference, I am currently using KiCad version 9.0.4 on Windows 11.
When sharing projects, I upload the KiCad project files as a zip file under “Other files for Assembly” on PCBWay. I also include a template.pdf file to assist with hole drilling. If there is a section of a circuit that you anticipate reusing in multiple projects, consider saving it as a separate project file.
