Frames and Artboards are design areas used to organize screens and elements. Figma uses Frames, while tools like Adobe XD use Artboards.
- A Frame in Figma is a container that holds other design layers such as text, shapes, images, and other Frames. It can represent a complete screen or a smaller part of a design. Frames can also be nested inside one another.
- An Artboard is a defined design area used in some design tools to create screens or pages. For example, Adobe XD uses Artboards to represent application screens and website pages.
Frames vs Artboards
Figma Frames support features such as Auto Layout, Constraints, Layout Guides, and Prototyping, making them useful for both complete screens and smaller design structures.
Frame | Artboard |
|---|---|
Figma uses Frames as its main container for organizing design elements. | Artboards are used as design areas in tools such as Adobe XD. |
A Frame can represent a complete screen, website section, card, button, or other UI element. | An Artboard is mainly used to represent a screen or page of a design. |
Frames can be placed inside other Frames, creating parent and child relationships. | Artboard behavior depends on the design tool and is not the same Frame-based structure used by Figma. |
Frames support features such as Auto Layout for creating layouts that respond to their content. | Layout features depend on the design tool in which the Artboard is used. |
Child layers inside Frames can use Constraints to control how they respond when the parent Frame is resized. | Constraint behavior depends on the design tool and its layout system. |
Figma uses Frames as destinations for interactive prototypes. | Artboards can represent prototype screens in tools that support Artboard-based prototyping. |
Figma components can be based on Frames, allowing reusable design elements to be created from them. | Component behavior depends on the design tool and is not part of the Artboard concept itself. |
The same Frame type can be used at different levels of a design, from a small button to an entire application screen. | Artboards are generally centered around creating separate design screens or pages. |
Figma has a dedicated Frame layer type and does not use a separate Artboard layer. | Artboard is the term used by some other design applications for a similar screen or page area. |
Examples: A mobile screen, navigation bar, card, or button can all be represented using Frames | Examples: A mobile screen, desktop screen, or website page can be represented as an Artboard. |
Why Does Figma Use Frames?
Figma uses Frames as flexible containers rather than limiting them to complete screens. A Frame can be used for a mobile screen, a website section, a button, a card, or another group of layers.
Frames can also contain other Frames, creating a parent-child structure within the design. This makes the same container type useful at different levels of a design.
For example:
Mobile Screen (Frame)│├── Header (Frame)├── Product Card (Frame)└── Button (Frame)
Key Points
- Frame is the container term used in Figma.
- Artboard is a term used by other design tools for a similar design area.
- Figma does not have a separate Artboard layer type.
- Frames can be used for both complete screens and smaller design elements.
- Frames support features such as Auto Layout, Constraints, and Prototyping.