Add blog post: LibrePCB 1.2.0 Released (#87)

content/blog/2024-12-01_release_1.2.0/index.adoc

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+---
+date: 2024-12-01
+title: LibrePCB 1.2.0 Released
+author: U. Bruhin
+---
+
+I'm happy to announce that LibrePCB 1.2.0 has been released today! Beside
+various general improvements and bugfixes, it contains a lot of new powerful
+features to increase productivity. See the highlights & full changelog below.
+
+Highlights
+----------
+
+KiCad Library Import (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1468[#1468])
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+It's not a secret that KiCad is the most popular EDA tool in the open-hardware
+community, and therefore many LibrePCB users worked with KiCad before.
+To help them getting started with LibrePCB, we implemented an importer for
+KiCad libraries so those already created library elements don't need to be
+created again with LibrePCB.
+
+In addition, even non-KiCad users could use this feature to import library
+elements from publicly available KiCad libraries instead of creating them
+manually. Thanks to the large KiCad community, there are a lot of such
+libraries! 😀
+
+[.imageblock.rounded-window.window-border]
+{{< imglink "KiCad Library Import" "kicad-library-import.gif" >}}
+
+[WARNING]
+====
+Due to the complexity of such imports, there are some limitations and the
+quality of the output never matches manually created elements. Please check
+out the details and usage recommendations
+https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1468[here].
+====
+
+Datasheet Overlay for Footprints (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1450[#1450])
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Drawing footprints can be error-prone -- one wrong X- or Y coordinate of a pad
+and the package might not be solderable. To review your footprints more easily,
+the footprint editor allows you to set the package drawing from a datasheet
+as background image, so you'll immediately see if any pad of polygon is off.
+
+The image can either be directly captured as a screenshot, pasted from the
+clipboard, or loaded from a file:
+
+[.imageblock.rounded-window.window-border]
+{{< imglink "Datasheet Overlay" "datasheet-overlay.gif" >}}
+
+Open Datasheets From Schematic (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1460[#1460])
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+[.right.ms-3]
+image:datasheet-context-menu.png[width=330]
+
+Circuit design means reading datasheets a lot. For most parts more complex than
+a resistor or capacitor, you need to read its datasheet or other documentation.
+
+Therefore the library editor now allows you to add datasheet URLs to components
+and devices. Those will then be available in the context menu in the schematic
+editor for easy access. In addition, parts which have an MPN & manufacturer
+specified also offer a _Search datasheet_ menu item which will look
+for a datasheet in the Internet.
+
+Whenever possible, datasheets are downloaded and opened with the local PDF
+reader. They are cached to keep them available without accessing the Internet
+again.
+
+Specctra DSN Export / SES Import (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1457[#1457])
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+From time to time people ask whether LibrePCB contains an autorouter. Though
+there are different opinions about whether autorouters are useful or not, and
+even though LibrePCB still doesn't have one built-in, luckily you can now use
+an external autorouter like https://freerouting.org/[Freerouting] for LibrePCB
+boards!
+
+This is possible by supporting the Specctra DSN/SES exchange format,
+which also allows routing a LibrePCB board _manually_ with an external tool
+to circumvent the still rudimentary integrated trace routing tools.
+
+[.imageblock.rounded-window.window-border]
+{{< imglink "Specctra Export/Import" "specctra-export-import.gif" >}}
+
+Productivity Improvements
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+In addition to the already mentioned features, there have been several more
+noteworthy features implemented which increase productivity a lot:
+
+- Mass import symbol pins from datasheets
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1431[#1431])
+- Move & align multiple footprint objects at once
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1432[#1432])
+- Interactively re-number pads of a footprint
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1433[#1433])
+- Copy properties from one footprint object to other objects
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1412[#1412])
+- Much faster DRC & plane rebuilding
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1459[#1459])
+
+[TIP]
+====
+For instructions how to use these new features, please check out the
+corresponding links which provide short videos. It's really worth getting
+to know those features!
+====
+
+Dark Theme on Windows (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1391[#1391])
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Thanks to a contribution from https://github.com/mi4code[mi4code], LibrePCB
+on Windows now automatically uses a dark theme if Windows itself is set to
+a dark theme. Also for macOS and Linux (which already supported dark theme)
+there are some dark theme improvements and fixes.
+
+[.imageblock.window-border]
+{{< imglink "Dark Theme" "dark-theme.png" >}}
+
+Important Deployment Changes
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Please note that for this release we had to make some changes to our deployment:
+
+[WARNING]
+====
+Windows 7/8/32-bit::
+  From this release on, only 64-bit Windows 10 or later are supported.
+  Windows 7 & 8 and all 32-bit Windows versions are not supported anymore. See
+  link:{{< relref "blog/2024-04-03_release_1.1.0/index.adoc" >}}[LibrePCB 1.1.0 release notes]
+  for details. Note that when
+  https://librepcb.org/docs/installation/build-from-sources/[building LibrePCB from sources],
+  these limitations do not exist (yet).
+
+Windows Installer::
+  We migrated to a new Windows installer framework, which now supports
+  offline- and unattended installations. If you had LibrePCB installed with
+  the old online installer, the new installer should automatically ask you to
+  uninstall the old version.
+
+MacOS::
+  Our official releases now require macOS 13 or later to run. Older macOS
+  versions are still supported if you
+  https://librepcb.org/docs/installation/build-from-sources/[build LibrePCB from sources].
+
+CLI::
+  Note that the macOS bundle and the Linux AppImage of the LibrePCB application
+  now also contain the CLI, thus there's no longer a separate CLI bundle
+  provided.
+====
+
+---
+
+Changelog
+---------
+
+Library Editor:
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Implement KiCad library import
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1468[#1468])
+- Symbol editor: Support mass import of pins through clipboard
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1431[#1431])
+- Package editor: Support displaying datasheet image overlay
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1450[#1450])
+- Package editor: Add tool to move & align objects
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1432[#1432])
+- Package editor: Add tool to interactively re-number pads
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1433[#1433])
+- Package editor: Support copying properties to other objects
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1412[#1412])
+- Package editor: Support uppercase STEP file suffixes
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1422[#1422])
+- Package check: Warn about thin silkscreen lines
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1415[#1415])
+- Component editor: Automatically set gate suffixes
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1464[#1464])
+- Component editor: Fix conflicting component signal names
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1463[#1463])
+- Component check: Warn about missing pin-signal connections
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1466[#1466])
+- Symbol/package check: Warn about non-centered symbols/packages
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1467[#1467])
+- Eagle import: Fix unreadable log messages with dark theme
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1451[#1451])
+
+Schematic Editor:
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Ask for swapping component names when renaming
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1411[#1411])
+- Support adding components with multiline value
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1430[#1430])
+- Fix random component name order after paste
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1423[#1423])
+
+Board Editor:
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Display component signal names in pads
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1465[#1465])
+- Link "no device or package found" message to FAQ
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1421[#1421])
+- Fix DRC settings not copied when copying whole board
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/commit/7b997c53eaf31be58349bb00fe7dea68e5c29218[7b997c53])
+- Fix swapped DRC settings for NPTH/PTH slots
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/commit/167214c17975173a521db90d623167edae9f7620[167214c1])
+
+DRC:
+~~~~
+
+- Fix false-positive board<->copper clearance errors
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1442[#1442])
+
+Import/Export:
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Implement Specctra DSN export / SES import
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1457[#1457])
+- STEP export: Include all PCB outlines, if multiple
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1392[#1392])
+- STEP export: Fix possibly wrong placement of devices
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1401[#1401])
+
+Miscellaneous:
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- Implement automatic dark theme for Windows
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1391[#1391])
+- Support specifying & opening datasheets in editors
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1460[#1460])
+- Refactor & speed up plane rebuilds & DRC with multithreading
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1459[#1459])
+- Delete old temporary files at application startup
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1452[#1452])
+- Qt6: Fix temporarily closing windows when opening 3D viewer
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1381[#1381])
+- Windows: Fix encoding issues in auto-detected full user name
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1382[#1382])
+- Fix possibly wrong language of theme color names
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1389[#1389])
+- Fix colors of BOM/PnP table rows with dark theme
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1407[#1407])
+- Fix zero-length traces/lines not being rendered
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1441[#1441])
+- Fix deserialization of pressfit pads
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1444[#1444])
+- Fix OpenGL 3D viewers for Qt > 6.6
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1469[#1469])
+- Fix possibly laggy UI when worker threads are running
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1408[#1408])
+- Replace pick&place icon from Icons8
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1395[#1395])
+
+Building/Packaging/Deployment:
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+- MacOS: Ship the CLI in the same bundle as the GUI app
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1378[#1378])
+- MacOS: Build binaries with macOS 13
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1438[#1438])
+- Linux: Ship the CLI in the same AppImage as the GUI app
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1380[#1380])
+- Use Qt6 by default & remove Qt5 CI jobs
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1377[#1377])
+- Drop support for Qt < 5.12 and CMake < 3.16
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1385[#1385])
+- Snap/Flatpak: Fix opening keyboard shortcuts PDF
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1383[#1383])
+- Fix compile error in `libs/optional` with Clang 19.x
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1456[#1456])
+- Windows: Fix compile error caused by OpenGL headers
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/commit/058ccaf806f90cb8ea59334e6e97f679dc581dee[058ccaf8])
+- Fix license identifier in AppStream Metainfo XML
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1384[#1384])
+- Update REUSE copyright metadata
+  (https://github.com/LibrePCB/LibrePCB/pull/1404[#1404])
+
+---
+
+Credits
+-------
+
+[.right.ms-3]
+image:nlnet-ngi0.png[link="https://nlnet.nl/project/LibrePCB/",width=130]
+
+This release was part of the
+link:{{< relref "blog/2024-10-17_roadmap_2.0/index.adoc" >}}[NGI0 Commons grant]
+we receive from link:https://nlnet.nl[NLnet], which was a huge help for us
+to get this work done. We are very thankful for their support.
+
+Also a big thank you to our link:{{< relref "sponsors/index.adoc" >}}[sponsors]
+and to the community helping us with translations, pull requests, donations
+and other contributions! icon:tada[]
+
+---
+
+Download
+--------
+
+The release can be downloaded for all major operating systems from our
+link:{{< relref "download/index.adoc" >}}[download page].
+
+If you like LibrePCB, please consider making a small
+link:{{< relref "donate/index.adoc" >}}[donation] to support the
+ongoing development. +
+Thank you! icon:heart[]