Unclaimed: Are you working at Sketch?
Sketch Reviews: 4.5/5 — Highly Rated
Sketch is a vector-based digital design toolkit for the full product design process: native macOS app for design and prototyping, a web app for viewing/inspecting/collaboration, and iOS apps for previews and mirroring. It supports vector editing, components/libraries, prototyping and Smart Animate transitions, developer handoff and export, real-time collaboration, workspace/version history, plugins and a Cloud REST API, and enterprise security features including SSO, SCIM and BYOK. Sketch targets solo designers and teams, with subscription plans for collaborative seats plus an optional one-time Mac-only license for offline use.
| Company | Sketch B.V. |
|---|---|
| Year founded | 2010 |
| Company size | 1000+ employees |
| Headquarters | The Netherlands |
| Capabilities |
AI
API
CLI
|
|---|---|
| Segment |
Small Business
Mid Market
Freelancer
Enterprise
|
| Deployment | Cloud / SaaS / Web-Based, Desktop Mac, Mobile iPad, Mobile iPhone |
| Support | Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base |
| Training | Documentation |
| Languages | English |
Sketch Pros and Cons
- Strong vector design tools with professional typography and color support
- Mature component/library/symbol system and design system support
- Built-in prototyping with good transitions and overlays
- Developer handoff features including export and inspect
- Real-time collaboration, version history and comment threads
- Native editing is macOS-only; Windows/Linux users rely on the web app for viewing only
- Raster/image editing capabilities are basic compared to dedicated raster tools
- Responsive/auto layout features are less powerful than some competitors
- Subscription costs for collaboration tiers can add up for large teams
- Some features (e.g., MCP server) are not available via the Mac App Store version
I loved that I could see all the designers' work, if I have the file.
(used it a couple years ago) I did not like having to save a file every time. If a designer was working on a project, the copywriter _could not_ work on it at the same time.
Problems: File saving Benefits: Easy to learn
Supers mooth for crafting UI design. Sketch has been around for a long time and has a great selection of plugins and integration options. It really used to be THE tool for digital UI design, and don't get me wrong - it still is one of the best tools out there. It's really easy to get going with but also very powerful if you want to build more complex systems and designs.
Sketch is lagging behind compared with Figma in terms of prototyping, collaboration and design system maintanance. All in all Figma is the strongest competitor in the market and seems to have a better, all-inclusive offer whereas with Sketch you have to sign up to 3rd paty services such as Invision and Zeplin to complete your product design workflow. Also the new busines model with subscriptions I don't like.
Sketch is still an amazing tool for whipping up UI design. It goes all the way from mood boards and wiregframing to complete UI libraries. The symbols feature lets you create and edit asets only once and use them throughout the UI. It encourages systematic and clean design.
Its very easy to use. It offers some poweful features which make daily work so easy with it we can customise it according to our usage and need which make it more powerful
Many times it got stuck, which make daily work so frustrating with it nowadays there are some basic features which every app should offer, is not included in this like interaction design, collaboration and more
Its just a normal tool with which i am very habitual now and my work and all files dependant on it. That day when i got opportunity to work on other tool...then i will never look back to sketch
The ability to easily create digital designs for web and mobile. It's so much easier than Photoshop, and has greater functionality. It's really good for editing/preparing assets beforehand such as icons/images. Also it's kinda the industry standard(or at least was until recently) so i'm very familiar with it.
It's not as collaborative as Figma, working with other designers can involve alot of version control. Also exporting out into a prototype or linking with other apps such as Invision is not as seamless. I think plugins are great, however i wish some of the core needs such as sharing/working with other designers on files were built in.
For the past 5 years most of my work has been done in Sketch, it has completely changed my life. Starting in UX, i have slowly been able to work in UI as well thanks to its ease of use. The fundamentals of using it can easily transfer to other products such as Figma and Adobe XD.
I really like how clear the image is when mocking things up. When you save out at different sizes, they are always clear
I dislike some of the clicking habits. I am used to using photoshop, so get thrown off when in another program
I am creating emails to be sent out to our customers.
Intuitive to use, edit, and share common components among teams
Version control was an issue sending sketch files back and forth
We used this to create product designs and iterate on UX
Suitable for both beginners and experts. Multiple (almost unlimited) features thanks to plugins.
Requires multiple plugins. Needs to transition to other software platforms to add interactivity. Sharing, comment, version control is lacking.
UX and UI design and iteration.
I love the fact you can import libraries with loads of symbols to reuse. I use a plugin called Runner to make it easier to select symbols from these libraries and it makes my life so much easier. It really helps to ensure your designs are consistent and are using the same colours and elements overall.
I dislike the minimal prototyping options. To make a proper prototype, you'd at least want there to be a hover functionality and it doesn't even have that. It's a shame, because this means I need to use another software, like InVision in order to make a complete prototype, I feel like Sketch is missing out on the opportunity to make their software more appealing by including everything. It also took me quite a while to get into it, because I was more used to Adobe software, thus a lot of the quickbuttons didn't actually work for Sketch which was quite annoying to me. Obviously I can't really blame Sketch for this, but it did prevent me from really getting into Sketch before I started at my current job.
I'm using Sketch to design high-fidelity prototypes, which allows me to present my ideas both internally to the developers and project managers as well as to clients. It's a relatively quick way to present ideas and to gather feedback and make changes according to that feedback.
I love the exporting capabilities and having the ability to export at 1x or 2x. This allows for more control on file size and being able to control the image quality.
When i double click the select tool becomes a pen tool. It causes for unwanted shapes to made and more layers to be added to file. If there was a separate command or shortcut for the pen tool, that would ease the software for users.
Web assets for digital team. Ease of file sizing and creating multiple art boards at once without annoying glitches (*ahem photoshop)
The tool allows to capture on a canvas all the ideas and alternatives that you have in mind for the execution of your projects, you can express the opinions and ideas that each of the members have and study the factors so that it can be carried out. Incredibly competitive price point, especially compared to Adobe.
One of the main complaints of this tool is that it is compatible only for Mac, which limits it completely from companies compared to other platforms.
We implement the tool in the organization to help us organize project ideas that we wish to carry out in the future; that is to say; This tool allows us to have a better view of ideas and useful comments raised by our team. Its dynamic design allows us to work with images that help in the collection of data for ideas, avoiding the manual creation of objects and thus being able to raise a final decision with feasible results. It has also achieved that our employees have become accustomed to its use since it is very easy to handle.
I like the idea of being able to quickly prototype and iterate ideas within sketch to see my ideas come to life
I don’t like how limited the interactions are for prototyping. Having to use plugins and external software can be a bit annoying
Seeing the flow of my websites
Sketch is a well-organized and flexible design tool. Although it has many features, it is easy to use. A new user can easily adapt to a new tool. Contrary to the simple appearance you can achieve the desired result. UX is an additive in the field of design software. You can easily do what you can do in Adobe Illustrator without any problems in Sketch.
Annual pricing options per machine could have been more appropriate. The received vectors can also be confused. Very large and complex design files slow down the system. You cannot use it on every operating system.
Thanks to Sketch, you can make very simple examples on the one hand, and on the other hand, you have the ability to go into details in depth and create very complex designs because it is easy to use, fast and versatile.
The platform is super easy to use and can be learned in very little time. It is good if you need to do a quick sketch for a client in a short time.
The platform does not have all of the features that I am looking for. It is only good for quick things and is not food for detail oriented sketches as it does not have the capacity to do so.
I can train people on it very easily, and work can get done very quickly as it is easy to use.
Ease with which you can design UI elements
Poor selection management and transform options
UI vectors
Very easy to use. Integration with Zeplin makes it very easy to use.
Not enough help. It would be great if the help center had more information
Easy to design mock ups for the engineering team to use.
It’s great for quick mockups and fairly simple /easy to learn
The software is very buggy, requires plugins and has limited options for prototyping
Sketch is good for flat mockups and wireframes
I like that Sketch is very simple and easy to use.
Sketch doesn't have photo or image editing features like Photoshop does
I am able to make wireframes and UI on Sketch. The benefit is that theres a lot of resources for sketch online and I can create wireframes and Ui much faster than on Illustrator or Photoshop.
I like that I can create symbols for elements I use regularly.
There isn't enough capability for editing vectors, I have to use illustrator and then take it into sketch from there.
UI Design
It's very easy to use but still having a lot of functionalities related with app design
As an Adobe user it takes some time to get use to some of the shortcuts
Wireframing and HF screens
simplicity and use of the product. Also like that a lot of mock up an UI templates are mostly sketch specific these days. The symbols feature is the best of all their competitors.
I dislike that everything is a plug in. Having to use another party for prototyping isn't great and if that had many of these plug in tools as their own built in, then I would think that most users would choose them over their competitors.
using prototypes, wireframes mapping out flows for user journeys
Sketch has some nice intuitive features that make it great for web and UX, such as easy paste in place, unlimited canvas, ability to create pages and icon duplication.
A lot of features do not work as robustly as their Photoshop/Illustrator counterparts, so while I do like Sketch, it's now just another tool I'm paying for. It's not always super congruent to switch between Sketch and Adobe.
Good for UX design and prototyping
I like being able to have symbol libraries to make designing my wireframes and prototypes efficiently.
We have struggled as a team to find an easy way to share our symbol library with one another, and have it automatically update as each individual adds to the library.
We needed a way to efficiently create beautiful design solutions to share with the business and/or development teams.
I love the integration with zeplin that allows me to upload screens.
Doesnt have an integration with adobe illustrator =[
It makes designing for the web a seamless experience
It is easy to ccordinat and learn specially if you switch form photoshop you can nake yourself compatible with it, it has great tools for designers and getting better by new versions
Lots of errors as inwas thinking going back to photoshop, sometimes certain tools does not work, pictures and screen shot don’t get saved and no seeing that it is gonna improve in future versions
For designing and giving concepts to customers in architecture industry , sharing ideas with other designers
Ease of use and I am able to wireframe without
Sometimes quite hard to navigate and quite expensive
Wireframing
Stable platform with lots of plugins available. Collaborative with many tools. Easy to use.
Rely too much on plugins and they're not always reliable. Platform updates are limited comparing to competitors. Prototyping feature is weak.
Speed up wireframing and UI design process significantly. Easy to manage and create assets.
The app is really powerfull and intuitive
Its only for mac OSX but the rest of app is okay.
It allows you to make great designs visually
User friendly. With a day worth of training and some practicing. You will be able to use it for your next design project.
Do not have big concerns so far. Because I'm fairly new to this.
Designs and presenting projects.
Looks great and performs well. Ease of designing wireframe
Not compatible with photoshop, hard to export
Mockup for client
I love that Sketch is both vector and non-vector based. That means I can create icons and illustrations all in Sketch, and also take them back and forth between Sketch and Illustrator.
Selecting the layer I want can sometimes be a real pain point. I sometimes have to click a dozen times to get to a layer, and often I can't even edit the text in a text layer unless I physically click on the "Edit Text" button (as opposed to double-clicking on the text layer itself). I also think the exporting experience could be improved. The exporting panel wasn't evident to me when I first used Sketch. Unlike in the Adobe softwares, on Sketch the exporting process doesn't happen in a popup. This isn't obvious for new users, and I'm still getting used to it. Lastly, I wish there were a way for Sketch to have a "links" panel, just like in InDesign, where I could update images and files to their newer version, instead of having to import the external image/file again each time I make edits to it.
I use Sketch to create apps, desktop and mobile site wireframes and UI, and style tiles.