The footprint or land pattern is an arrangement of plated copper pads or through-hole plated pads on a PCB on which a component is soldered. Be it surface-mount, through-hole, or ball grid array (BGA), a land pattern is mandatory for PCB assembly. Irrespective of the type of component, there should be a footprint so that it can be soldered to the board at a later stage. The footprints on the board are interconnected using traces and vias. It gives an idea about the component placement and the trace locations.
This footprint connects a component to the circuit board both physically and electrically. It is also called the land/pad pattern and resembles the physical dimensions of the component.
PCB footprint creation is the arrangement of plated pads where a component is supposed to be soldered.
