Create and edit design documents

Design documents are .design files for arranging frames, text, shapes, images, and vector paths on a visual surface.

Create or open a design

Select the Design domain above the file panel, then create a .design file with New File. You can also select Design in the vertical sidebar and choose New design. Existing files appear under the workspace designs list; use Search designs to filter it.

If Design is hidden from the vertical sidebar, open Settings → Features and turn on Design Surface under Optional apps.

Add frames and layers

Use the tool strip to choose what to place:

• Select moves and resizes existing layers; Scale resizes a selection proportionally.
• Section groups an area of the surface for organization.
• Frame creates a custom frame; the adjacent menu provides frame templates.
• Rectangle, Line, Arrow, Ellipse, Polygon, and Star add basic shapes.
• Path creates editable vector paths.
• Image/video imports a supported visual asset.
• Text creates an editable text layer.
• Comment places a comment when comments are available for the document.

The Layers panel shows the document hierarchy. Select a row to select its layer, double-click its name to rename it, and use the visibility and lock controls to protect or hide content. Dragging a layer changes its order or parent when the destination allows it.

Select, arrange, and align content

Click a layer to select it. Shift-click adds or removes a layer from the selection; dragging across empty space selects everything inside the marquee. Drag a selected layer to move it and use the handles to resize or rotate it.

The selection controls and Properties panel provide actions for:

• sending a layer backward or forward, or to the back or front;
• grouping and ungrouping layers;
• aligning selected layers to their left, center, right, top, middle, or bottom edges;
• distributing and adjusting spacing for multi-selections;
• combining supported vector shapes with Union, Subtract, Intersect, or Exclude, and flattening a supported result.

Snapping lines help align objects while moving or resizing them. Use the canvas zoom control or trackpad/mouse-wheel gestures to change the view without changing layer dimensions.

Edit properties

Select a layer and use the Properties panel. The sections change with the selected layer and can include:

• position, width, height, rotation, constraints, and corner radius;
• auto layout, padding, gaps, alignment, and layout guides;
• fills, gradients, strokes, opacity, and effects;
• font, size, weight, line height, letter spacing, and text alignment;
• image Fill, Fit, and Crop controls;
• vector-point and path controls; and
• prototype destinations and interaction settings for supported frames.

Locked or read-only layers can be selected and inspected but cannot be changed.

Preview and export

Use Preview to present a frame and test configured prototype navigation. The preview controls move backward or forward, restart the flow, move between frames, change scaling, or close the preview.

To export a page, frame, layer, or selection, open its Export section in Properties:

1. Select Add export setting.
2. Choose PNG, JPEG, or SVG. Raster formats also accept a scale.
3. Add more settings if you need several formats or scales.
4. Expand Preview to inspect the export when that option is available.
5. Select Export followed by the target name.

The exported file is a separate asset. Exporting does not replace the .design document.