Two months after Adobe launched Adobe XD CC for free, the only cross-platform UI design software to date is now available in simplified Chinese. This fully integrated UI, interaction design software is probably the best fit for the UI software market, although it started later than Sketch, and has a very good chance of replacing Sketch in the future.

Why do you say that? Older designers may remember CorelDRAW, but years ago THERE was only a MAC version of Ai instead of a PC version. Early Graphic designers in China could not afford a Mac and had to use CDS. At that time, many tutorials and materials in China were also on CD. Later Ai PC version, and Ps have a certain integration, and then Adobe home other products also support each other better. The CDR format is a little awkward… Young designers generally only learn AI, many resources, and easy to use, many also installed with CS sets.

Isn’t that what’s happening with XD and Sketch? It’s not so much that XD is the killer of Ps as that XD is here to kill Sketch this time.

Here’s a sneak peek at the official Adobe XD CC promo

Chinese version interface

Download link of Simplified Chinese version:

http://adobe.com/cn/products/xd.html?promoid=12B9DZ14&mv=other

Zero cost entry

How much does a Sketch cost? The official price is $99 / year, and XD is 0. The way Sketch licenses are licensed has always been frustrating. Unless you keep updating and buying their latest version, the new version of Sketch files won’t open on the old version. Adobe has always done a great job of this, not to mention the fact that the software is free, so you don’t have to worry about getting the latest version in the first place without having to worry about your wallet.

The latest Adobe XD CC comes with a handy Tutorial in Chinese.

Cross-platform software

While Sketch is becoming mainstream in the UI design world, research shows that at least 40% of designers still use Photoshop. In addition to usage habits and other reasons, many times it’s because if you’re going to use Sketch, you need to have a Mac first. Even if you own a Mac, if the company has a cheap boss who won’t give you a Mac, you still can’t use Sketch in order to collaborate with your friends. Now, however, Adobe XD CC works on both PC and Mac, so you don’t need to buy a Mac with Sketch anymore.

  • If you’ve been in graphic design, or any other design position that uses PHOTOSHOP or AI, and you want to get started with UI, Adobe XD CC is perfect for that. Your PSD files can be opened directly with XD.

  • This is also good news for those of you who have used Photoshop to design UI interfaces before, and it will be very cheap to learn.

  • For those of you who are used to Sketch, the XD interface will be very familiar to you, and documents can be easily opened using XD.

Some handy features

Artifact – Repeat grid

Focus on creating repeating elements in Adobe XD CC using repeating grids. When designing for Web or mobile applications, you often need to define repeating elements or lists of content. However, creating these elements or updating them when design changes occur can be time-consuming. The Repeat Grid feature changes a set of elements to a repeat element. You simply pull the element in any direction and the grid repeats.

Not only that, text in a repeating grid can be changed in batches, replacing placeholders in that grid by dragging text files or images onto the repeating grid.

Components and resource libraries

For those of you who have used Sketch, you are no doubt familiar with components, and XD has put all of these in its repository to facilitate the development and modification of design specifications.

The icon circled in red on the right is the repository

Preview and record interactions

Once the interface design is complete, you can connect the various facets to each other so that you can visually understand how users experience your application or website. XD allows you to create interactive prototypes that visually show how to navigate between screens or wireframes. You can preview interactions, validate user experiences, and iterate through designs to save development time. You can also record the interaction and share it with stakeholders to get their feedback. Zoom in/out and view details of specific parts of the prototype.

What can Adobe XD CC do?

Do UI, do interactive prototyping, do communication, you can even use it to draw and do graphic design, basic vector drawing tools are available, and can export PDF files.

A set of ICONS drawn with XD

Worried about Adobe XD CC resources? Too few plug-ins?

Don’t forget that XD can open any file in PSD, Sketch, OR AI, which means all the resources are integrated. The component library in Sketch format is perfectly fine to use. Plug-ins aren’t plentiful yet, but Adobe plans to spend $10 million as an investment and incentive to drive community development of XD-related plug-ins that enhance the “XD ecosystem.” This should be true, as many Sketch plugin authors have received emails from Adobe offering bonus funds to plugin authors. So far XD has support for plug-ins such as Zeplin, Protopie, Avocode and Sympli. In China, Blue Lake is developing a plug-in to support XD, which is expected to be available soon.

XD support for Zeplin plugin

From Photoshop to Sketch to XD, who will win the UI design software war?

I’m bullish on XD, which is backed by Adobe, which supports the entire design community.