Struggling to find the right footprints

[sebastian.pearson]

I'm asking this as I'm wondering whether there is some library that is widely available that I'm missing, or if there is some other way to access some PCB parts I'm thinking of using for a design. I cannot find some parts that seems like they should be very widely available for ECAD software, for example female pin headers (like https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/pcb-sockets/7655745/?cm_mmc=UK-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-CSS_UK_EN_Connecto... - I can't find any of these on F360, I'm looking for a 18x2 socket), male 18x2 socket (on F360 I found 10x2 and 20x2, but nothing inbetween these), and single pin screw terminals. I also looked for these products on snapEDA but to no avail. 

Do I need to make these parts myself, or is there some faster way to get access to them? also is there a general process I should go through when looking for such parts? Sorry if I've missed something, I'm quite new to all this.

[RichardHammerl]

Hi @sebastian.pearson ,

thank you for your participation in our forum and your question. 

There is a pinhead library available in library.io. If you do not find it listed in your ADD dialog, open the Library manager, goto the Available tab and search for pinhead.lbr and use it. 

Hope this helps.

[sebastian.pearson]

Hi Richard, thank you for your reply. I wasn't aware of the pinhead library so thanks for the help there. 

Unfortunately, I still can't find the female version (i.e. as in  https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/pcb-sockets/7655745/?cm_mmc=UK-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-CSS_UK_EN_Connecto...) or the single screw terminal. do you  have any tips for finding those?

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @sebastian.pearson ,

I hope you're doing well. In a pinch the male header footprint will work since on the PCB they use the same footprint. Additionally, check out the package generator in the library since it can create these types of headers with very little effort.

When searching for parts in Fusion360 the best recommendation I can give is to use wildcards * and ? liberally. Don't search for a full part number put a portion of the part number and then add wildcards. So for example, instead of searching for LM555, search for *555*. A future release of Fusion is going to simplify this considerably.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[sebastian.pearson]

Thanks Jorge, I didn't know about the option for using wildcard characters, that might help me in the future so thanks for that. I managed to find a female header socket but went for the male one like you said in the end anyway, as the copper pads were slightly larger so it would be easier to solder.