Cache page layout and maybe 3D models in KiCad projects

[Seppe Stas]

A copy of each used footprint (aka module) is stored in kicad_pcb files and schematic symbols get stored in a project's cache.lib file. This means bot layouts and schematics can be opened withouth requiring the used libraries.

However, the page layout is not cached anywhere in the project, so if a custom page layout is used, opening the project without having the same page layout on the same location will cause the default page layout to be used. 3D models assigned to modules also do not get stored in the project, meaning showing a 3D render of a project without having the 3D models library causes the models not to be rendered.

This makes KiCad projects less stand-alone, which is especially problematic for automated plotting systems since it's very hard to know what version of a library was used.

IMO having at least the page layout cached in the project makes a lot of sense. This is especially useful when e.g automatically generating schematic PDF files that contain a company's logo in the page layout.

Since 3D models tend to be a lot bigger, caching them might be harder to justify. Maybe having the option to do so would be a nice solution?

The end goal would be to have stand-alone readable projects that can always be plotted/rendered in the same way, producing the same result, regardless of any libraries.

[Nick Østergaard (nickoe)]

I have not tested the archive method in the kicad manager lately, but it could be nice it it could package it all in the zip such that even 3d models were embedded.