Learn PCB Canvas
Seven parts, from first concepts to a four-layer radio board. Start at the top; each part assumes only the ones before it. If the app isn’t on your iPad yet, install the beta first. It takes about two minutes.
Every screenshot comes from a scripted run of the steps on the page, against the real app. Where the app has a limitation, the guide says what it is and what to do instead.
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1
→Orientation · 10 min read
Know the workspace
What a PCB is, what each part of the screen does, and the six terms the other guides use. No experience assumed.
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2
→First board · ~15 min
A tiny Li-ion charger
Place a charger chip, accept its required components, route the connections, and export manufacturing files.
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3
→First board, part two · ~10 min
Finish the charger
The same board, routed by the auto-router. Preview what it wants to do, then apply it in one tap.
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4
→Workflow · 10 min
Bring your KiCad board
Open a .kicad_pcb, edit it, export a copy. The original file is never written to.
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5
→Technique · ~15 min
Routing
Drawing traces by touch, the Legal Grid, net guides, differential pairs and length matching.
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6
→Full build · ~45 min
Build a Heltec LoRa clone
Five chips on four layers: an ESP32-S3, a LoRa radio, USB, charging and a display header, through to fab files.
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7
→Manufacturing · 10 min
Send it to fabrication
Check the Problems list, then export Gerbers, drill files, a BOM with LCSC numbers, and placement data.
Reference
Short pages, one task each. Same rules as the path: real controls, stated limitations.
Build a Bluetooth speaker board
Rebuild a cheap Bluetooth speaker board (Jieli AC6969D + 8002 amplifier) on two layers, from a blank board to Gerbers.
Gallery
Real boards made with the app and its router, with exactly what the app did on each.
Install the beta
Install the app through TestFlight. Takes about two minutes. Start here if it isn’t on your iPad yet.
Copper pours
Pour copper on any net, set priority and thermal relief, reshape by corners.
Keepouts
Mark regions where copper may not go, and have placement and routing obey them.
Edit, add and draw pads
Change a pad's size, shape or layers; add and remove pads; promote drawn shapes to copper.
Exact position and rotation
Type coordinates and angles instead of nudging.
Differential pairs & length tuning
Route coupled pairs with a live achieved-vs-target readout; match lengths where timing matters.
Net guides
Draw the path you want a net to take; the copper follows, and keeps following.
Layer focus
See one layer's work without losing the board: All, Focus, Isolate.
Copy, paste and mirror
Duplicate work across a board, or across boards, and flip parts to the other side without drift.
Selecting things
Copper-first taps, marquee, filters, get the object you meant.
DRC exclusions
Accept a finding you've judged, reversibly, and always counted.
Stackup & impedance targets
Choose layer count and declare impedance intent where the geometry lives.
Measuring & snapping
Check distances in Measure mode; read the alignment labels while you drag.
What it won't do (yet)
The honest list: capabilities that aren't built, read-only, or deliberately refused.
Done with the path? Everything here works on any KiCad board, and the editor is free.