Plugins: Free Sketch Tutorial

Topics Covered in This Sketch Tutorial:

How to Use Some Recommended Plugins

Exercise Preview

Exercise Overview

Sketch has cultivated one of the most vibrant plugin ecosystems in the design tool landscape. This thriving community of developers continuously extends Sketch's core functionality with powerful additions that streamline workflows, enhance accessibility, and improve design handoff processes. In this comprehensive exercise, you'll master several essential plugins that have become industry standards among professional designers and design teams.

Installing the Plugins for This Exercise

If you're working in a Noble Desktop classroom environment, these plugins are pre-installed and ready to use—skip directly to the next section to begin your hands-on practice.

Plugin installation in Sketch is refreshingly straightforward. After downloading a plugin from its developer, simply double-click the plugin file (identified by its .sketchplugin extension) to install it automatically. Download and install these three essential free plugins that form the foundation of this exercise:

• Cluse: https://cluse.cc (Real-time accessibility contrast checking)
• Stark: www.getstark.co (Colorblind simulation and comprehensive accessibility testing)
• Sketch Measure: utom.design/measure (Detailed specification generation for development handoff)

Now let's dive into practical applications of each plugin, starting with accessibility testing—a critical skill in today's inclusive design landscape.

Cluse: Accessibility Contrast Checker

Accessibility compliance isn't just good practice—it's often legally required and always professionally essential. Cluse provides real-time contrast checking against WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards, ensuring your designs are usable by people with visual impairments. This plugin has become indispensable for teams working on public-facing digital products.

1. In Sketch, go to File > Open Local Document.
2. Navigate into Desktop > Class Files > Sketch Class > Pulse and double-click on Prototyping Done.sketch to open it.
3. Select Sign up for emails and get 10% off! and its brown background.
4. Go to Plugins > Cluse.
5. Under WCAG Compliance Status notice this passes both contrast tests—this indicates the text is readable for users with normal and low vision.
6. Click OK.
7. Select the footer text (About Us, Contact, etc.) and its light colored background.
8. Go to Plugins > Cluse.
9. Under WCAG Compliance Status notice this does not pass the stricter AAA test, which is required for enhanced accessibility compliance.
10. Drag the Foreground Color slider slightly darker until it passes the AAA test. (Alternatively you could make the background lighter—Cluse's real-time feedback makes either approach effortless.)

11. Click OK.

    Accessibility First

    Cluse helps ensure your text meets WCAG compliance standards by checking contrast ratios between foreground and background colors. It provides interactive sliders to adjust colors until they pass accessibility tests.

    WCAG Compliance Levels

    Feature	AA Standard	AAA Standard
    Normal Text Contrast	4.5:1	7:1
    Large Text Contrast	3:1	4.5:1
    Usage Recommendation	Minimum requirement	Enhanced accessibility

    Recommended: Aim for AAA compliance when possible for better accessibility

Stark: Colorblind Simulation & Contrast Checker

Approximately 8% of men and 0.5% of women have some form of color vision deficiency. Stark addresses this reality by simulating various types of colorblindness, allowing you to identify potential usability issues before launch. While Stark also offers contrast checking similar to Cluse, its colorblind simulation capabilities make it uniquely valuable for inclusive design validation.

1. Select Sign up for emails and get 10% off! and its brown background.

2. Go to Plugins > Stark > Check Contrast.

   Notice this passes all the contrast tests. While this functionality overlaps with Cluse, having multiple validation tools provides confidence in your accessibility decisions. However, Cluse's interactive color adjustment feature typically provides a more efficient workflow.

3. Click Done.
4. Go to Plugins > Stark > Colorblind Simulation. (This is where Stark truly shines—Cluse lacks this critical feature.)
5. From the Artboard menu choose Autumn Collection.
6. Set Zoom to 100%.
7. Scroll down to the first row of product photos.
8. At the bottom of the photo on the right, notice the red heart icon indicating a "favorite" state.
9. From the Colorblind Type menu choose Protanopia (red-green colorblindness affecting approximately 1% of men).

10. Notice the red heart no longer stands out distinctly from the background.

    This reveals a critical usability issue: users with protanopia cannot easily distinguish the selected state. Consider adding visual indicators beyond color alone—such as a white outline, different icon weight, or subtle shadow—to ensure all users can identify interactive states.

11. Click Done.

Having ensured your designs are accessible and inclusive, let's explore how to effectively communicate design specifications to development teams.

Sketch Measure

In an era of increasing data privacy regulations and security consciousness, many organizations cannot use cloud-based handoff tools like Sketch Cloud due to compliance restrictions. Sketch Measure provides a robust, offline alternative that generates comprehensive specification documents without requiring data to leave your secure environment. Additionally, teams working with legacy Sketch licenses (pre-subscription model) will find this plugin invaluable as an alternative to Sketch Inspect.

1. Go to Plugins > Sketch Measure > Spec Export.
2. The default settings provide a solid foundation for most projects, so click Save.

3. You'll notice the interface uses an extremely dark theme that's challenging to read—ironically, the developers could have benefited from using Cluse to ensure better contrast!

   As shown below, check the box to the left of Screens to select all artboards for export.

   

4. Ensure Advanced mode is checked. This creates a single, navigable webpage containing all artboards—far more efficient than individual pages for each artboard, though the individual approach can be useful for focused reviews of specific screens.
5. Click Export.

6. In the export dialog:

   • Export To: Name it Pulse Specs
   • Navigate to the Desktop > Class Files > Sketch Class > Pulse.
   • When configured, click Export.
7. Upon completion, the new Pulse Specs folder will open automatically. Double-click index.html to launch it in your default browser.
8. In the left navigation panel, click on the Home Page artboard to begin exploring the generated specifications.
9. Click various design elements to reveal detailed information and CSS code snippets displayed in the right panel—invaluable for developer handoff.

10. With an element selected, hover over other elements to see precise distance measurements between them.

    Important note: This generates a local webpage viewable by anyone with the files, but it hasn't been uploaded to a web server. To share these specifications with remote team members or clients, you'll need to distribute the entire folder via file-sharing services (Dropbox, Google Drive), compress it into a ZIP archive for email, or upload it to your own web server.

11. Close the browser window when you've finished exploring the generated specifications.

12. Return to Sketch and close the file. No need to save changes for this exercise.

These three plugins represent just the beginning of what's possible with Sketch's extensible architecture. Let's explore additional resources for expanding your plugin toolkit.

More Recommended Plugins

The Sketch plugin ecosystem continues to evolve rapidly, with new tools emerging regularly to address evolving design challenges. For a curated, up-to-date collection of professional-grade plugins covering areas like design systems, prototyping, content generation, and workflow automation, visit Noble Desktop.com/sketch-links. This resource is regularly updated to reflect the most current and professionally valuable additions to the Sketch ecosystem.