Import Formats
Import Formats
This section documents the third-party file formats that KiCad can import. Each page describes the file format structure, record and field definitions, version-specific behavior, and areas where the format is not yet fully understood. This information is intended for developers working on import code or writing third-party tools that produce files compatible with these formats.
Importer Capability Overview
| Format | Schematic | PCB | Library | Project | File Encoding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Allegro |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Binary |
Altium |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Binary (CFB) |
CADSTAR |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Text (S-expression) |
Eagle |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
XML |
EasyEDA |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
JSON / ZIP+JSONL |
Fabmaster |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Delimited text |
gEDA / Lepton EDA |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Line-oriented text |
LTspice |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
Line-oriented text |
PADS |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Section-based text |
P-CAD |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
Text (S-expression) |
- AllegroSummary Import support for Cadence Allegro binary PCB files.
- AltiumSummary Technical reference for Altium Designer file formats as parsed by the KiCad importer.
- CADSTARSummary Import support for Zuken CADSTAR schematic and PCB archives.
- EagleSummary Technical documentation of the Autodesk Eagle XML file format as parsed by KiCad’s import infrastructure.
- EasyEDASummary Import support for EasyEDA Standard and EasyEDA Pro schematics and boards.
- FabmasterSummary Import support for Mentor Graphics Fabmaster PCB extraction files.
- gEDA / Lepton EDASummary Technical reference for gEDA and Lepton EDA schematic and PCB file formats as parsed by the KiCad importer.
- LTspiceSummary Import support for LTspice schematic files.
- P-CADSummary Import support for P-CAD ASCII PCB layout files.
- PADSSummary Import support for Mentor PADS ASCII schematic and PCB layout files.