Max page size too small

[Ron Burkey]

The maximum page size (48"x48" as defined by "#define MAX_PAGE_SIZE 48000" in include/page_info.h) is too small.

My group (http://www.ibiblio.org/apollo) is preparing to convert hundreds of very old electrical schematics (from the Apollo Project in the 1960's) into KiCad, and then providing the KiCad schematics online for Apollo scholars and enthusiasts. But some of those old schematics are J-size, with the largest I've seen so far being 100"x34".

If MAX_PAGE_SIZE could be changed to something >100000, such as 120000, it would be very helpful. Otherwise, our conversion project is unlikely to proceed using KiCAD.

Thanks!

[Seth Hillbrand (sethh)]

That's only used in the page layout example. We should update it. But right now, you should be able to select paper size A0, which is approximately the same and american J size.

Does this work for you?

[Ron Burkey (rburkey)]

On 08/03/2018 01:51 PM, Seth Hillbrand wrote:
> That's only used in the page layout example. We should update it. But
> right now, you should be able to select paper size A0, which is
> approximately the same and american J size.
>
> Does this work for you?
>
Yes and no. According to Wikipedia, A0 is 33.1 x 46.8 in, whereas J is
34 x X (where X is variable). I have sizes up to 34x100 in. So in that
respect it's not adequate.

However, I wasn't aware when I filed the problem report that the
limitation was only in the page layout editor. I have since recompiled
a version of KiCad with an upper limit of 120 inches in order to
continue making my page layouts, and if the page-size limitation won't
actually affect schematic editing when using our custom page layouts,
then KiCad will be fine for our purposes.

As an outsider, I still think that bumping the limit upward is a good
idea. :-)

Thanks!

[jean-pierre charras (jp-charras)]

The 48" x 48" max size is a reasonable max size in Pcbnew to avoid overflow in calculations,
due to the internal units set to 1 nanometer.

Gerbview, Eeschema and page layout editor, having bigger internal units, can manage bigger page sizes.

Because a page having a size of 120" will be not easy to print or edit, perhaps you should consider using a (flat?) hierarchy instead of only one large page.

[Ron Burkey (rburkey)]

On 08/04/2018 01:10 AM, jean-pierre charras wrote:
> Gerbview, Eeschema and page layout editor, having bigger internal units,
> can manage bigger page sizes.
>
> Because a page having a size of 120" will be not easy to print or edit,
> perhaps you should consider using a (flat?) hierarchy instead of only
> one large page.
>
Thanks for the suggestion. The nature of the project is presentation of
historical electrical drawings (on scans or paper, from the Apollo
Project) into CAD files, in a way that preserves not only their
electrical characteristics but the details of their appearance to the
extent possible. Therefore, details like paper size, division into
pages, etc., are not under our control; they were decided 50 years ago.

It seems to me that this is an important way in which an open-source
schematic editor can be used, though obviously if you haven't received
complaints like mine before it must not be something that too many
people are doing with it. :-)

[KiCad Janitor (kicad-janitor)]

Fixed in revision 0902bbabc5cc4ca73fe1eaf5b20e17180a7ded6e
https://git.launchpad.net/kicad/patch/?id=0902bbabc5cc4ca73fe1eaf5b20e17180a7ded6e

[Ron Burkey (rburkey)]

That's lovely, thank you!