By Matt Rae
C
reative Cloud libraries bring together assets from across the Creative Cloud and put them in a shareable, distributable format for teams to access and use in the Creative Cloud application of choice. Libraries include everything from character styles and colors, to graphics and components, and can be shared easily across a team, or between projects. Now, CC Libraries are even easier to work with in Adobe XD using the new Libraries panel.
A home for all your Libraries
The Libraries panel in Adobe XD (previously known as the Assets panel) is the home for accessing, sharing and making use of Creative Cloud Libraries. The panel can be accessed by clicking on the libraries icon in the bottom left, or using the hotkey SHIFT + CMD + Y on a Mac, or SHIFT + CTRL + Y on a Windows computer.
When first accessing the Libraries panel in a new document, XD will display local document assets. This is where assets like colors, character styles and components created in the current document will be available just like the asset panel you’re used to.
Clicking on the back button at the top of the panel will return to a view of all the libraries enabled for the current document. Clicking into any of the available libraries will display a filtered view of the assets from that library.
If you’re not sure which library you need to open, it is still just as easy to search for assets across all libraries using the search field at the top of the Libraries panel. Once a search is initiated, filtering and sorting options become available making it even easier to narrow your search for the exact assets you need.
Creating a Library
There are two methods for creating a Library from within Adobe XD. New Libraries can be created from other Creative Cloud applications as well like Photoshop and Illustrator, and accessed from within Adobe XD.
Publishing Document Assets
If you’re currently working in a document and wish to distribute the assets used to a cloud library, publishing those assets is simple. At the top of the Library panel for document assets, a publish button will appear. Clicking this button will open the Library manager allowing you to publish the assets within this document as a Cloud Library.
If the document was a local document it will be converted to a Cloud Document and will remain the source of truth for the assets created in Adobe XD. With the library now published, it can be enabled or disabled in the Library manager window to hide and show it on documents.
Create a Library from the Library manager
If you’re working across multiple applications in the Creative Cloud and need to share assets between those applications, or you don’t have a working file to convert to a library, a new library can be created from the Library Manager modal. To do this, click on the + button next to Libraries at the top of the libraries panel home.
By default, the Manage tab will be shown, where libraries can be enabled and disabled, shared, renamed and deleted. On the left hand side, below Manage and Browse there is a + Create New link, clicking on that will prompt you to provide a name for the new Library. Enter a name and click Create.
It really is that simple. The library will be enabled by default and you can begin adding assets from supported CC Applications.
Adding assets to a Library
Whether you just created a library or were invited to a shared library, adding assets is straightforward in Adobe XD. Since asset types can vary across the Creative Cloud suite, certain asset types are only accessible from the applications that use them. Components created in Adobe XD for instance are currently usable across other Adobe XD documents.
From Adobe XD assets such as Colors, Character Styles, Components, and Graphics can be added to a Creative Cloud Library. To add any of these items, select the element to be added to the library. Ensure that the Libraries panel is open, and the desired Library is selected.
Next, click the + button at the bottom of the panel, which will open up a menu allowing you to select which type of asset should be added to the library.
From here, select which type of asset should be added to the Library. For instance, if you select a shape, or vector graphic you can choose to either add the Fill or Stroke Colors, the Graphic itself, or all of the above. Once selected that element will be added into the Library and be available for use right away.
If you’re looking to include Adobe XD components within a shared Creative Cloud Library, it is best practice to publish the library from Adobe XD. Components cannot be added from any XD document to a Creative Cloud Library, they must be part of the source document published to a library. Once an Adobe XD file is shared as a library, the source file can be edited and components can be added and edited as is done in any Adobe XD document.
Sharing a Library
Libraries can be shared with collaborators allowing them to edit or simply access and use the assets from within a Library. Sharing can be done from the Library management interface, or by clicking on the Invite to Library icon when in the panel.
Collaborators can be invited to the library directly via Adobe ID, and given permissions to edit or simply view the library. With edit permissions, collaborators can add and remove and edit assets within the library. Viewers can only use the assets as they are in the library, or disconnect them from the library to make changes in a working document.
Alternatively, if sharing with a broader audience a link to the library can be generated to allow anyone with the link to access the assets included in the library, great for sharing out to a broader team. Controls are available to allow viewers to follow the library for updates, and save the assets to their own Creative Cloud.
Collaborators and links can be removed at any time if permissions need to be updated, or use of the library should be restricted.
Migrating from XD Cloud Library to CC Libraries
If you or your team have used Adobe XD Cloud libraries in the past, it is best to transition those shared cloud files into Creative Cloud Libraries to make use of the powerful cross application functionality. This means that Brand and Product teams can work from the same library sources, and use assets across applications like Illustrator, Photoshop and Adobe XD.
To convert an existing Library to a Creative Cloud Library, it is as simple as publishing the existing Adobe XD Cloud documents as a new Creative Cloud Library as seen above.
Once the document has been published, collaborators can be invited to the Library with either view or edit permissions based on whether they’re simply using the assets, or have the ability to edit those assets.
Team members and collaborators will now be able to browse available libraries in the Browse tab in the library management interface. Libraries can then be enabled for use in working documents.
