What’s New with Sketch — Latest Updates and Features (Page 6)

Duplicate Documents

You can now duplicate Workspace documents to your drafts, right from the Workspace window. You’ll find this option by right/Control-clicking on a document’s thumbnail. When you duplicate a document, it won’t include any comments, version history or specific share settings, so you’ll have a clean slate to iterate from without disturbing the original design. You can also duplicate documents in the web app, including ones outside your Workspace that others have shared via a public link.

Align to reference object

With this release, we’re giving you even more control over how you align multiple selections of layers. Now, you can click on any layer within a multi-layer selection to make it the reference object. When you use the alignment controls in the Inspector, all the layers within your selection will now align to that reference object. You can click on any other layer in your selection to make that the new reference object, or click again on the current reference object to deselect it.

Improvements (7)

If you select a single layer and use the alignment controls in the Inspector, it will now align to its immediate parent (whether that’s a group, Artboard or combined shape). If you want to align a single layer to its Artboard rather than its immediate parent, hold down the ⌥ (Option) key.
The Workspace window now supports selecting multiple documents at the same time, making it easier for you to open, move and delete them in bulk.
You can now switch between the Design and Prototype tabs in the Inspector using the keyboard shortcuts Shift-Command-1 and Shift-Command-2, respectively. You’ll also find these options in the View menu.
We’ve made it easier to move shapes that have borders but no fills. You can now drag anywhere on that shape, including the non-filled area, to move it, rather than just on the border itself.
We’ve improved the accuracy of Shadows for paths with wider borders.
You can now adjust the Spread value for Shadows applied to text layers.
We now support negative spread values for inner shadows.

Changes (2)

Version 261 of the Abstract plugin has been marked as incompatible with Sketch because it is causing instability. Please update to the latest version of the plugin when available.
We’ve given color profiles a clean-up. Previously, we’d render Unmanaged documents based on your display’s settings, but exported them as sRGB. Now, we both render on the Canvas and export using the sRGB color profile by default (the Unmanaged setting is gone), unless you set your default color profile to P3 in the Canvas preferences.

Fixes (10)

Fixes a bug that stopped saturation in background blurs behind an Overlay from showing in the Prototype player.
Fixes a bug that prevented tints from applying to shadows of layers within a group to which the tint was applied.
Fixes a bug that caused interactions you set to None to disappear completely. Now they’ll stick around.
Fixes an issue that stopped borders appearing if you added them to text that used underline or strikethrough decoration.
Fixes a bug that caused the Layer and Page lists to unexpectedly scroll horizontally while you were scrolling vertically through them.
Fixes a bug that caused interactions to appear as active in the Prototype player even though their respective layers were hidden.
Fixes a bug that caused Artboard templates you dragged onto the Canvas from the Insert window to appear in the reverse (left-to-right) order of your selection.
Fixes a bug that allowed you to create an Overlay by linking a layer to itself.
Fixes a bug that meant the Prototype player would not always reflect the latest changes you made to Artboards.
Fixes a bug that caused unnecessary points to appear along paths that you had converted to outlines.

Download Sketch 91

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

We’re giving you even more control over how you align multiple selections of layers in the updated Sketch Mac app. Now, you can click on any layer within a multi-layer selection to make it the reference object. When you do this, all the layers within your selection will now align to that reference object when you use the alignment controls in the Inspector.

Read the documentation

We’ve added a new option to duplicate a document to your drafts folder, so you can iterate on an idea without adding updates to the original file. This works for documents in Workspaces that you’re a part of, as well as documents others share via a public link.

Read the blog post

Overlays in prototypes

You can now turn any Artboard into an Overlay and create interactions like sheets, popovers and modals in your prototypes. You can set the position of an Overlay relative to the screen it appears on or the layer that links to it. You can even ‘stack’ multiple Overlays, choose how they interact with each other, apply background styling, and even block background interactions. You can view prototypes with overlays on the Mac, web and our new iPhone app (but they will not work in the Mirror).

Prototyping improvements

Along with Overlays, we’ve added a Prototype tab to the Inspector for all Prototyping-related controls. Switch to this new tab to see all prototype interactions in a document. Switching back to the Design tab will hide them until you select a layer. When you switch to the Prototype tab and select a layer, you’ll see a new + icon instead of the middle-right grab handle, click and drag on this to start creating a new prototype interaction.

Auto-download Libraries

You can now set Libraries to automatically download whenever an update is available, so you can skip to the good part (reviewing and updating your Components). You’ll find the option for this in the Libraries Preferences pane.

Improvements (7)

You can now drag images into Sketch and drop them onto existing image layers, or layers with image fills, to replace them.
We’ve improved the how we handle dashed outside borders as well as the PDF export quality of outside borders.
You can move your selection between documents in the Workspace window with the arrow keys on your keyboard.
You can now apply Background Blurs to semi-transparent bitmap image layers.
We’ve simplified the items for creating and applying masks in both the contextual and menu bar menus.
We now support the webp image format when you add a folder of images as a Data source.
The ⌥ modifier now works when resizing a line too, scaling it from the center like other elements.

Fixes (18)

Fixes an issue where zooming in deeply, combined with a large radius group shadow, could cause edits to become very slow.
Fixes an issue where setting a blend mode for the first Fill of an Image Layer would cause the Replace image with Fill checkbox setting to be ignored.
Fixes a bug where in-Canvas editing of a Symbol instance would render the text twice.
Fixes a bug that caused Sketch to use a lot of memory loading prototypes in complex documents.
Fixes a bug that would lose Tint Overrides from a Symbol instance when viewed in the Sketch web app Inspector, exported via Zeplin or if all the Symbol contents are detached.
Fixes a bug where the Inspector would not refresh correctly after a small number of very specific actions.
Fixes an issue where an Artboard could not be created from a Layer selection if no default Artboard Templates are available.
Fixes a bug where a translucent shape with exactly one Fill and one Shadow would show the shadow through the fill, rather than being composited together.
Fixes an issue where Artboards would no longer be scrollable after changing their orientation to landscape.
Fixes a bug where setting Auto Link to Right Artboard on the rightmost Artboard in a document would lead to a blank screen during prototype playback.
Fixes a bug relating to how tint overrides are inherited in symbols with multiple layers of nesting. The bug would result in the tint value shown in the inspector not matching what was drawn on the canvas and trying to set the tint override via the Inspector could fail.
Fixes an issue where the operators b or t applied to Width/X and r or l applied to Height/Y were being incorrectly implemented. These invalid combinations are now ignored.
Fixes a bug that could result in artefacts on the Canvas for multiline text layers.
Fixes a bug where a Layer with an Angular Gradient fill would not always display correctly when a Mask is applied to it.
Fixes a bug where a multi-Layer selection, with both locked and unlocked Layers, couldn’t be resized if the Layer at the very bottom was locked.
Fixes an issue where the locking of rulers would affect all open documents, now the locking only affects the current document.
Fixes an issue where undoing a change inside a combined shape would not correctly update the shadows for the shape.
Fixes a bug that caused the Flatten tool to produce too many control points.

Download Sketch 90

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

Being able to see your designs in context is invaluable. That’s why we’ve rebuilt our iPhone app from the ground up, giving you a better viewing and mirroring experience for documents in your Workspace — wherever you are. The new Sketch iPhone app is available to download from the App Store for free right now.

Artboard Templates

You can now turn any Artboard — and its content — into a template. Artboard Templates behave like any other Component, so you can share them as part of Libraries and reuse them across documents. When you select an Artboard, you’ll see the option to use it as a template in the Inspector. We’ve replaced the default Artboard Presets with a new Default Artboard Templates Library, and included a new Artboard Template Inspiration Library to show you what else they can do. Any custom Artboard Presets you created will migrate to Artboard Templates and appear as their own Library, too.

Improvements (9)

We’ve added a presence popover to the grid view in the Workspace window. We always had this in the list view, but now it appears in the grid view, too. Hovering over the Editor’s name below the document’s name will show you everyone currently editing or viewing, or who last updated it.
You can now lock and unlock the proportions of an Artboard using the control between the Width and Height inputs in the Inspector, just like regular Layers.
You can now use all types of Layers (including images) as Alpha Masks. When you set a Layer to act as a Mask, Sketch will apply the most appropriate type of mask to use based on the Layer type and its fills.
We’ve added a Reset Ruler Origins option to the contextual menu when you Control-Click on the rulers. This option always existed in the View menu, but now it appears in the contextual menu, too.
When you create or duplicate an Artboard, we now place it below the current or original Artboard in the Layer List. This means Artboards will be arranged top-to-bottom, as you create them.
We’ve improved the appearance of read-only input fields in the Inspector to distinguish them from disabled fields.
Using Command-D to duplicate an Option-dragged Artboard will use the same offset for the duplicates. This was always the case for Layers, now it works for Artboards as well.
You can now access the Convert Symbol to Artboard option from the contextual menus when you have selected a Symbol source.
You can now use the keyboard to input double-digits to more accurately adjust the relative position of gradient stops for any Gradient fill in the Inspector.

Fixes (22)

Fixes a bug that caused Text on Path to render incorrectly.
Fixes a bug that stopped us from remembering the position of the Prototype Preview window.
Fixes an issue where copied layers could be pasted in the wrong order.
Fixes a bug where Symbol instances would not update correctly when a Layer was moved from one Symbol to another in a Library.
Fixes an issue with Prototypes not showing Hotspots correctly for Layers within scrollable Artboards that have a fixed position.
Fixes a bug that caused multiple layers of text to appear when you edited text that had transformations applied within a Symbol instance.
Fixes a bug that caused the incorrect label to show for the initial Pixel Snapping mode in the Inspector.
Fixes a bug where resetting overrides for scaled Symbol instances would produce unexpected results.
Fixes a bug that stopped Library preview thumbnails from updating in the Libraries Preferences pane.
Fixes an issue where the width or height of nested Symbol instances couldn’t be resized to less than 1 pixel.
Fixes a bug that caused the Remove Unused Styles menu item to appear unavailable when you had selected a Group or Symbol instance.
Fixes a bug that caused Symbols you dragged from the Insert window onto an Artboard or Canvas to appear blank.
Fixes a bug that caused the Size instance to fit content control in the Inspector to appear unpredictably.
Fixes a bug where a blank Artboard would not have its Expand/Collapse toggle control visible in the Layer List until content was added to it.
Fixes a bug that stopped the shortcuts for switching between the Canvas (Control-1) and Components (Control-2) views from working or appearing in the View menu.
Fixes a bug that stopped you from double-clicking on the Canvas to leave vector editing mode.
Fixes a bug where invalid characters in a Workspace document name could cause saving issues, now we show an error if you try to save a document that contains unsupported characters to a Workspace.
Fixes a bug that caused columns in the Export Slice window to populate incorrectly if your scroll bars are set to always be visible.
Fixes a bug where, pasting a fill across multiple Layers and editing the fill in one Layer, could cause the fill of a different Layer to update incorrectly.
Fixes an issue that caused Color Variables to appear incorrectly in the color popover if you were using using a large collection of Color Variables.
Fixes a bug that ignored the Pixel Fitting preference for Text Layers using Auto Width and horizontally centered text. We now adjust the width of the Text layer to only place it on full pixels.
Fixes a bug that caused the WEBP option in the Format field of the Export panel to appear truncated.

Download Sketch 89

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

It’s time to meet a brand new building block for your designs — Artboard Templates. With them, you can turn any Artboard — and its content — into a template and reuse it across your documents.

Along with all the great features below, this release fixes a number of bugs, crashes and performance issues.

Fixes (9)

Fixes a crash that could occur when you worked with Symbols.
Fixes a bug that stopped you from being able to double-click on a nested Symbol instance to view its source.
Fixes a bug that caused slow performance.
Fixes a bug that caused the Hotspot override option in the Inspector to disappear when you set it to None.
Fixes a bug that caused layers or Artboards you copied from Sketch and pasted into another app to appear as a blank image.
Fixes a bug that stopped some Workspace document updates from processing or appearing in the web app.
Fixes a bug that caused Artboards to appear at a low resolution in the prototype player.
Fixes a crash that could occur as we determined whether to highlight an item you selected in the Layer List.
Fixes a bug that caused performance issues when you used Sketch Mirror to view documents.

Download Sketch 88.1

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

New prototype player

We’ve been hard at work on some big improvements to Prototyping and it starts with this — a completely rewritten prototype player. With it, playing your prototypes should feel smoother, faster and more reliable. It also lays the groundwork for some great new features and improvements — look out for those in an upcoming update.

Improvements (7)

You can now choose Auto Link to Right Artboard from the Prototype menu and create a link from your current Artboard, to the one immediately to the right of it. Better still, it will update dynamically and automatically if you switch the order of your Artboards. To link to the left Artboard instead, simply change the Artboard Export option under Preferences > Layers.
You can now use Command-Shift-D to duplicate a layer below the original. You can also hold Shift to access this option from the Edit menu. To move a layer you have selected from behind another layer, hold Option and Command then drag anywhere on the canvas.
We’ve added a new option to snap to quarter pixels when you’re working in vector editing mode. We also revamped its Inspector control — the new segmented control makes it easier to set a pixel snapping option and see which one you have selected.
When you export a single item, we now show its filename in the notification at the bottom of the window.
In the Save dialog, Command-Shift-D and Command-D now will set your Mac’s Desktop as the save location.
We’ve tweaked the heading styles and dividers in the Inspector to make each section’s hierarchy easier to understand.
You can now paste an image from another app directly onto a shape in Sketch to use it as an Image fill. You’ll find the Paste Image as Fill option by control-clicking on the Fills panel under Styles in the Inspector.

Changes (2)

We’ve updated the shortcut for Refresh Data. You will now need to use Control-Shift-D to refresh the Data on a selected layer.
We’ve updated the copy and changed a few things in the Libraries preferences panel. Now, to enable a Library, you can simply check the checkbox next to its name.

Fixes (10)

Fixes a bug where trying to change a Symbol override from ”No Symbol” would not change anything on the Canvas.
Fixes a bug where a Symbol with Smart layout properties, nested within a parent Symbol with same Smart Layout properties, would be positioned unexpectedly when overridden on the Instance level.
Fixes a crash that could occur when you opened a document from your Workspace and chose to keep local changes you made to an older version of that document while you were disconnected from the internet.
Fixes an issue where hidden Layers wouldn’t show the eye icon in the Layer List.
When you resize a Layer so that its bounds no longer sit within an Artboard, we now move it outside the Artboard in the Layer List, this means it becomes visible on the Canvas and can be selected.
When you use the tab key to navigate through the save dialog fields, the order should feel more logical now.
Fixes a bug where the resize handles could appear blurry at some zoom levels.
Fixes an issue with the rendering of background blurs, when they are masked by shapes other than rectangles, so you won’t unexpectedly see translucent areas.
Fixes an issue where the Layer › Layout menu would be available for all Artboards and not just Symbol sources.
Fixes a bug that stopped the Inspector showing a mixed state for the Export group contents only option.

Download Sketch 88

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

This release includes a few important bug fixes and tweaks to make sure everything runs smoothly. If you sent feedback about any of these — thank you!

Fixes (2)

Fixes an issue that could cause some documents to get stuck while they were processing.
Fixes a bug that could corrupt a document if you opened it after editing the document offline.

Download Sketch 87.1

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

This update brings a whole host of small improvements to make your days more enjoyable and productive — from positioning layers relative to an Artboard’s edge with Inspector operators, to better icons for locked and hidden layers.

Improvements (11)

We’ve made it easier to create a prototyping link to the previous Artboard or any specific Artboard when you have multiple layers and Artboards selected. Now, with multiple selections, you can choose any of the back or go to Artboard indicators.
We’ll now show a prompt when you try and enable a plugin that’s incompatible with the Mac app.
We now remember the position of the Preferences window, so it always opens where you last left it.
When you hover over a long Artboard name on the Canvas, we’ll show you a tooltip with its full name.
You can now add blurs to alpha masks and we’ll include them as part of the mask itself.
You can now use the Sides slider in the Inspector to set a polygon‘s minimum number of sides (three) — handy if you want to quickly create an equilateral triangle!
If you have a page selected, you can now rename a page via Edit > Rename or pressing ⌘R.
You can now precisely position a layer relative to an Artboard’s edge using the l, r, t, b, and c / m operators in the Inspector. For example, to place a layer 10 pixels from the right edge of its Artboard, you can set its X value to 10r. You can use these in both the X and Y fields to get things looking just right.
We’ll now show you if a Library is using a starred version and when it was last modified in the Libraries preferences panel.
Did you know you can copy layers or Artboards and paste them in any other app as an image? Now, if you have a high-density display, we‘ll export these images in 2x resolution, so they look sharp.
We’ve added states to the layer visibility and lock icons in the Layer List, so it’s easier than ever to know whether a layer is hidden, visible, locked or unlocked. Hovering over a visible layer shows a Hide Layer icon reflecting the layer’s visibility and holding ⌥ shows a Lock Layer icon reflecting the lock state.

Changes (2)

We’ve made things more predictable when you insert a Symbol instance that contains a nested Symbol with Smart Layout properties that you have resized in the Symbol source. Now, the nested Symbol will keep its resized dimensions in both the Symbol source and instance.
We’ve made things more predictable when you resize a Symbol or Group that contains text layers with resizing constraints and auto width alignment properties. Previously, if the resizing constraints and alignment properties conflicted, resizing would change the alignment property to auto height or cause the text to flow outside of layer’s bounds. Now we block conflicting resizing restrictions and alignment properties to avoid these results.

Fixes (3)

Fixes a bug where the background blur wouldn‘t appear in translucent layers with an opaque fill.
Fixes a bug where the Mac app would continue using system memory after you closed a document.
Fixes a bug where editing a Symbol Source’s content would not update any overrides in deeply nested instances until you reopened the document.

Download Sketch 87

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

This release is all about fixing bugs and making small, quality-of-life improvements that add up to a better overall experience in Sketch. We’re working hard on new features and we can’t wait to share them with you soon.

Improvements (3)

We’ve improved the way we handle variable fonts if you embed them in your document and now clearly identify them as being variable, rather than a specific weight.
When you right-click on a layer and open its contextual menu, holding down ⌥ turns the Move Forward and Move Backward options into Move to Front and Move to Back, respectively. If you have the items for Move Forward and Move Backward in your toolbar, we’ll update their icons to reflect this change in command when you hold ⌥ there too.
We now memorize the position of the Document Settings window, so it always opens where you last left it.

Changes (3)

The Move to Library plugin (version 2.2.9) is incompatible with Sketch.
We’ve given the Canvas icon in Preferences a refresh — it now reflects the one you see in the toolbar.
We renamed the Rename Layer menu item to Rename.

Fixes (11)

Fixes a bug where the Mac app would continue using system memory after you closed a document.
Fixes a bug that would insert image data randomly even if you had unchecked the Insert Data at Random option. Now, Data you insert will follow the order in its source file.
Fixes a bug that could make scrolling the Canvas very slow if you were using a mouse with a physical scroll wheel.
Fixes a bug that could cause blocky artefacts to appear in shadows that contained a combination of different shadows and other elements.
Fixes a bug that caused Smart Distribute spacing handles to appear blurry or distorted.
Fixes a bug where rotated background blurs wouldn‘t render as expected in some cases.
Fixes a bug where the Mac app wouldn’t detect corrupted data in some parts of a document, which could lead to a crash later while editing the document. Now, we detect this right when you open the document and give you the opportunity to fix it.
Fixes a bug where editing a Symbol Source’s content would not update any overrides in deeply nested instances until you reopened the document.
Fixes a bug where applying border end decorations to a line or open path with multiple borders would only show one of the borders.
Fixes a bug where the search field in the Layer List wouldn’t show a focus ring when you selected it.
Fixes a bug that mean any custom shortcuts you added via System Preferences would require you to select their parent menu before they would work.

Download Sketch 86

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

This release fixes a bug that caused empty Symbols to appear broken. We’re sorry for any impact this had on your workflow.

Download Sketch 85.1

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer

New project permissions

You can now choose whether a project is visible to your whole Workspace, or just the members you invite. You’ll find this option in a project’s share settings in the web app. In the Mac app, look for the lock icon in the Workspace window to quickly identify projects with restricted access. And don’t forget, you can still move documents, rename a project, copy its link or open it in the web app, right from the Workspace window.

Changes (2)

Invision Panels version 1.0.145 is no longer compatible with Sketch. Please make sure you update this plugin to the latest version to avoid any issues.
Say hello to some new faces! We‘ve updated our Faces data source to include a new set of images.

Fixes (9)

Fixes a bug that could cause the color picker to not pick the correct color from a text layer.
Fixes a bug with SVG import where style attributes could be ignored for certain paths.
Fixes a bug where the Preview window for prototypes would hide the share button at smaller widths.
Fixes a bug where the keyboard shortcut to pick a fill color within the Bitmap editor would not use the color you picked.
Fixes a bug that caused Text on Path to move unexpectedly if you converted it to outlines.
Fixes a crash that could occur if you pasted malformed SVG code into a document.
Fixes a crash that could occur when selecting a font in the Inspector.
Fixes a bug where keyboard shortcuts for various View > Zoom To options would stop working.
Fixes an issue where icons in the Insert window could end up with the wrong size after switching screen resolutions.

Download Sketch 85

Requires macOS Big Sur (11.0.0) or newer