The KiCad project is proud to announce the release of version 5.1.0. This is the first ever minor version release of KiCad and was developed primarily to resolve compatibility issues with Linux GTK3 and long awaited support for python3.

In addition to the primary focus, there have been many important changes that make this release a substantial improvement over the 5.0 series and a worthwhile upgrade for users on all platforms. Included in the improvements are:

Improved 3D model library path configuration.

Cairo canvas is now used for printing support on all platforms.

Schematic and symbol library editors now use the modern canvases for rendering.

Symbol pin table is now editable.

Pcbnew scripting support for Python 3 has been added.

Snapping for graphical object drawing in board and footprint editors.

Significant user interface improvements.

Major dialog box improvements.

Both the footprint and symbol library editors now share the same user interface paradigm with a library tree view pane.

Symbol, footprint, and 3D model library improvements.

Documentation and translation improvements.

Less pain for Linux package maintainers, now all features should be easy to support.

Additionally, files created by KiCad version 5.1 remain 100% compatible with files created by version 5.0.

Of course no new stable version of KiCad would be complete without many, many bug fixes so please consider upgrading as soon as possible. This version will be the only supported version of KiCad moving forward. There will be no further releases of the 5.0 series.

Version 5.1.0 is built from the source code in the lp:kicad/5.1 branch.

KiCad binaries will be available for download for Windows, MacOS, and Linux are available or will be in the very near future. See the KiCad download page for guidance.

Thank you to all developers, packagers, librarians, document writers, translators, and everyone else who helped make this release possible. We hope you enjoy the latest release of KiCad.