Anyone using Sketch?

  • Started
  • Last post
  • 9 Responses
  • microkorg

    Any Sketch lovers out there in QBN land?

    I'm going to attempt to make a case at work for us to get rid of our Dell PC's and get some Macs so we can move with the times and work with Sketch (Craft & InVision too).

    We already use InVision to present visuals to clients and it's a great tool.

    Have spoken to a friend who has been using it for the past year and hasn't really touched illustrator or photoshop for designing at all.

    If you use it, how much time and hassle would you say it saves you on an average job?

    Looking to make the case that the time saved over a few jobs would cover the cost of a couple of macbooks.

    What's your thoughts on the program?
    Have you ditched Adobe all together?

  • set0

    There are at least a few sketch threads already. I used it for a few projects a few years ago but it was buggy and my developers weren't using macs at the time so there were issues. Personally I really liked it though, certainly in principle.

    I've heard the bugs have been ironed out and everyone I work with are on macs now so maybe it's time to take another look.

  • sted0

    Buying macs just for sketch rotfl. And it's great if you are just a webdesigner. I would not risk the complete studio workflow by switching everything to mac+sketch. Pick some people who would contribute testing the stuff...

  • microkorg0

    It'd just be two macs to start off with so not much of an overhaul - all the other software we use would be usable on the macs too.

    Besides, there's some proj managers who would love to have these Dells ;)

  • necromation0

    Who isn't? I'm the only CD at my place that is... Actually i'm the only one, not even my designers are... i rarely use PS anymore.

    i love it as its super fast... and of course working within agile dev teams its a god send.

  • mugwart0

    You could build a case for Affinity - one off fee, no monthly fees.
    photo and designer are great from my dabblings.
    But I don't do much artwork for projects any more - just sticking my opinion in here!

    • We would stick with adobe for Photoshop (photo manipulation) and illustrator for vector and print work.
      And use Sketch for layout and web design.
      microkorg
    • Sorry - sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong!!mugwart
    • it ok, all good :)microkorg
    • Affinity's feature set is still not good enough to replace PS. Its ok for hobbyists, but it's not a professional tool.Al_dizzle
    • Hate the way they handle colour management anyway. But try painting in nuke... fun as it is. Dealine friendly it is not!mugwart
  • kona2

    We just did this here microkorg. And, about 6 months after I just got the organization to upgrade us all from PS 5.1 through 6 all to CC.

    We're all on macs to begin with so that didn't play a part in our decision. What did was the need for 'redlines' as we call them. It was a constant pain in the ass to design in CC and go through all the approval processes, then go back and redline the files for the engineers and developers. I knew Adobe was working on their version of Sketch but I convinced the org to install Sketch on our machines.

    The icing on the cake was our ability to use Zeplin along with Sketch, which provides redlines and code automagically without design effort. Those two programs working together have been amazing.

    Zeplin can be downloaded and accessed via Windows but Sketch can not btw. So for you, it's ok that everyone else is on PC as they'll be able to access the files, code, and redlines via Zeplin.

    Sketch took us little time to absorb and in the 4 months that we've been using it has been updated/upgraded a few times. Its vastly improved over what I had been testing even 6 months ago. It's stable, fast, and made specifically for UI work. Photoshop seems like a dog now when I go back.

    • Christ, that's mostly doubeldutch to me - no way I could back and work as a webnik in a team any more - I'm so ignant and past it. Oh well.detritus
    • I think I hear what you're saying. I manage them as a CD and a guy on the team suggested moving to Sketch. I had to do all the paperwork b.s.kona
    • Zeplin appears to be a nicer version of http://www.wuwacorp.…evilpeacock
    • I'm using Fireworks....or as I call it, ItWorks.see_thru
    • You illustrated a problem we arent familar with. Can you elaborate?Hayoth
  • nocomply0

    I switched to sketch about 6-9 months ago at the suggestion of several people here on QBN.

    I was coming from a Photoshop background, and initially just looking for something that would allow me to create wireframes more efficiently.

    Sketch most definitely fits the bill, but I like it so much I'm now using it for my entire web design process.

    I still need to crack open photoshop to edit/crop/touch up photos, so I frequently have both apps open, but all of my web design / UI work is now done in Sketch.

    Lots of people have complained about Sketch being buggy. That hasn't been the case for me. Maybe I don't use it enough to find the bugs.

    My biggest complaint is that simply not enough people use it, so sharing a .sketch file won't get you the same mileage as sharing a .psd, where these days it's just assumed that everyone can open it.

    • And yet I see .sketch files all over the place with creative freebies or assets now.evilpeacock
    • Yeah it's definitely picking up steam, but also definitely not the industry standard either.nocomply
    • I think the inroads the non-Adobe apps are making is impressive nonetheless.evilpeacock
  • microkorg0

    Thanks Kona and Nocomply, great info about your experience with sketch.

    I can see how it must save a lot of time, particularly with client alts and shit like that once a project is moving.

  • lvl_130

    adobe xd-i feel like it's becoming a very useful tool (in preview at the moment), and being tied to all of the rest of the CC suite, I think it will eventually phase out sketch (at least for visual designers). but that's just like my opinion, man.