When Sketch hit the market it took the design community by storm because it’s the right tool for the job. There is nothing wrong with Sketch’s native features that win big over it’s common precursor, Photoshop. However, take a moment to think,  “Is a simple addition to those features worth the couple minutes to get it installed?”. The answer is yes, especially when considering some of the most effective, time saving, headache reducing plugins on the market.

Runner – Essential addition to a Sketch workflow

Runner is essentially the command prompt or spotlight search for Sketch. Use it to turn your workflow into a higher performance design tool by simply telling it what to do. The Runner plugin allows you to quickly type commands and run actions, completing a task in a fraction of the time.  Now you no longer need to scan through the dropdown menus, or use the search function to find an action.

Automate – Jack of all trades.

Scrambling to pass the design file over to a developer or client without those redundant and/or empty groups. One click and they are all gone, one of my favorite features of the Automate plugin, which has many other features all focused around making your workflow more efficient.

Another time saving feature of the Automate plugin is “Replace Font,” similar to a word processor’s Find and Replace, Automate will find and replace any font with one of your choice. No longer will you be searching for the one instance of Sketch’s default typeface that is hanging around—or for text without an assigned paragraph style.

Paddy – Designers get CSS powers.

Conventionally in Sketch, when a new button is created or the label is changed, a designer would have to consistently resize, check, and adjust the padding between the label and button edges. By utilizing the Paddy plugin, the hassle of dynamic buttons is eliminated by dynamically adjusting the button width with padding values, similar to CSS, set in the initial phase of creating user interface elements.

Craft – Hello, beautiful placeholders.

Trying to communicate a design with gray boxes, unrealistic placeholder images, or lorem ipsum is not an easy task. Scouring the internet for realistic imagery and text is an option – an option that can waste your clients’ hours. The Craft plugin relieves the placeholder dilemma, sourcing free stock imagery from Unsplash, and a variety of content types including names, headlines, articles, and more.

If your team is familiar with InVision for building prototypes and user testing, then keep in mind that Craft was developed by InVision, meaning building the prototype can happen directly in the design file. This seamless integration allows you to link design elements, artboards, and overlays. With a click, you’re able to sync your screens to a functioning prototype and continue to push live updates from the original file. Say goodbye to exporting, uploading, and linking pngs through the browser.

Ultimately, Sketch plugins have been created to simplify the everyday design annoyances. By utilizing these four plugins, you are efficiently going to save both clients’ budgeted design hours and personal efforts.

Questions about how Punchkick utilizes Sketch in UX Design? Send us an email at: [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!