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Placing Components (Symbols)

Components in the schematic are symbol instances from loaded libraries. This page covers loading libraries, finding symbols, placing them, and editing their properties.

Loading Symbol Libraries

Before placing components, load at least one symbol library:

  1. Make sure a Schematic tab is active (the Library panel shows symbols)
  2. In the Library panel, click Load Symbols…
  3. Select one or more KiCad symbol files (.kicad_sym)
  4. WireFrame parses the library in the background
  5. Once complete, symbol names appear in the list

While loading: - The panel shows a status line: Loading: Parsing symbols… - Any parsing errors are shown in the Logger after completion

Quick search

Type in the filter box at the top of the Library panel. For example: type STM32 to filter MCUs, R_06 for 0603 resistors, LED for LEDs.

Free KiCad libraries

Download from https://www.kicad.org/libraries/ — WireFrame is fully compatible.

Placing a Symbol

Workflow:

  1. Type in the filter box to narrow the list (e.g. R_0603)
  2. Double-click the symbol name (e.g. R_0603, MCU_STM32, C_0805)
  3. The canvas enters placement mode:
    • The symbol preview follows the cursor, semi-transparent
    • Snaps automatically to the grid
  4. Left-click to place the symbol at the current position
  5. The component is placed and you return to Select mode

Each placed component has:

Property Example Description
Designator R1, U3 Unique identifier — auto-incremented or editable
Value 10kΩ, 100nF Electrical value
Footprint R_0603_1608Metric Associated PCB footprint package

Editing Designators and Values

After placing a component, click it to select. The Properties panel shows editable fields:

Field Description Note
Designator Unique identifier (e.g. R1 → R2) Updating this remaps all connected wires
Value Electrical value (e.g. 10kΩ, 100nF) Appears on the schematic and in the BOM
Comment Optional note Free-form text
Footprint PCB package name Required for PCB conversion

Designator remapping

When you change a designator (e.g. U1 → U3), WireFrame automatically updates: - The component ID in the internal registry - All wires that were connected to the old ID - Any selection sets referencing the component

All changes fully support Undo (Ctrl+Z).

Rotating Components

With one or more components selected:

  • Press R (or context menu → Rotate)
  • The component rotates 90° per keypress
  • Connected wires automatically adjust to the new pin positions

Rotation is fully undoable and redoable.

Moving Components

  1. Select one or more components (click or drag a selection box)
  2. Click and drag to move them on the canvas
  3. Connected wires update in real time to follow the pin positions

On mouse release: - A move command is recorded, storing both old and new positions - Undo (Ctrl+Z) restores everything — components and wires — to their previous state

Deleting Components

  1. Select the component(s)
  2. Press Del or context menu → Delete
  3. The component and all its connected wires are removed

Undo (Ctrl+Z) restores the deleted components and wires.

Copy, Cut, Paste

Operation Shortcut Behavior
Copy Ctrl+C Copies components and wires with relative positions
Cut Ctrl+X Copies then removes the selection
Paste Ctrl+V Places copies at the cursor, assigns new IDs to avoid conflicts

During paste: - New component IDs are generated (e.g. R1 → R5) to avoid duplicates - Wire pin attachments are remapped to the new IDs - The pasted group follows the cursor until you click to place

See Also