I know, the question you have probably asking right now is: “Why should I care about the size of my Sketch file”?
Compared to Photoshop, Sketch files are generally much smaller, so even the cheapest MacBook has enough storage space for a thousands of Sketch files.
The answer is performance. As the overall filesize increases, Sketch may take longer to preview certain parts of your document. Keeping your files as small as possible is the best way how to prevent this.
Here are 3 quick tips on how to reduce your Sketch filesize:
1. Delete unnecessary stuff
The first and the most obvious step. Delete all these hidden layers, unused screens and invisible content overlapping your artboard. It is sometimes good to keep unused drafts, but for the best performance, move them to another file, or at least create some new page “drafts” where you can store all these unused ideas.
2. Use symbols whenever possible
The idea behind this is simple. Why should you keep many copies of the same object, when you can use just one symbol to replace them. And of course, if you have some unused symbols, just delete them. This will reduce filesize and make it tidier.
3. Image size reduction
Final step, with biggest impact on filesize and performance. Whenever you use hi-res pictures in your design, Sketch will keep them in their original resolution, even if you scale them down. This is great when you are still working with them, but since your work is done, it is time to reduce the image size.
This can be done when you click on the image and select Layer › Image › Reduce Image Size
If you want to use this way to optimize all images, or even objects with an image such as a fill, select File › Reduce File Size.
Bonus pro-tip:
Since Sketch 43.1 you can unzip a Sketch file and work with images like with actual files. So you can optimize them in some external tools and zip them back to the .sketch file.
Here are detailed instructions on how to do that.
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