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Generate Antennas, Coils, QR Codes & More (Insert Hub)

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Some board features are tedious to draw and easy to get wrong — a spiral inductor, a grid of 40 vias, mounting holes that actually match an Arduino. The Insert Hub generates them for you, parametrically. Open the Insert tool on the left toolbar and pick a tile; every generator asks a few questions and drops finished geometry onto the board.

Insert Hub sheet with Generate and From file sections showing antenna, coil, QR code, mounting holes, pad array, breakout, and via stitching tiles
Insert Hub sheet with Generate and From file sections showing antenna, coil, QR code, mounting holes, pad array, breakout, and via stitching tiles

Generate​

Antenna​

Generates a PCB antenna for a target frequency — enter the frequency and the generator produces the copper structure, ready to place. A serious time-saver for ISM-band projects (433 MHz, 868/915 MHz, 2.4 GHz) where hand-drawing an antenna is guesswork.

Coil​

Draws a planar spiral inductor and computes its value from the geometry — turns, spacing, and size in, inductance out. Use it for wireless charging experiments, NFC, or wherever a wound part should become copper.

QR / barcode​

Renders a QR code, Data Matrix, or barcode in silkscreen or copper — link the physical board to its repo, docs, or serial number. Scannable straight off the board.

Mounting holes​

Adds corner or custom mounting holes with screw keep-outs, including presets for common form factors — Arduino Uno R3, Raspberry Pi HAT, Adafruit Feather — so your board bolts onto real hardware the first time.

Pad & via array​

Generates a rectangular grid of pads or vias at an exact pitch. Headers, test-point fields, prototyping grids — anything repetitive.

Breakout / adapter​

Fans a fine-pitch SMD part out to a 0.1″ header — the classic breakout board, generated instead of hand-routed.

Via stitching​

Fills a pour or board edge with a grid of vias — the standard technique for tying top and bottom ground planes together and taming EMI on two-layer boards.

From file​

  • SVG — import vector artwork onto copper, silkscreen, or milling. Logos, ornamental copper, unusual outlines: draw in Inkscape, import here, at real size.
  • DXF — bring a CAD outline in as the board shape, copper, or milling. Perfect when the enclosure came first and the board must fit it.
  • Image (PNG/JPG) — marked Soon: raster logo → silkscreen is on the roadmap. Until then, trace it to SVG and import that.
Real size, every time

The SVG/DXF importers are unit-aware and import at true dimensions — measure once in your CAD tool and the board matches.

Troubleshooting​

My SVG imports but looks wrong​

Complex SVG features (filters, gradients, text-as-text) don't map to copper. Convert text to paths and flatten effects in your vector editor, then re-import.

The generated antenna/coil value isn't what I measured​

Generators compute from ideal geometry; nearby copper, the board stack-up, and enclosures shift real-world values. Treat the output as a strong starting point and validate critical RF designs by measurement.

What's next?