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Work with design specs

Learn how to work with design specs in XD.

design-specs

Working with design specs in XD is a game changer for designer-to-developer workflows. Made to save time and simplify communication between designers and developers, its superior speed and performance is a sure winner for XD.

Accessing design specs is now as easy as clicking a simple URL. And that’s not even the best part; you are in full control, with the ability to choose the file format and resolution you need for your code. You can also view the user-experience workflow to gain a deeper understanding of the intended output.

Prerequisites

  • Designers share the design specs through public links, password protected links, or private links. 
  • Developers need the following to access the shared links:
    • A desktop browser and an Internet connection to view and respond to shared comments. For more information, see System requirements.
    • An Adobe or enterprise ID and permissions to access private invites.
    • Shared password to open the link, if the link is password-protected.
Note:

Ensure to view the design specs on desktop browsers. The usage of mobile browsers to view design specs is not recommended. 

Design spec workflows

  • Publish and share: Design specs feature empowers designers to share design properties of their files with developers. Designers can provide developers key information such as object height, width, size, alignment, relative spacing between two icons (objects), colors, typography, blend mode properties, trigger interactions, and CSS code snippets that you can copy-and-paste right into your code. Design specs link being tailor-made for developers, designers don't have to specifically mark out the features in it which are of interest to developers.
  • Review: Developers can review the design and share feedback with designers. The link is always up to date with the latest comments.
  • Password protect: Designers can restrict access to public design specs by adding password protection. They can also password-protect already shared design specs. 
  • Private links: Designers can choose to publish design specs as a private link and invite developers to it so that there is no unauthorized access.
  • Download assets: Designers can choose to include assets while publishing design specs and developers can download them from the shared link.

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