8 of the best Sketch plugins that every designer needs

Every designer can benefit from using the right digital tools to charge up their design superpowers. Whether those tools help automate your workflow, quickly organize your files, or streamline content creation.

But being a successful designer comes with its own set of unique hurdles. Luckily, our Mac app has some extensions up its sleeve that eliminates time-consuming parts of the design process and keeps creative juices flowing.

Ready to amplify your toolkit and make your experience even smoother? Well, that’s where plugins come in handy!

What is a plugin?

If you’re a habitual internet user, chances are you’ve used a plugin at some point in your day-to-day life.

Sometimes referred to as extensions, these nifty software components are add-ons that you can easily install and use to enhance your experience in an app or browser.

Plugins give you additional customization options without having to write any of the code. You can use them for everything from spell-checking documents, to customizing user experience. Think Grammarly for instant proofreading straight from your browser, or RealPlayer for streaming all your favorite media files. Or the many amazing Sketch plugins that exist to simplify and improve your design experience!

If you can think of it, there’s probably a plugin for it. And the good news is, there are tons that will supercharge your design skills too!

The best Sketch plugins of 2022

Every designer is different, and that often means they need a unique combination of tools. Luckily, there are over 700 Sketch extensions for you to try! So you’re sure to find some valuable additions to your virtual toolbox.

Let’s check out some of our favorites of 2022 (so far)!

Sketch Runner

If you’re looking to speed up your process automation and remove all the drawn-out tasks that slow down your workflow, then you need Runner!

Basic tasks like navigating Artboards or aligning layers eat into your design time. So Runner’s intuitive interface helps you get around our Mac app faster. It runs commands directly from your keyboard, so you can find things quicker, insert specific Symbols, and jump around your document in a matter of seconds — making every process much simpler!

You can also add and export layout specs, install other plugins, batch-rename components, and align, update or distribute multiple layers — to name a few.

Confetti

Jazz up your design or webpage with this fun add-on. Confetti auto-generates random confetti patterns, using your specific Symbols and requirements. Speeding up your process and giving you a bespoke look to any design, at the click of a button.

It gives you unlimited creative potential when it comes to configuring shapes — that don’t look computer-generated. So it’s the perfect way to turn that flat background on your website into a dynamic animation that’ll catch any visitor’s eye.

By incorporating a variety of design elements, you can get the perfect composition and add a unique twist to your projects. You even get to determine the parameters of the grid size, and change the transparency and overlap to your liking.

SketchCleaner

As any designer will tell you, keeping your layers organized is important, but more often than not, it can feel like a hassle. Who has time to remember to rename every layer when they’re in the zone?

SketchCleaner eliminates that issue by doing it for you! It provides you with a whole host of options that make organization and handoff easier than ever. This plugin allows you to remove inactive layer styles, select and delete hidden layers, and keep the position of your borders consistent across all layers. It even helps search your file for bitmaps and selects them so you can view them instantly.

This takes care of all the the important (if tedious) tasks, so you can get back to the actual design process.

Cluse

Accessibility should never be an optional extra in your design process — you need to think about it every step of the way. Which is why a plugin like Cluse is so essential.

Cluse is a color contrast plugin for Sketch that ensures your products are WCAG 2.0 accessible. Simply select two layers and run the plugin. It’ll instantly tell you whether the contrast is WCAG AA and AAA compliant — and, if not, offer simple sliders to adjust your colors until they are.

It’s not as comprehensive as some accessibility checkers, but Cluse is a small, non-intrusive addition to your workflow that will make your design better for everyone. And best of all, it’s totally free.

Looper

Manually creating intricate geometric designs and illustrations can be really time-consuming. But Looper gives you the ability to automate the duplication of layers and groups, instantly generating your own unique patterns.

Based on your specifications, Looper will use elements like rotation, scale, and opacity to construct distinct organic shapes. Making it that much easier and faster for you to create impressive visual effects.

Overflow

Enhance user experience with this handy plugin that engages your audience in your design story — the way you want it told.

Overflow takes the hassle out of professional design presentations and critique meetings by drawing the eye to specific parts of your screen that you want seen.

Navigate presentations using simple connectors, or your keyboard’s arrow keys, to communicate your work’s story with simplified user flow diagrams. Leading your users through one easily understandable, interactive narrative.

Color Variables Migrator

Color Variables Migrator is a practical add-on that helps you keep all the colors across your document perfectly in sync.

The Mac app will automatically convert your color swatches from old designs into Color Variables so that you can easily manage your projects’ color variations. But this plugin will help you update all layers and styles in each document with those new Color Variables, to make sure everything is correctly attributed.

If you haven’t started using Color Variables in your designs yet, this is your sign to start now! They’re particularly useful if you’re following brand guidelines, or just want to keep all the colors in your document consistent.

Unsplash

Looking for that perfect image of the sun setting over snowy mountains? Or maybe a picture of people deep in thought at a business meeting? Unsplash has you covered.

This plugin gives you the ability to add completely free, high-resolution images directly on your layers — saving you time having to scour the internet for that award-winning shot.

You can choose between the Random Photo option or Search Photo function, to get something spontaneous or to find a specific image you have in mind and place it straight into your document. It even uses the size of your layer to match the image to your layout, so you don’t end up with an awkward picture orientation.

The best part is that Unsplash already comes pre-installed in our Mac app, so you can try it right now!

While these plugins are all show-stoppers in our opinion, there’s plenty more where that came from! So be sure to check out the full list. Who knows, you might even discover your next game-changer 👀