Efficiency is the key to successful digital product design. Whether you’ve got a deadline on the horizon or you’re just pulling together a new idea, every second of your time is precious.
Prototyping in design tools that weren’t built for prototyping can quickly take up more of your precious time: time that you could spend designing.
This is why we built the Craft Prototyping for Sketch—because it doesn’t have to be that way.
To help you move fast and easy, we’ve put together a list of tips and tricks for getting the best out of Craft. Read on and work better.
Craft Prototype by InVision: How to create your first prototype from InVision on Vimeo.
1. Create prototype links from layers within symbols
Sketch Symbols allow you to reuse elements across Artboards and Pages. If you’re already using them, you know they can be a huge timesaver when it comes to building menus and navigation bars.
Not only can the design of a symbol be reused (and sync automatically), but your prototype links can too. With the Craft prototyping plugin, you can link from layers in symbols—so wherever the symbol is used, the prototyping link comes with it.
To link from a layer in a symbol, select a component on your Symbols page and press C to connect it to an artboard.
You’ll then see all of your prototype links from symbols added in purple, compared the normal blue.
2. Create prototype links across pages
Working with a massive Sketch document with screens across many pages? Avoid having to reorganize your arboards onto a single page to create a prototype by creating prototype links across artboards—no matter what page they’re on.
To link across pages, select an artboard or component and press C. From there, press Artboard at the top of your canvas and then select the correct Artboard from the dropdown list.
3. Delete hotspots in bulk
Whether you’re starting fresh from a design or want to rebuild your prototype from scratch, you can now delete hotspots in bulk. When you select multiple hotspots at once, you’ll now see an option to delete them all in the main Craft app menu.
To select, drag your cursor and hold to select all the hotspots you wish to delete. With the hotspots still selected, navigate to the Craft menu in your Mac toolbar, select Prototype, then select Delete Selected Hotspots.
4. Preview prototypes with Craft Player
When you’re ready to take your prototype for a spin, you can open Craft Player to preview your prototype, without ever having to leave your design environment. After you’ve made a prototype, tap the play button in the Craft panel.
From there, you’ll be able to tap through your prototype experience without leaving Sketch.
To start prototyping faster, download the Craft plugin for Sketch and turn on auto-updates. To update your Craft plugin, navigate to Preferences within Craft Manager and click on the check for updates link.
Every extra step in your design process chips away at your most precious resource: time. Give one of these tips a try on your next project and see how much faster and lighter it feels to do good work.
Want to read more about faster prototyping?
by Kacy Boone
Product Marketing at InVision. Passionate about customer advocacy, being creative, and running.
