Symbol Overrides - Padding/Margin

Suggest an idea
1

Will we see better auto-layout features that remove the need for spacers?

An idea I had is adding separate padding or margin override functionality to symbols. It could be very useful.

Screenshot 2023-03-03 at 19.23.16
Screenshot 2023-03-03 at 19.23.162336×1182 141 KB

I could see it becoming a similar function to Tint or Shadow, which can be added to nested symbols or groups within a symbol. The padding/margin values could be a list of spacing tokens (something new also) which would allow you the flexibility to edit it but still align to a design system’s spacing tokens.

The symbol itself could have the Margin option, while a nested symbol could have the padding option (both even :grinning:)

I mocked up what it could look like in the overrides panel!

Thanks

2

Hello there :wave: That’s a really cool idea :star_struck:

You can already see some of these improvements! With the Experimental Feature Better Smart Layout Reliability (available in version 95.x) you can test how symbols now resize better without spacer elements. Check out this demo: it’s a button with icons on either side. Before this improvement, you had to add spacers so the button resized correctly when hiding one icon, but now it works without spacers :smiley:

I hope this helps

3

Hey. While I appreciate the updates to Sketch, my only feedback is that it is not flexible enough, especially with components with 5-10 elements and in a top-down presentation.