2.3 Layer basics
Explore the different types of layers in Sketch and how you can use them to create incredible designs. Along the way, we’ll share tricks and shortcuts to keep your workflow fast and smooth.
Some UI in this video is outdated — no worries, this doesn’t affect how things work. We’ll share an updated version soon!
Key learnings
You can add a new shape from the Insert menu in the toolbar. There are also plenty of shortcuts to quickly insert different shapes — try them all!
To move a layer around in the Canvas, just click and drag it. If you want to restrict movement to a particular axis, hold ⇧ as you drag.
To create a group, select several layers on the Canvas and press ⌘G on the keyboard.
Artboards are optional, but handy for creating fixed frames on the Canvas. They’re especially useful if you’re designing for a specific device or screen size.
You can rename an entire selection of layers (⌘R), all layers in a page (⌥⌘R) or rename another selection of layers using the last renaming pattern (⌥⇧⌘R).
Lesson files
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How do you duplicate a document?
To duplicate a document to your Workspace, click on
in the top bar
and choose Duplicate to My Drafts. Have fun!
Mentor
Joseph Todaro
Joseph is our Head of Video at Sketch. He brings over a decade of product, design, and education experience. Before joining Sketch, he was a Senior Product Designer at InVision and was also responsible for the design education courses for InVision Studio and DSM.
While designing in-flight entertainment software at Fuse IFX, he migrated his team to Sketch – a tool that would go on to change the way he works. Eventually, he founded LearnSketch.com as a side project to share his knowledge and passion for the tool.
Joseph currently teaches UI and UX design at the Laguna College of Art and Design. He continues to share resources with the design community through projects like LearnSketch.com, Shapefest.com, LUTHOUSE.com and RandomUI.com.
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