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In many CAD tools there is usually a hotkey or modifier to constrain movement to an axis, or 30/56/60/90 degree angles.

Is there a key to constrain movement in this way in the KiCad footprint editor? My use case is to move the Footprint courtyard clear of the pins for a component.

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The Ctrl key works as the constrain key after selecting the point to move. On Linux, nightly build, this constrains to 0-45-90 degrees.

You will need to set the View canvas to OpenGL or Cairo.

Edit for Version 6.0:

Constraining movement is now a state that is set rather than a modifier key. You can set/unset the state by using the hotkey combination Shift + Space

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Hmm - thanks for answering so quickly. I tried that (before and after). I'm on the Windows build - V4.0.5. I've tried it on a label, moving an edge, placing a polyline - and none seem to do it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Danny Staple
    Commented Jan 9, 2017 at 23:24
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    \$\begingroup\$ Hmm...Check that you are in either Cairo or OpenGL canvas. The legacy doesn't have this feature that I can tell. Also, it only works for lines/edges. Moving text is unconstrained as far as I can tell. \$\endgroup\$
    – Seth
    Commented Jan 9, 2017 at 23:27
  • \$\begingroup\$ Interesting - in OpenGL/Cairo - when I place lines- CTRL sets them to routing 0/45/90. It doesn't effect dragging labels or lines, however - another feature is that in OpenGL and Cairo - it is far more "sticky" on the original alignment - so dragging in only one axis works. \$\endgroup\$
    – Danny Staple
    Commented Jan 9, 2017 at 23:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ Unfortunately this does not seem to work in KiCAD 6 anymore. \$\endgroup\$
    – jpa
    Commented Dec 19, 2021 at 12:03
  • \$\begingroup\$ @jpa I've updated the answer for v6 \$\endgroup\$
    – Seth
    Commented Dec 19, 2021 at 16:52

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