How to add some pin numbers to your PCB design?

Many times I feel uncomfortable with the Eagle PCB program under the board view, because I’m looking at a pin header, and there’s no pin number. Which side is pin 1? If I go back to the schematic, I see all the pin numbers 1 through 8. Then back to board view, there’s no numbers. I’ve gotta fix this.

Here is how to display pin numbers of a pin header on the board view. Well, there isn’t a way. The pin header numbers don’t exist in the package so there’s nothing to display. In order to display pin number, you need to open the Eagle library and add those numbers yourself. Here’s how.

First I added an 8-pin header onto my schematic and connected pin 1 to a resistor. I turned to the board view, no pin nmuber:

Then, I go to Eagle’s control panel and double-clicked the library that has this half-cooked part, the library is pinhead.lbr.

Then I go and click package button and choose the 1X08 package.

With the text tool, I added 1 and 8 and repositioned the other texts. Save it.

Then I go back to Eagle and choose menu Library->update all.

Here is the new look of my board view:

This will not only make the number 1 and 8 display on the board view, but also add the numbers to the final PCB’s silk screen, which will help a person populate the board. So don’t put all the numbers, the board gets too busy.

Here is another way from macegr on arduino forum:

In DRC>Shapes>First you can choose the shape of pads marked “First” as you already tried. The problem is that pretty much nobody marks the first pin when they’re creating their part packages. You can go into the library, call up the appropriate package, right-click on the first pad, choose Properties, then check the “First” box. Now, if you use that part on a board, when a First shape is chosen in DRC, the shape of that pad will change to what you selected.

It doesn’t add that much flexibility and isn’t that much more convenient than just changing the shape of the first pin permanently in the library.

In general you’ll want to mark the first pin on silkscreen anyway. When you’ve soldered a header in place, the square pad isn’t visible anymore.