Different shades of grey for part legs

It would be cool if different parts had legs in differing shades of grey so it’s easier to tell which legs belong to which component when they cross on bread- and strip-board.

Shorten the leads to reduce crossing as much as possible. If component layout does not allow that, shorten the legs anyway, then add a wire from the leg to the actual connection point. You have control of the colour for wires. Plus wires can be made into curves instead of just straight lines. A little experimenting can make the layout easier to follow.

Internally, the color of the legs in the component graphic files is ‘fixed’ to a standard. I guess it would be possible to add an option in the code to override that for a placed component. I’ve never seen the need in the boards I have laid out. I don’t think I have ever even used the technique to use a wire to extend a leg. Adjusting component position and existing leg lengths have always been enough to keep things organized and clear.

Using extra wires might be more reasonable in a breadboard but I want to plan my circuits before they go on strip board and I generally want them to be as small as possible which couldn’t be the case if I don’t compact the circuit as much as possible. It’s rare that I make anything where size is not a concern. I doubt this feature will ever get looked at since development isn’t happening much but I wanted to submit the suggestion anyway.

This would be difficult to implement. There are a limited number of colors available and a vast combination of parts that would need different colors. The only way I can see making this work would be to be able to edit the color of a pin (which means changing the svg on the fly which isn’t currently possible AFAIK.) That said there is a project to redo fritizing as a web app in javascript and they may consider this when the project gets further along.

Peter