If you’re an experienced Sketch user, then the chances are you already use or know about these plugins, but if you’re new to Sketch, and not quite sure where to start, this post will have you up and running with the essential plugins in no time. And to help you even further, we’ve previously published a huge collection of UI kits and templates for Sketch that you can freely use as well.
Before you start downloading these plugins, you will need to install Sketch Toolbox, the plugin manager for Sketch that makes it super-simple to find, automatically download and install all of the below plugins, and many, many more.
CSSketch
CSSketch is a plugin that allows you to edit and quickly mockup your designs by attaching a stylesheet. Supports Less.
Blade
The Blade Plugin will automatically generate HTML from your designs.
Social Artboards
Social Artboards will add artboard presets of common social media image sizes.
Sketch Data Studio
Sketch Data Studio is a time-saving plugin that will convert tables and charts by pulling data directly from a CSV file.
Day Player
Day Player will allow you to add placeholder images from some of the most popular services into any Sketch doc.
Sketch Iconfont
Sketch Iconfont is a useful plugin that allows you to use icon fonts (like these) in your documents.
Export Assets
The Export Assets Sketch Plugin allows you to export assets for Android, iOS, Windows Phone in Sketch.
Pixel Perfecter
Pixel Perfecter will identify all pixel imperfect layers and show you a total count of them, allowing you to then fix them all at once.
Style Inventory
Style Inventory will give you an overview of all of the styles you have used and allows you to merge similiar ones together.
Sharpen Images
Sharpen Images will easily add Unsharp Mask filters to image and shape layers with image fills in Sketch.
Generate GIF
Generate GIF is an awesome Sketch plugin that will generated animated GIFs from a sequence of artboards.
Dynamic Button
Dynamic Button allows you to create buttons with fixed paddings regardless of the number of text characters you use.
Lorem Ipsum
Lorem Ipsum is, as the name suggests, a plugin that will quickly create and add Lorem Ipsum generated text to your document.
Marvel Plugin
The Marvel Plugin will allow you to quickly create prototypes from your designs by sending your Sketch artboards directly to Marvel.app.
Icon Stamper
Icon Stamper is a super-simple, yet really useful, plugin that will quickly create multiple sizes of iOS icons.
Content Generator
Content Generator will create dummy data such as avatars, names, geo location data, and much more.
Sketch Palettes
Sketch Palettes allows you to quickly and easily save and load colors into the color picker.
Measure
The Measure Sketch Plugin for getting your designs just perfect.
Sketch Commands
Sketch Commands is a port of some of the awesome Orange Commands originally for Adobe Fireworks to Sketch.app.
Finished!
If you’re looking for something, in particular, to make your Sketch experience that little bit easier, or looking for something that will save you a little bit of time, you should take at the unofficial Sketch Plugin Directory, there are hundreds of plugins, for almost everything, freely available.
And if you feel I’ve missed any plugin that you deem essential, do let me know in the comments below.
Speckyboy Design Magazine