FixMyPCB: EasyEDA->FreeCAD STEP file Fixer!

When importing EasyEDA-exported .step files into FreeCAD, the model tree is not organized very well. This project will fix the model tree of your .FCStd so that each populated PCB is a single, movable App::Part.

Handles panelized designs by automatically detecting and splitting sub-boards from connecting rails/tabs based on component placement.

Workflow

1. Import .step from EasyEDA to FreeCAD
2. Save <nameItWhateverLOL>.FCStd
3. In a Bash shell, do ./init.sh, source venv/bin/activate
4. In a Bash shell, do ./run.sh <path/to/your/FCStd>
5. New .FCStd will be good.

Requirements

• FreeCAD >= 1.0 installed at /Applications/FreeCAD.app
  (override with the FREECAD_PYTHON env var if installed elsewhere)
• No additional PyPI packages required — FreeCAD's bundled Python 3.11 is used directly

Setup

Run once after cloning:

./init.sh
source venv/bin/activate

This sets up a venv/ using FreeCAD's bundled Python with --system-site-packages so the FreeCAD module is available without any pip installs.

To override the FreeCAD location:

FREECAD_PYTHON=/path/to/FreeCAD.app/Contents/Resources/bin/python ./init.sh

Usage

./run.sh <path/to/file.FCStd>

Outputs <input>_regrouped.FCStd alongside the source file. The original is never modified. To specify a custom output path:

./run.sh model/Example.FCStd -o model/Example_fixed.FCStd

You can also invoke main.py directly after activating the venv:

source venv/bin/activate
python main.py model/Example.FCStd

What it does

EasyEDA exports FreeCAD assemblies as a single flat App::Part where every component and the board are siblings at the same level. This makes it impossible to move a populated PCB as one unit.

main.py restructures the tree into:

EasyEDA PCB Model  (App::Part)
└── Board (Populated)  (App::Part)   ← move this to move everything
    ├── Sub-Board 0  (App::Part)     ← panelized sub-board A + its components
    │   ├── Board geometry
    │   └── [component wrappers…]
    ├── Sub-Board 1  (App::Part)     ← panelized sub-board B + its components
    │   └── …
    └── Panel Rails / Tabs  (App::Part)  ← connective geometry with no components

Panel detection: each Part::Feature inside the board container is tested for component coverage using XY bounding-box containment. Features with components become individual sub-board App::Parts; features with no components are grouped into Panel Rails / Tabs. Single-board (non-panelized) files are handled correctly — no split is performed.

Visibility: the tool preserves all existing Gui-layer visibility by copying GuiDocument.xml from the source into the output archive and injecting ViewProvider entries for newly created container objects.