by Bobbe·Workflow
Images © Bobbe. Used for product review; image policy.
PCB 3D Importer earns its place in the Blender extensions library as a direct bridge from KiCad to Blender, cutting out the manual cleanup between exporting a board and rendering it.
PCB 3D Importer connects KiCad and Blender through the pcb2blender workflow, letting you turn KiCad PCB projects into product renders. In KiCad's pcbnew you press the Export to Blender (.pcb3d) button, then import the file in Blender via File -> Import -> PCB (.pcb3d) and start creating. It handles the cleanup work the process would otherwise require, so your time goes into composing and lighting a scene.
Quick export and import times make it practical to render work-in-progress boards or to refresh renders after last-minute board revisions. The add-on ships with a PCB Shader node setup, and the Add -> Mat4Cad and Add -> Pcb2Blender menus in the Shader Editor let you test different mat4cad materials on your components and PCBs. A File -> Import -> X3D/VRML (.x3d/.wrl) (pcb2blender) option previews how .wrl PCB component models look with the mat4cad materials.
Built by Bobbe, PCB 3D Importer is part of the Blender extensions library and is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. Version 2.17.5 supports Blender 5.1.
PCB 3D Importer is best for kiCad users creating product renders of their PCB projects in Blender.
PCB 3D Importer is completely free to download and use.
PCB 3D Importer supports Blender 5.1, and version 2.17.5 is the release that added that support. Blender 5.2 and above are listed as unsupported. It runs on Windows and Windows Arm, Linux, and macOS on both Apple Silicon and Intel hardware. Once installed, you export a .pcb3d file using the Export to Blender button in KiCad's pcbnew, then bring it into Blender through File -> Import -> PCB (.pcb3d) and begin building your scene.
PCB 3D Importer starts in KiCad: press the Export to Blender (.pcb3d) button in pcbnew to save your board as a .pcb3d file. In Blender, choose File -> Import -> PCB (.pcb3d) to bring it in. From there you can test materials in the Shader Editor via the Add -> Mat4Cad and Add -> Pcb2Blender menus, and preview .wrl component models with the File -> Import -> X3D/VRML (.x3d/.wrl) (pcb2blender) option.
PCB 3D Importer is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later, and it's listed as free here — check the developer's page for current licensing and terms. During use, the add-on requests a single permission: importing .pcb3d files from disk. You can add it to Blender by dragging and dropping the extension in, or by downloading it and installing from disk. It's maintained by Bobbe, a developer based in Berlin.
PCB 3D Importer ships with a PCB Shader node setup and gives you material tools inside Blender's Shader Editor. The Add -> Mat4Cad and Add -> Pcb2Blender menus let you quickly test different mat4cad materials on your components and PCBs. There's also a File -> Import -> X3D/VRML (.x3d/.wrl) (pcb2blender) import option for previewing how .wrl PCB component models will look with the mat4cad materials before you commit to a full render.
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