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how to use stacks in sketch

HeyBraza points at the inspector's padding and alignment controls so your stack resizes the way you expect.

stacks are sketch's auto-layout - added in the athens update to replace the old smart layout - and they let a button or card grow and shrink with its content. if you know auto layout in figma, this is the same idea. here's how to build your first one.

or do it yourself

  1. 1draw a rectangle, then add a text layer on top of it.
  2. 2select both layers and press cmd-l - sketch turns them into a stack and applies a sensible layout automatically.
  3. 3in the inspector, set the direction (horizontal or vertical) and adjust padding and gap, or drag the padding handles right on the canvas.
  4. 4drag an icon into the stack - it joins the flow and the stack resizes to fit.
  5. 5need one layer to sit freely (like a close button)? select it and turn on 'ignore stack layout' in the inspector.

let HeyBraza do this with you

HeyBraza is a tiny on-screen guide that points at the right buttons and talks you through it, on windows and mac.

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common questions

where did smart layout go in sketch?

stacks replaced it in the athens update - smart layout still exists under 'arrange' > 'smart layout (legacy)', but stacks are the new, more flexible system.

what's the shortcut to create a stack?

select your layers and press cmd-l; sketch wraps them in a stack and guesses the most logical layout settings.

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