Release Notes
The updated Slack integration for Abstract Notebooks automatically shares notifications for notebook reviews to one or more of your Slack channels of choice, and unfurls Notebook links pasted into Slack.
- Notebooks users can easily cut and copy images and frames in a Notebook using common keyboard shortcuts Cmd/Ctrl+X and Cmd/Ctrl+C.
- Images and frames copied and pasted into the same Notebook will retain all annotations and comments. Those pasted to differing Notebooks will simply paste the image or frame.
- Copy and pasted Figma frames will continue retain the link to Figma.
Get back to your original Figma file right from your notebook. Users can now link a Figma frame to a file, and Abstract will link all frames from that file across the organization.
Learn more here.
Paste Images
- Users can now paste images from their clipboards into their notebooks - no more saving content to your desktop!
Branches Pro administration
- Updated billing plans to include Branches Pro plan. New Branches organizations can now self-administer and select this plan, which allows unlimited Contributor seats to be added.
Improved Notebook Template Selection
- We've improved the experience to select a template when you create a notebook.
Project naming conventions
- Changed project naming conventions to remove restriction on project name uniqueness.
* Elevated static images to behave in the same way as imported artboards - users can now double-click to see the detail view and add comments and annotations to new images.
Figma and Sketch plugin updates
- Only show projects with notebooks that you can make updates to.
- (Sketch only) Adds support for dark mode.
Jira integration
- A new Jira integration connects design and development work together in a Notebook.
- See the status, priority, ticket name, and last updated date of Jira ticket links inside Notebooks.
New onboarding experience
- New users will now see a pre-made Notebook in a private project, walking them through the key features and capabilities of Notebooks.
Comment edit indicators
- If a comment it edited and updated, users will see the text (edited) inline with their comment.
Moving Notebooks between projects
- When needed, users can now change which project their Notebooks lives in to better organize their work.
Activity timeline
- The series of Notebook updates, reviews, and comments are available by clicking the activity icon in the upper right corner of the Notebook. Activities include the user making the change as well as the time it occurred and repeated events are consolidated into a single activity.
- For example, if you left 5 comments in a notebook, 1 comment activity will be logged to note that you've left 5 comments. Activities will be rolled up for Notebook content updates, frame additions and updates, and when adding reviewers.
This week, we began sending a weekly email which gives an overview of Notebook activity in each organization. The email includes:
- Notebooks that require attention (because of outstanding reviews, inactivity, or a notable change in status)
- Most active notebooks in the last week
- General activity counts in the last week (Notebooks opened/closed, and Reviews opened/closed)
Create focused comments and collaborate using annotations on imported Figma/Sketch frames
- Click [A] for a quick shortcut to create either a single-point or rectangular annotation.
- On/off toggle to temporarily hide annotations from view.
- Click an annotation box to scroll its associated comment into view.
- Edit an annotation after you’ve submitted your comment by editing the comment.
We've added the ability to post comments in review threads, making each review more interactive and iterative
- Any Contributor can comment in a review thread without having been requested for a review.
- Requested reviewers are able to comment and optionally submit their review as Approved or Changes Requested.
We’ve released a new Sketch Plugin which integrates directly with Notebooks.
- Add and arrange designs directly from Sketch into beautiful presentations that display your work and the context behind it.
- Access all your Notebooks from within Sketch, and publish any artboards or components you’ve worked on in one click.
- Update all your work in Notebooks in a single click, without leaving Sketch or having to rearrange or recreate presentations of your work for review.
This version contains various updates to ensure better app performance and stability
Enhancements
- This build adds support for Adobe XD v28
Fixes
- We addressed a compatibility issue with macOS versions Mojave and High Sierra.
Enterprise customers, merge restrictions are here! You can now decide who can merge branches to master for each project. Also, read our roundup of the news you might have missed on Design Twitter.
New for Enterprise
- Merge restrictions
Enhancements
- We launched a new wizard experience to help Org creators get their team up and running.
- We added two new branch statuses: In Development and Paused.
- We centralized all admin controls under Organization Settings.
- We added a quick jump input box to the desktop app’s title bar.
- We added an author filter to the branch list.
- We updated the Edit menu for files and layers.
- We added navigation breadcrumbs on project and branch views.
- We improved the flow for managing contributors from the Billing page.
- You can now assign a section to a project while creating or editing it (previously this required organization admin permissions).
- Previews on the layer canvas and thumbnails now render in retina.
Performance
- People management screens now load progressively.
Fixes
- Notifications will now always refresh when your computer wakes after sleeping.
- @ mentions are now displayed in the order of closest match, rather than alphabetically.
- We fixed an issue that prevented admins from reviewing designs where their feedback had not been previously requested.
- We fixed an issue where XD files incorrectly displayed the ability to Edit latest in Sketch.
- We no longer limit branches to 3 levels of nesting in a project’s left sidebar.
- We fixed the order in which pending commits are displayed on layer detail.
- We fixed an issue where the right-click menu wasn’t working on branches in left sidebar.
- We fixed an issue where deleted branches didn’t appear in archived tab immediately after deletion.
- We fixed an issue where the Inspect sidebar crashed on style overrides with unset borders.
- We now display required reviews first on the Reviews page.
Surprise! We’ve added to our Abstract team with the acquisition of Flawless App. Also, we’ve made it easier for you to get help by connecting you with our Support Team right inside the Desktop app.
New Features
- You can now contact support from our Desktop app.
Enhancements
- We brought back the ability to create a Collection from the Collections tab. Any Collection created via this route is tied to the Master Branch.
- We added support for Adobe XD version 27.0.
Performance
- We improved how search results load when you @mention someone.
- @mentions will now only load an Organization's members as necessary.
Fixes
- We fixed an issue where opening a file might open an older version than expected after working on multiple Branches or merging a Branch.
- Deleted Branches no longer appear to be accessible under the “archived” Branches filter
- We fixed an issue where the confirmation modal was hidden if you tried to delete a comment from Full Screen mode.
- If an Org admin is designated as a project admin, they’ll start receiving access requests for that project.
- Inspect: We fixed an issue where the properties sidebar would crash if a layer was borderless.
- Inspect: We now display font-style when its detected.
- Inspect: We will no longer scale fixed text layers outside of symbol instances.
- Inspect: We will now estimate the width of text layers in Adobe XD files.
Enhancements
- We added support for Adobe XD version 26.0.
Performance
- We improved our Sketch plugin to reduce spinning beachball experiences — the plugin will now quickly save changes in the background. We no longer recommend turning off Sketch’s Autosave.
Bug Fixes
- We fixed an issue where loading Sketch files (versions 61+) could cause a crash.
- We fixed a bug that sometimes reported unnecessary changes for Adobe XD files.
For the first release after the holiday break, we focused on some less visible improvements to performance and bug fixes. Read our guides published this month on how to build your DesignOps team and your design system with Abstract.
Enhancements
- Non-visual changes are now displayed individually rather than grouped. We also added the ability to filter non-visual changes by their change type.
- Buttons in the titlebar now have tooltips.
- Tabs in the layer preview got a visual refresh.
Performance Improvements
- Selecting and navigating in Inspect is now faster.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where we’d attempt to install the Adobe XD Abstract plugin, even when XD wasn’t installed.
- Fixed a bug that resulted in error state in Inspect for some files.
- Fixed an issue where the total number of Collections on a Branch was displaying incorrectly.
- Fixed an issue that resulted in incorrect scaling of groups for symbol instances in Inspect.
- Fixed a bug that prevented focusing Linked Libraries on Branches.
- VoiceOver now announces Branch names accurately.
- Fixed some areas where tooltips would flicker if the cursor was in *just* the right spot.
- Set maximum resizable width for Layer sidebars based on window size.
- Fixed some dark mode styles in the emoji picker.
- Text close to images in the activity feed is now enlarged.
- Branch names in Collection thumbnails are now clipped to one line.
- Fixed a bug where closing a Collection opened from the project overview routed the user to Branch overview.
Enhancements
- XD public beta now includes support for files created with XD 25
Fixes
- We fixed an error when updating a branch with a deleted file that could prevent the update from completing.
- We fixed the behavior of the back button in a newly created collection.
- The total count of collections on a branch is now always correct, previously it got out of sync in some situations.
- Fixed accessibility window title on macOS.
- Fixed incorrect size of windows on differently scaled monitors.
The wait is over — we’re excited to announce Adobe XD file support is in public beta for all Abstract customers! You can now version and manage your Adobe XD files right alongside your Sketch files. Enable the Adobe XD public beta for your Organization today.
New Features
- Adobe XD public beta.
- You can now reorder Collections within Branch overviews.
- Annotations now appear with cropped previews in Activity feeds.
Enhancements
- We improved copy on the Branch menu.
- We continue to improve keyboard navigation throughout the application. You can now use the keyboard to navigate between layer thumbnails.
- We improved some error message copy.
- Under Inspect options, you can now toggle on grid and layout canvas settings, even if they aren’t enabled in Sketch.
- When you click on a notification for a comment on a Commit, you’ll now be taken directly to the comment itself, rather than an overview of the Commit.
- When you click on a notification triggered by a comment or reply on a branch, you’ll be routed to a standalone view of that thread on the Branch.
- When a user is mentioned in a Branch Summary, they’ll be notified just like every other instance of being mentioned.
Performance
- You can now rename and delete files quickly.
- We included improvements to help files open faster.
- The notification menu loads more quickly.
- You are less likely to see a loading state in the commit window.
- We improved loading times for newly created Collections
Fixes
- We fixed various visual and layout issues.
- If you change your password, we will log you out of other sessions.
- Fixed a bug where preview images would not load if using presentation mode directly from a Layer.
- Fixed an issue where closing the Layer Detail would navigate you backwards, instead of closing.
- Fixed an issue where links to specific Branch comments were broken.
- The TAB key now navigates to the next item in Quick Jump search results.
- Fixed an issue where the number of Collections was incorrect on the Branch overview.
- Assets: We fixed a bug where Sketch Assets would not consistently load when clicking a Layer in the sidebar.
- Branches: Fixed an issue where double-clicking Create Branch would create two Branches.
- Branches: Fixed an issue where empty files on parent Branches were incorrectly deleted after updating its child Branch.
- Commits: Fixed an issue where double-clicking Merge Branch would create two Merge commits.
- Inspect: Fixed a bug where layout guides would jump when zooming in and out of Inspect.
- Inspect: We now preserve symbol overrides for different properties on the same Layer coming from multiple levels of the hierarchy.
- Inspect: We fixed an issue that could result in an empty shadows property to appear in generated CSS.
- Libraries: It is no longer possible to select an archived library or a library from the current project.
- Libraries: The Manage Libraries and Add Files menu options will no longer appear for Viewers.
- Notifications: Deleted comments no longer have an extra actions menu with no purpose.
- Notifications: If you sign out of one account and into another, Notifications from the previous account no longer persist.
- Projects: Fixed an issue where filtered projects with a space character at the end would produce strange artifacts.
Fixes
- Fixed a regression that prevented changed assets from automatically generating after a commit. If you experienced this bug, locate the file to right-click then select Generate Assets to manually generate assets.
- Fixed a rare race condition where previews would not generate with commits.
- Fixed an issue that displayed a “Preview does not exist” message would appear in place of an artboard when presenting from the Layer Detail.
Everyone gets a leg up in this release focused on streamlining collaboration. Engineers can now access Sketch’s Grid, Layout, and Guide overlays in Inspect. With Collections filtering, product managers can quickly see what’s been merged. And, designers can see annotations right in their activity feed. Bonus: Read about how we collaborated at Abstract to redesign our blog.
New Features
- Sketch’s Grid/Layout/Guides overlays are now available in Inspect.
Enhancements
- You can now see annotations directly in the activity feed so you know exactly what’s being referenced in comments.
- You can now access presentation mode directly from a Layer with the ▶️ icon.
- You can now filter Collections in the Project Collection Gallery by Branch status.
- We revamped our “Create a Branch” modal to give you more information when creating a new Branch.
- You’ll now see a toast message appear in the Abstract app when you commit via quick commit.
- We overhauled the Add File menu in preparation for Adobe XD.
- We added change status filters to the update flow and the advanced Commit form.
- The Files list now shows status indicators for all changed files, and surfaces the number of deleted files.
- There’s a new scroll-to-top button on the Files page.
- As you import files, the “Import Files” dialog now shows when each file has been successfully imported. You’ll also see the new and improved “Import Files” dialog when you drag-and-drop files to import from Finder.
- We renamed the "Go" menu the "History" menu.
- Under the Members list in each project, you can now find Project Admins by their badge.
- Accessibility: We added titles to icon-only buttons. Plus, the Organization switcher and the star icon used to favorite projects are now keyboard accessible.
Performance
- Clicking into Branches should feel more responsive.
- You’ll now see skeleton screens in the sidebar while changed files are loading.
- File renaming is now faster.
Fixes
- Fixed an issue where SCIM-provisioned users were unable to remove members from an Organization.
- We disabled history menu items if they’re unavailable.
- Fixed a bug where a layer’s entire set wasn’t showing.
- We now show all the recent changes in a file on the Files list.
- We now render Collection thumbnails properly.
- Fixed thumbnail zooming for Collections.
- Fixed an issue where Collections still showed an empty state after creating a Collection.
- Fixed a handful of issues when merging pages.
- Fixed an issue where you couldn’t close the dialog after confirming deletion of a comment.
- Fixed several errors that weren’t properly surfacing.
- Fixed other various copy and styling issues.