What files do you need to send to someone so that they can fully load and use your KiCad project? When you have a KiCad project to share with somebody, it is important that the schematic file .sch, the board file .kicadpcb, the project file .pro and the netlist file .net, are sent together with both the schematic parts file .lib and the footprints file .kicadmod. Only this way will people have total freedom to modify the schematic and the board. With KiCad schematics, people need the .lib files that contain the symbols. Those library files need to be loaded in the Eeschema preferences. On the other hand, with boards (.kicadpcb files), footprints can be stored inside the .kicadpcb file. You can send someone a .kicadpcb file and nothing else, and they would still be able to look at and edit the board. However, when they want to load components from a netlist, the footprint libraries (.kicadmod files) need to be present and loaded in the Pcbnew preferences just as for schematics. Also, it is necessary to load the .kicadmod files in the preferences of Pcbnew in order for those footprints to show up in Cvpcb. If someone sends you a .kicadpcb file with footprints you would like to use in another board, you can open the Footprint Editor, load a footprint from the current board, and save or export it into another footprint library. You can also export all the footprints from a .kicadpcb file at once via Pcbnew → File → Archive → Footprints → Create footprint archive, which will create a new .kicadmod file with all the board’s footprints. Bottom line, if the PCB is the only thing you want to distribute, then the board file .kicadpcb is enough. However, if you want to give people the full ability to use and modify your schematic, its components and the PCB, it is highly recommended that you zip and send the following project directory: tutorial1/ |– tutorial1.pro |– tutorial1.sch |– tutorial1.kicadpcb

-- gerber/

  |-- ...
  \-- ...

This has been a quick guide on most of the features in KiCad. For more detailed instructions consult the help files which you can access through each KiCad module. Click on Help → Manual. KiCad comes with a pretty good set of multi-language manuals for all its four software components. The English version of all KiCad manuals are distributed with KiCad. In addition to its manuals, KiCad is distributed with this tutorial, which has been translated into other languages. All the different versions of this tutorial are distributed free of charge with all recent versions of KiCad. This tutorial as well as the manuals should be packaged with your version of KiCad on your given platform. For example, on Linux the typical locations are in the following directories, depending on your exact distribution: /usr/share/doc/kicad/help/en/ /usr/local/share/doc/kicad/help/en On Windows it is in: <installation directory>/share/doc/kicad/help/en On OS X: /Library/Application Support/kicad/help/en

Latest KiCad documentations are available in multiple languages on the Web. http://kicad-pcb.org/help/documentation/