Figma Basics

Getting Comfortable in Figma

Figma is where most product design work happens today, from Lagos startups to global companies like Microsoft, Uber and Spotify. It runs in the browser, so a mid-range laptop and a stable connection are enough to start. The free plan is plenty for learning.

This lesson covers the four concepts you will use every single day: frames, components, auto layout and constraints. It also covers the keyboard shortcuts that make you fast.

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1. Frames

A frame is a container, usually representing a screen. Press F (or A) and pick a preset such as Android Compact or iPhone 15 from the right panel.

• Frames can hold other frames, which is how you build nested layouts.
• Name your frames clearly: "01 Home", "02 Send money", "03 Confirm". Good names save your team hours.
• Group vs frame: a group (Ctrl/Cmd + G) just bundles layers together. A frame has its own size, fill, clipping and layout settings. Prefer frames.

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2. Components

A component is a reusable element, like a button or an input field. Create one with Ctrl + Alt + K (Cmd + Option + K on Mac).

• The original is the main component. Every copy is an instance.
• Change the main component and every instance updates. Change the corner radius of your "Primary button" once and all 60 buttons in the file follow.
• Variants group related components together, such as a button with Default, Hover and Disabled states, or Small, Medium and Large sizes.
• Instances can override text and some properties without breaking the link.

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3. Auto Layout

Auto layout (Shift + A) makes frames behave like flexbox in CSS. Children stack horizontally or vertically with consistent spacing and padding.

• Type a longer label and the button grows automatically.
• Add an item to a list and everything below moves down.
• Set spacing between items, padding and alignment in the right panel.
• Resizing options: Hug contents (shrink to fit), Fill container (stretch) or Fixed.

Auto layout is the single biggest skill that separates beginners from professionals. It also makes developer handoff much easier, because it maps directly to how engineers build layouts.

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4. Constraints

Constraints decide how a layer behaves when its parent frame is resized. They apply to layers that are not inside auto layout.

• Left / Right / Left & Right / Center / Scale horizontally.
• Top / Bottom / Top & Bottom / Center / Scale vertically.

Pin a bottom navigation bar to Bottom and Left & Right, and it stays at the bottom and stretches when you switch from a small Android frame to a large one.

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Shortcuts Worth Learning First

Designers who use shortcuts work noticeably faster. Learn five a week and they soon become muscle memory.

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Try It in the Lab

The shortcut quiz on the right shows you a Figma action. Press the keys on your keyboard, or switch to multiple-choice mode if your browser grabs the shortcut first. It tracks your streak and repeats the ones you miss.