Stacks and Smart Layout

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1

Hey guys,

So I’ve been using Athens for a while now and am getting used to all new things introduced. The new Sketch looks great so far!

Only thing I seem to be struggling with is Stacks and predicting what combination of layers I can use its auto layout functionality on. It doesn’t always infer Start/Centre/End, correctly, and makes manoeuvring layers a lot more rigid. Overall I find my workflow slowing down and spending more time figuring out how Stacks actually works than making it work on my layers.

I actually really liked the simplicity of Smart Layout even if it may not be as powerful as Stacks. Is it possible to be able to choose with a dropdown whether I want to use Smart Layout or Stacks, similar to choosing Group/Frame and Graphic?

I know I may be in a minority, but I loved the simplicity of Smart Layout and might use a combination of Smart Layout and Stacks in my documents.

Thanks for reading!

3

Hi there. Although it’s not shown in the Inspector, you can still choose to use Smart Layout via the menubar if you want to: Arrange > Smart Layout (Legacy). But note that it is marked as a legacy feature, and although it is still available now, we cannot guarantee what will happen with it in future versions of the app.
I would recommend taking the time to get to know Stacks better. It’s true what you say when you said they are more “rigid”, in that they follow quite strict rules, but once you get to grips with understanding them, then you can really work these to your advantage. And when using combinations of Stacks within Stacks, you can create some really dynamic and time-saving layouts.

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