Adobe XD

About this release

XD is built for the stretch of work between an idea and a build. Screens are laid out on an infinite canvas, artboards match real device sizes, and the vector tools are deliberately simpler than a full illustration application because interface work needs speed and consistency far more than it needs drawing depth. A twenty screen flow comes together in an afternoon.

Components and states are the backbone of a serious file. A button, a card or a navigation bar is defined once as a component, used everywhere, and updated in one place. Each component carries its own hover, pressed and disabled states, so an interactive prototype behaves like the real thing without a single duplicated artboard. Repeat grid fills a list from one row and takes real content rather than placeholder blocks.

Prototyping happens on the same canvas rather than in a separate mode. Wires connect one screen to the next, transitions and easing are set per link, and auto animate works out the difference between two artboards and animates it, which turns a static comparison into a convincing piece of motion in seconds. Voice triggers, scroll groups and overlays cover the rest of the interaction vocabulary.

Handoff to development is direct. A shared specification exposes measurements, colours, type styles and downloadable assets, and design tokens stay consistent through shared libraries so a whole team draws from one palette and one type scale. Plugins extend the application into charting, content population, accessibility checking and export pipelines.

What it does

Components with states

Define an element once and carry its hover, pressed and disabled states everywhere it is used.

Repeat grid

Fill a list or a gallery from a single row and pour real content into it.

Auto animate

Two artboards become a smooth transition without hand animating anything.

Prototyping on the canvas

Links, easing, overlays and scroll groups set beside the screens themselves.

Shared libraries

Colours, type styles and components stay consistent across a whole team.

Developer specification

Measurements, styles and exportable assets exposed for the build.

Changed in this version

• Faster canvas performance on files with hundreds of artboards.
• Component state handling reworked for clearer overrides.
• Improved export of assets at multiple densities.
• Plugin manager reorganised with better search.
• Reduced memory use on very large prototypes.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive.
2. Close other Adobe applications before installing.
3. Run the installer to completion.
4. Open a test file and set the default artboard sizes for the platform you design for.

Worth knowing before you start

File details