Sometimes it’s the little things that get missed with Sketch…

There’s a lot that Sketch can do, and a lot of things that users of the application do on a daily basis, but I’m still amazed that there’s many things that pop up in conversation about Sketch that users have missed. Those simple things that just cut down on your production time in small increments when put into practice.

Let’s take a look at ‘em…

Setting up Default Styles

We’ve all been there. You know the routine. Draw a Rectangle (R), remove the border, carry on with your day. Ooh I need to draw another Rectangle (but again, I don’t need that border), remove the border again, carry on with project. Rinse, repeat…and Stop! Just draw (for example) a Rectangle, remove the border, click on Edit > Set Style as Default. So simple, but missed by many.

Creating your own Keyboard Shortcuts

Sketch is chock-a-block with keyboard shortcuts, more shortcuts than you can shake a Magic Keyboard at. But folks carry on, content with the defaults. Don’t be that person. Save yourself even more time. Create your own…

• () Menu > System Preferences
• Choose Keyboard
• Click on the Shortcuts tab
• Choose App Shortcuts, click the (+) icon
• From the Application dropdown, choose Sketch
• Enter the exact name of the Sketch menu command (ie; Uppercase)
• Then enter the Keyboard Shortcut, and click Add

For example, in Sketch I use Shift + Ctrl + U for Uppercase, and Shift + Ctrl + L for Lowercase.

Tidy up file names in a flash!

Again. One of those small things that a lot of Sketch users don’t put to good use. Now I’m an advocate for renaming groups & layers as you go. It just saves on both confusion, and time. But, if you are leaving things till the very end, make sure you put this simple tip into practice. Select a group/layer name in the Layers List, press Cmd + R to rename it, then press Tab to jump through your groups/layers, renaming as you go.

Setting an Artboard around elements

There are times when you are required to mock up smaller elements to use in a prototyping tool. For example, a modal window that you want to export inside of it’s own Artboard. This is as simple as creating the design directly on the Canvas itself. Then, select the whole element, click A, and choose Around Selection from the Artboard choices in the Inspector Panel.

If you’ve been guilty of neglecting some of these simple steps I’ve mentioned, worry no more…

…Now where’s that keyboard shortcut for Emojis & Symbols again? ;)

Thanks for reading the article,
Marc

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