Frames in Figma

Frames in Figma are like versatile containers, organizing your designs neatly on the canvas. Whether you're crafting for specific devices or screen sizes, frames act as your design's backbone, similar to artboards in other tools, but with a twist.

What sets frames apart is their nesting capability. You can tuck frames within frames, layering your design elements precisely. This feature is a game-changer for complex projects where components interact or overlap, ensuring everything aligns perfectly.

Beyond structure, they support the functionality of Layout grids, Auto layout, and Constraints. Plus, frames are integral to prototyping, linking your designs into interactive flows.

In Figma, frames and groups organize your design, but each serves its purpose distinctly. Think of groups as a way to bundle elements tightly together. They're like a family photo album, keeping related pictures (elements) in one place, their size and position locked in harmony. When you resize a group, its contents scale together, ideal for logos or icons where proportion is key.

Frames, on the other hand, are like dynamic canvases. They hold design elements but don't confine them. You set a frame's size independently, and it can hold elements that are larger or smaller than itself. Elements within a frame can have their own resizing rules, perfect for interfaces where components need to adapt to different screen sizes. Frames also support special features like layout grids and prototype behaviors, such as a scrollable product list or an interactive map.

Figma frames and Sketch artboards both house design content, but they have distinct functionalities. Figma frames are versatile containers, like div tags in web design, allowing for nesting and offering default constraints. This means you can tuck a frame within another, creating complex, organized structures effortlessly.

Unlike Sketch artboards, Figma frames come with added perks. They can have their own background fill, support multiple layout grids, and offer the choice to clip content, ensuring neat, bounded designs or free-flowing layouts. Figma also provides handy frame size presets, catering to various devices and platforms, accessible in the Design panel.

Creating frames in Figma is a straightforward process that adds structure to your designs. Start by activating the frame tool, either by pressing F or A on your keyboard or by selecting the grid-like icon in the bottom toolbar.

With the tool active, you have control over your canvas. A single click creates a standard 100x100 frame. For custom dimensions, click and drag to define the frame size exactly as you need it.

Figma also simplifies your workflow with a variety of frame presets. Explore the dropdown in the Design panel to select a preset that suits your project, from device templates like phones and tablets to social media and desktop layouts.

Organizing your frames is hassle-free. Each frame is marked with the grid-like icon in the Layers panel, making it easy to identify and manage your design elements.

Frames in Figma are more than structural elements. They're a canvas for creativity. Personalize your frames with these styling properties:

• Corner radius: Soften your frame's edges by rounding its corners, perfect for a gentle, modern look.
• Fill: Bring vibrancy to your frames with solid colors, gradients, or images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, and WEBP), transforming simple shapes into eye-catching elements.
• Stroke: Define or accentuate your frames with strokes. Adjust thickness or color to make your frame pop or blend subtly with your design.
• Effects: Add dimension with shadows or create focus with blurs. These touches can elevate a flat design into something dynamic and engaging.

Frames are your ally in structuring and organizing content in Figma. Harness these properties to ensure your content not only fits well but also looks harmoniously placed:

• Clip content: Keep your design tidy by ensuring elements don't spill out of the frame's edges. It's like keeping everything inside a neat, invisible box.
• Layout grids: Set the stage for impeccable alignment with grids. They guide you in placing elements so that your design breathes balance and precision.
• Auto layout: Embrace adaptability with frames that resize based on their content. It's perfect for designs that need to be flexible across different device sizes or content lengths.

In Figma, you can nest frames by placing one within another to construct intricate designs. This nesting crafts layers of functionality and style, essential for complex interfaces.

At the hierarchy's peak are top-level frames. These frames sit directly on the canvas, not nested within any other frame or group. They're the foundation, the starting point of your design structure.

Figma highlights these top-level frames, making them bold in the Layers panel for easy identification. On the canvas, their names are prominently displayed, serving as clear markers in your design blueprint.

Nested frames in Figma are like boxes within boxes, each holding its part of your design. A frame becomes nested when you place it inside another, be it a top-level frame or another nested frame. This dual role of being a parent and a child adds depth and structure to your designs.

Imagine creating a website layout. Your top-level frame is the web page itself, while nested frames could be sections like the header, content area, and footer. Each of these sections (nested frames) can further contain more frames, like navigation links in the header or text blocks in the content area.

Nested frames help organize your design elements hierarchically, making complex projects more manageable and intuitive. They enable you to compartmentalize different parts of your design, ensuring each piece is neatly aligned within the overall structure.

Resizing frames in Figma is intuitive and flexible, allowing you to adapt your design space effortlessly.

To resize a frame in Figma:

• Select your frame either directly on the canvas or from the Layers panel.
• Look for handles at the frame's corners or edges. Click and drag these to resize your frame smoothly and precisely.

This method gives you full control, letting you visually adjust the frame to encase your content just right, whether you're framing a hero image or setting up a mobile app screen.

Figma also allows frames to resize dynamically based on their content. This means the frame can automatically expand or contract, snugly fitting around its child objects. It's especially handy when your content size varies, like in a chat bubble that needs to accommodate different message lengths.

For a quick resize, Figma supports keyboard shortcuts:

• Mac: Option Shift Command R
• Windows: Alt Shift Ctrl R

This shortcut prompts the frame to auto-adjust to its content, streamlining your workflow. Additionally, the Design panel houses a handy icon with four arrows pointing inward. Clicking this achieves the same auto-resize effect, ensuring your frame is perfectly poised around your content.

To adjust a frame's size in Figma, use the Design panel on the right. This method is not only quick but also precise, ensuring your designs maintain balance and proportion. Here's how:

• Locate the W (Width) and H (Height) fields under the Frame section of the Design panel.
• Type in new values or click and drag horizontally over the input field's icon to adjust size dynamically. Dragging left shrinks and dragging right expands the frame.
• To maintain aspect ratio, click the icon on the right of the W and H fields. This locks proportions during resizing.

Remember, tweaking frame sizes tailors your canvas to fit diverse content, much like fitting a picture into the perfect frame.

Imagine you've grouped a set of icons within a frame for a dashboard design. Later, you decide to adjust the spacing or modify an individual icon. Ungrouping gives you the freedom to tweak each element without affecting the others. It's also useful when deconstructing imported designs to understand their structure or to repurpose elements in new contexts.

To ungroup, select a group and use the shortcuts:

• Mac: Command Shift G or Command Delete
• Windows: Ctrl Shift G or Ctrl Backspace

This action breaks the frame into individual elements, allowing you to edit or rearrange them independently.