Why Use Figma?

Figma is a powerful design tool that not only helps us create stunning interfaces but also provides developers with the necessary tools to translate designs into code seamlessly. One of Figma’s standout features is its ability to generate color codes and CSS snippets directly from the design, making the handoff process between designers and developers much smoother.

Translating Figma Designs to UI Code

When writing front-end code, one of the most critical aspects is ensuring that the implementation matches the design pixel-perfectly. To achieve this, I often start by placing the design image in the background of my development environment. This helps me align elements precisely.

Here’s how I do it:

Set Up the Development Environment

Inspect the Design: Right-click on the browser and select “Inspect” to open the developer tools.
Toggle Device Toolbar: Press Ctrl + Shift + M to activate the device toolbar.
Set the Viewport: Adjust the viewport to match the design’s dimensions, typically 1920x1080 for desktop designs. This ensures that the design is displayed correctly throughout the development process.

ℹ️

Set Up the Development Environment: Before diving into coding, it’s essential to set up the development environment to match the design’s dimensions. This ensures that the design is accurately represented during development.


.Background {
    position: absolute;
    left: 0;
    top: 0;
    height: 100%;
    width: 100%;
    background-image: url('./Assets/Background.svg');
    background-position: center center;
    background-size: contain;
    pointer-events: none;
    opacity: .52;
    z-index: -2;
}

Figma’s CSS Output

Figma provides CSS code snippets for elements, which can be incredibly helpful. For example, here’s the CSS output for a specific element:


box-sizing: border-box;
 
position: absolute;
width: 78px;
height: 78px;
left: 78px;
top: 0px;
 
background: radial-gradient(50% 50% at 50% 50%, rgba(146, 255, 162, 0.25) 0%, rgba(52, 92, 58, 0.25) 100%);
border: 1px solid #92FFA2;
border-radius: 10px;
transform: matrix(-1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0);

However, in most cases, we don’t need all the generated properties. Here’s the cleaned-up version:


position: absolute;
width: 78px;
height: 78px;
background: radial-gradient(50% 50% at 50% 50%, rgba(146, 255, 162, 0.25) 0%, rgba(52, 92, 58, 0.25) 100%);
border: 1px solid #92FFA2;
border-radius: 10px;
transform: matrix(-1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0);

Create Package

Making Designs Responsive

💡

Always convert px values to rem for better responsiveness.

One critical step in creating responsive designs is converting px values to rem. By default, 1rem = 16px, but calculating this manually can be tedious. Instead, I use tools like NekoCalc’s PX to REM Converter to streamline the process.

For example:

78px = 4.875rem
16px = 1rem

Why Export as SVG?

Always prefer exporting assets as SVG for scalability and smaller file sizes.

When exporting assets from Figma, SVG is the best choice for several reasons:

No Quality Loss: SVG is a vector format, meaning it scales infinitely without losing quality.
Smaller File Sizes: SVG files are typically smaller than PNG or JPG, improving load times.
Editability: SVG files can be easily edited directly in code or design tools.

SVG Export

Conclusion

Figma is an indispensable tool for modern UI/UX design and development. Its ability to generate CSS code, combined with the flexibility of exporting assets as SVG, makes the design-to-code workflow efficient and precise. By following these practices—such as using rem for responsiveness and prioritizing SVG exports—you can ensure that your designs are not only visually stunning but also performant and scalable.

Why Use Figma?Responsive Why svg?