Core concepts

· 4 min read

Understanding the fundamentals of Acme Design Studio.

Artboards

Artboards are containers for your designs, representing different screens or pages.

Creating Artboards

Press A or select the Artboard tool from the toolbar, then:

  1. Click and drag to create a custom size
  2. Or choose a preset size from the right panel

Preset Sizes

Common artboard presets:

  • iPhone 14 Pro - 393 × 852
  • iPad Pro - 1024 × 1366
  • Desktop - 1440 × 1024
  • Twitter Post - 1200 × 675

Multiple Artboards

Organize related designs on a single canvas:

  • Mobile → Tablet → Desktop views
  • Before → After comparisons
  • Different color variations
  • User flow sequences

Layers

Layers organize your design elements hierarchically.

Layer Types

  • Frame - Container for other elements
  • Group - Collection of layers that move together
  • Shape - Vector shapes (rectangle, circle, polygon)
  • Text - Text layers
  • Image - Raster images
  • Component - Reusable design elements

Layer Operations

Nesting: Drag layers onto each other to create parent-child relationships.

Ordering:

  • Cmd+] - Bring forward
  • Cmd+[ - Send backward
  • Cmd+Option+] - Bring to front
  • Cmd+Option+[ - Send to back

Visibility: Click the eye icon to show/hide layers.

Locking: Click the lock icon to prevent accidental edits.

Shapes

Vector shapes are the building blocks of your designs.

Basic Shapes

  • Rectangle (R) - Square and rectangular shapes
  • Circle (O) - Circles and ellipses
  • Line (L) - Straight lines
  • Polygon - Regular polygons (triangle, hexagon, etc.)
  • Star - Star shapes

Boolean Operations

Combine shapes using boolean operations:

  • Union - Combines shapes into one
  • Subtract - Removes overlapping area
  • Intersect - Keeps only overlapping area
  • Exclude - Removes overlapping area from all shapes

Select multiple shapes and use Object → Boolean Operations

Components

Components are reusable design elements that maintain consistency.

Creating Components

  1. Select the layers you want to convert
  2. Right-click and choose Create Component
  3. Or press Cmd+K

Using Components

Drag components from the Assets panel onto your canvas. Changes to the main component propagate to all instances.

Variants

Create component variants for different states:

Button Component:

  • Default state
  • Hover state
  • Pressed state
  • Disabled state

Switch between variants in the Properties panel.

Overrides

Instance-specific changes that don’t affect the main component:

  • Text content
  • Images
  • Colors (if exposed as properties)

Styles

Styles ensure design consistency across your project.

Color Styles

Create reusable colors:

  1. Select an object with the color you want
  2. Click the color in Properties panel
  3. Click “+” to create a new color style
  4. Name it (e.g., “Primary Blue”)

Use color styles throughout your design. Update the style to change all instances.

Text Styles

Define reusable text formatting:

Heading 1:

  • Font: Inter Bold
  • Size: 32px
  • Line height: 40px
  • Letter spacing: -0.5px

Body:

  • Font: Inter Regular
  • Size: 16px
  • Line height: 24px

Effect Styles

Save effects like shadows and blurs:

Card Shadow:

  • X: 0px, Y: 4px
  • Blur: 12px
  • Color: rgba(0,0,0,0.1)

Auto Layout

Auto Layout creates responsive designs that adapt to content changes.

Setting Up Auto Layout

  1. Select a frame
  2. Press Shift+A
  3. Configure spacing and padding

Properties

  • Direction - Horizontal or vertical
  • Spacing - Gap between items
  • Padding - Space around items
  • Alignment - How items align
  • Distribution - How extra space is distributed

Responsive Behavior

Auto Layout automatically:

  • Adjusts when content changes
  • Maintains spacing relationships
  • Handles different content sizes

Perfect for:

  • Navigation bars
  • Card lists
  • Form fields
  • Buttons with dynamic text

Constraints

Control how layers respond when their parent frame is resized.

Constraint Options

Horizontal:

  • Left
  • Right
  • Left & Right (stretch)
  • Center
  • Scale

Vertical:

  • Top
  • Bottom
  • Top & Bottom (stretch)
  • Center
  • Scale

Use Cases

Fixed Navigation: Set constraints to Left, Right, and Top so navigation stays at the top and stretches horizontally.

Centered Logo: Set constraints to Center (both axes) to keep logo centered.

Responsive Cards: Use Left & Right constraints to make cards fill available width.

Prototyping

Create interactive prototypes to demonstrate user flows.

Creating Connections

  1. Select a layer (button, link, etc.)
  2. Click the “+” in Prototype panel
  3. Drag to the destination artboard
  4. Choose transition animation

Interactions

  • Click/Tap - Navigate on click
  • Hover - Show on mouse hover
  • Drag - Draggable elements
  • After Delay - Auto-advance after time

Animations

Choose from various transition animations:

  • Instant - No animation
  • Dissolve - Fade between screens
  • Slide - Slide in from direction
  • Move In - Overlay slides in
  • Push - Push previous screen out

Preview

Press Play or Cmd+Option+P to preview your prototype in full screen.

Share prototypes with stakeholders via share link.

Assets

The Assets panel contains reusable design elements.

Asset Types

  • Components - Your reusable components
  • Color Styles - Saved colors
  • Text Styles - Typography styles
  • Images - Imported images
  • Icons - Icon libraries

Organization

Create folders to organize assets:

  • Components/Buttons
  • Components/Forms
  • Colors/Brand
  • Colors/Grays

Libraries

Share assets across multiple projects.

Creating a Library

  1. Open your design system file
  2. Go to File → Publish Library
  3. Name your library
  4. Click Publish

Using Libraries

  1. Go to Assets Panel → Libraries
  2. Click “+” and select library
  3. Drag components from library into your design

Updates to the library can be pulled into your project.