Here’s a concise guide to generating Gerber files in KiCad. We’ll start from your open project’s your finished PCB file, in PCBnew.

This guide assumes all layers and elements are correctly placed and connected. It is wise to run DRC (Design Rule Check) to catch any design errors before this step (from the Inspect menu).

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Step One: Open The Plot Window

  • Go to File > Plot. Open Plot Window

Step Two: Configure Your Layer Plots

  • In the Plot window:
    • Set the Output Directory to where you want the Gerber files saved.

    • Choose the layers you want to export (e.g., F.Cu, B.Cu, F.SilkS, B.SilkS, F.Mask, B.Mask, Edge.Cuts). Select Layers

    • Ensure Gerber Options are set:
      • Enable “Use Protel filename extensions”.
      • Enable “Exclude PCB edge layer from other layers”.

Step Three: Plot Your Layers

  • Click the Plot button to generate the Gerber files.

Step Four: Generate Drill Files

  • In the Plot window, click Generate Drill Files. Generate Drills
  • In the Drill Files Generation window:
    • Ensure the Output Directory is correct. It is common practice to include this in the same directory as your gerber files.
    • Select PTH and NPTH in single file.
    • Set other options as needed.
  • Click Generate Drill File.

Step Five: Verify Your Gerbers

  • Use a Gerber viewer (such as GerbView, included with KiCad) to open and check the generated files for accuracy.
  • It is sometimes recommended to use a separate gerber viewer, in order to catch errors that may occur as a result of two programs using the same rendering engine.

Your Gerber files are now ready for manufacturing!