Symbol Tips and Tricks
12 Days of Sketch| Day 5
Symbols are one of the most powerful features of Sketch. The ability to nest elements and override the children allows for great efficiency. Here are a few tricks that can make symbols a little easier to manage.
Stay tuned for 12 Days of Sketch Day 6 “The logic of Naming Things” where we will discuss symbol naming conventions and more!
Layer Order
Order matters! The order that you arrange the layers, is the same order they will appear in the overrides. In my experience symbols often get complex and end up with a pretty long list of overrides, so having a consistent and logical system for the order will help you keep track of your symbols.
Pin Elements
As UX designers, we’re never just designing for one device, our designs have to be scalable across different screens sizes. So why should our symbols be any different?
Sketch 52 has some built-in functionality to pin elements to edges and fix sizes, but I prefer to use the plugin, Anima Auto-Layout.
Organization
Symbols can easily get out of hand if they’re not organized; there are a lot of different strategies for this. However, for most projects, it makes sense to organize these symbols in their own designated page.
I highly recommend Symbol Organizer for all your symbol organizational needs. This plugin allows for the organization by folder structure, as deep or shallow you want it to go. It also allows you to define the spacing between artboards, and whether the alignment is horizontal or vertical.
Swapping Symbols
Swapping symbols is essential to why symbols exist. At the base level, you will be swapping out overrides and nested child symbols within a parent. One level up, you can swap out symbols for each other. This will place that symbol in the same space the first took up.
If you want to go another level up, you can swap out symbols for those in other documents or libraries. This functionality, however, is brought to you by plugins vs direct from Sketch. Symbol Swapper is a great place to start swapping symbols from other locations!
Summary
There’s already a plethora of useful shortcuts, and if that’s not enough you can create your own too!
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We’re posting Sketch tips and tricks every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until the holidays, so stay tuned for more tips and tricks!
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