Web Development: What is Adobe XD?

Monday, February 15, 2021

What is Adobe XD?

Adobe XD is a vector-based UI and UX design tool and it can be used to design anything from smartwatch apps to fully fledged websites. Let’s take a look at what it offers designers and why it’s become such a powerful tool in the web design industry.

What is XD?

Adobe XD was first introduced as “Project Comet” back in 2015 at the annual Adobe MAX conference. Back then it offered a breath of fresh air to anyone still using Photoshop or Illustrator for their UI design. After all, the web presents very different design challenges to print.

I myself started out designing websites in Photoshop, so I know all about the struggles (especially where responsive and fluid design is concerned) but XD is completely different. It was developed from the ground up, specifically with UI and UX design in mind, so it has loads of features which never existed in other graphics applications.

What is Adobe XD Used For?

What’s important to remember is that Adobe XD addresses the two main problems Photoshop and other graphics applications couldn’t:

Interaction design isn’t static. A designer cannot communicate a fluid and dynamic design using pixels alone.
A modern design process involves more than a polished finished article. Wireframing, iteration, and behavior are all part of the collaborative decision making with UI and UX design.

Adobe XD is ideal for vector-based UI design, wireframing, interactive design, prototyping, and hi-fidelity web/app design, for solo designers or whole teams.

Adobe XD Graphic Templates on Envato Elements

You can create beautiful projects with unlimited downloads of high-quality Adobe XD graphic templates on Envato Elements. One monthly fee, all the design assets you need!

Adobe XD Features

Among Adobe XD’s features we can find the following:

Prototyping design tools
3D transforms
Animations and transition design
Components (which are completely fluid)
Support for 3rd party plugins and extensions
Responsive resizing of content and layout
Repeat grids

These are just some of the great features which have been possible to build into Adobe XD, because it started from a clean slate.

My 3 favorites among them are:

1. Repeat Grids

Repeat grids are awesome. They allow you to make copies of an element and automatically arrange them in a grid. Using controls you can easily change the vertical and horizontal spacing. This can save you a huge amount of time, preventing the need to manually copy and paste (and change) elements in your design.

2. Adobe XD Components

Second on my list would be components and component states. A component in Adobe XD is a reusable element which works on “main” and “instance” logic.

A copy of the main component is called an “instance”. Any changes made to the main are reflected on the instance, but instances can be changed independently of the main. “States” are variations of the component, and in Adobe XD you can easily switch between states really easily in both design and prototype mode.

3. Document Assets

Finally, we have document assets, which allow you to save colors and character styles in a single repository, and then apply them to other elements.

These, along with components, are also saved in a document library which can be shared with other people. This is a really useful feature for creating design systems, for example, or collaborating on single pieces of work.

Prototyping in Adobe XD

That concludes my three personal favorite features, but for most people you’ll find prototyping comes top of the list–and for good reason. With it, you can create really smooth animations and demo your designs in a more genuine environment; with transitions, and multiple screens, and object states. Bringing your designs to life like this, and allowing users to interact with them is extremely valuable.

Price and Platform Availability

One thing I love about Adobe XD is that it’s free to use. It does have a paid plan for anyone who wants access to the collaboration features, but the free app itself is more than enough for most people. Another plus point is that it’s available on Mac OS and Windows, and you can also save all your XD files in Adobe Cloud, meaning you can access them from multiple devices.

To get hold of it visit https://www.adobe.com/products/xd or if you have Creative Cloud app installed and you have a valid subscription you can download it directly from there.

You Should Try Adobe XD

In short, Adobe XD is an amazing tool for anyone interested in UI and UX design, and it certainly elevates your work beyond what Photoshop or Illustrator are capable of. It’s fast, it’s easy to learn, and it’s constantly being updated with new features and improvements.

On Tuts+ you’ll find lots of Adobe XD tutorials and courses: