Feature summary | Adobe XD (2020 releases)

The August 2020 release of XD has the following new features and enhancements:

• Create and share multiple user journeys within an XD document
• Quick toggle between different modes in XD

Designers can now create and share multiple interaction flows within in a single XD document. You can set different Home artboards for each interaction flows in a document and share them with your stakeholders using shareable links.

For more information, see Share design specs and prototypes.

Use the all new keyboard shortcuts to quickly switch between Design, Prototype, and Share mode.

• In Windows, use Alt + 1, Alt + 2, and Alt + 3 to switch to Design, Prototype, and Share mode respectively. 
• In Mac, use ⌥ + 1, ⌥ + 2, and ⌥ + 3 to switch to Design, Prototype, and Share mode respectively.

For more information, see Keyboard Shortcuts.

The July 2020 release of XD has the following new features and enhancements: 

• Creative cloud document folders
• Learn tab on home screen

You can now group your personal XD cloud documents in specific folders. The grouping enables hassle free organisation of your documents for specific projects and clients. 

For more information, see Cloud documents in XD.

Looking to get started with XD? The Learn tab on the Home screen provides a variety of content related to  features, tools, and workflows in XD. 

For more information, see Workspace basics.

The June 2020 release of XD has the following new features and enhancements: 

• Maintain object alignment and spacing with stacks
  
• Create vertical or horizontal scroll effects with scroll groups
• Share your designs using a single link address
  
• Add custom variable names with design tokens
  

You can now define and retain spacing between objects as your designs change. When you insert or reorder objects, other objects adjust accordingly. No more manual adjustment of layouts!

For more information, see Create dynamic designs with stacks.

You can now define areas within an artboard that scroll independently from the rest of the artboard to create horizontal or vertical scroll effects. Use this handy feature when you want to build an image carousel, product slider, and so on.

For more information, see Create scroll groups.

You can now share your designs using a single link address without having to create a new link. No more separate links when adjusting access settings from Public to Private!

For more information, see Share designs and prototypes.

You can now assign custom names or variables to colors and character styles in the Assets panel and make them available to developers in Design Specs. Developers can view these Design Tokens in design Specs and download these variables as CSS for faster design-to-code workflows.  

For more information, see Create design tokens.

• Offline support for co-editing
• Zoom controls for shared prototype links
  

You can now continue editing your cloud documents even when there is poor or no network connectivity.

Any changes made to the document offline are pushed to all collaborators once a connection is re-established. If there are conflicting changes when a connection is re-established, you can discard your local changes or save a copy of the document with your new changes to avoid merging issues.

For more information, see Collaborate and coedit designs.

You can now have a closer look at shared prototypes by using the zoom controls on your desktop or mobile web browser. Choose a zoom percentage from 25% to 200%, or set the zoom setting to Default.

For more information on using zoom controls in desktop or mobile browsers, see Work with prototypes in XD and Preview your prototypes on mobile devices.

• Add audio playback on prototypes
  
• Add multiple actions from a single trigger
• Navigate to targeted areas of an artboard using anchor links
  
• Resize text area to fit content
  
• Allow invitees to re-share design specs and prototypes
  

Audio playback allows you to add audio files as an Action when creating prototypes for multi-modal design workflows and game designs.

Add music to your prototype or prototype a button that transitions to another screen with audio playback and watch your designs come alive!

For more information, see Add an audio playback.

Want to add multiple actions on an object or an artboard? You can now combine two actions with Tap as the single trigger. For example, the clicking sound of a mouse as you click to transition from one artboard to another.

For more information, see Add multiple actions from a single trigger. 

You can now wire objects on the same artboard as anchor links to create an enhanced scrolling experience in single-page website or long UIs.

For more information, see Create navigational links within an artboard.

You can now resize a text box area to fit the content by double-clicking the red resize handle at the bottom. This adjusts the height of the area text to match the text within. 

No more manual resizing of multiple text boxes within an artboard!

For more information, see Resize the text area.

For improved design collaboration, you can provide permissions to your invitees to reshare your design specs and prototypes. You can then add, remove, or accept requests from other reviewers to access or view your secure private links. 

For more information, see Reshare designs and prototypes.

• Share private links to organizational groups
  
• Publish all artboards
• Support for macOS Voice Control
  
• Create heart shapes
  

Work with group sharing to share your design prototypes with organizational groups.

For more information, see Share designs and prototypes.

You can now share all artboards, even those without interactions. Disable the Home artboard icon in Prototype mode, and you are ready to publish all the artboards present on the canvas. No more wiring and rewiring!

For more information, see Share designs and prototypes.

MacOS Catalina introduces Voice Control, a new way to fully control your Mac entirely with your voice. Adobe XD takes advantage of this feature by allowing you to interact with keyboard shortcuts using your voice. 

To test this feature, enable Voice Control on your MacOS, and do the following:

• Open a file in Adobe XD
• Say "Open Edit Menu". The Edit menu should open up
• Say "Click 4" to duplicate an artboard. A new artboard should get created.

For more information, see Use MacOS Voice Control with XD.

The polygon tool now includes native support for creating heart shapes on your XD design canvas. For more information, see Work with drawing and text tools.

• Create content-aware layouts
• Single artboard publishing
• Use polygon tool to create star shapes
  
• Comment-first experience in artifact links
  

Content-Aware Layout makes it easier and faster to create common UI elements by recognizing the relationship between different objects on your canvas and automatically adjusts the layout of a group when different objects of the group change. Also, you can use Padding to align the structure of a UI element.

No more manual resizing and aligning of objects in a group!

For more information, see Set fixed padding for components and groups.

You can now share individual artboards from Prototype mode without any wired interactions.

Go ahead and bring new levels of interactivity to your prototypes!  

For more information, see Share designs and prototypes.

Explore how to use the polygon tool to adjust the Star Ratio to draw star shapes in your design projects.

Go ahead and enhance your experience designs!

For more information, see Work with drawing and text tools.

You can now comment on a shared artifact link without signing in to your account! No more disruptive process of signing in with your Adobe ID to comment on a prototype!

For more information on adding comments to prototypes, see Work with prototypes.