Move a Figma file to Kite
Open Kite

Move a Figma file to Kite

Bring a Figma file into Kite with its pages and pictures, tidy up fonts, give it a design system, and send a frame back to Figma when you need to. About ten minutes, plus the import.

1. Connect Figma

Kite reads Figma files with your own Figma account, so connect it first.

  1. Open Settings → Integrations.
  2. Under Figma, choose Connect Figma.
  3. A Figma window opens: approve Kite there. It reads only files you can already open, and can't change them.

2. Bring the file in

  1. In Figma, copy the file's link from your browser's address bar, or from Figma's share dialog.
  2. In Kite, open the new tab page. In Kite for Mac, choose File → New Tab in the menu bar.
  3. Choose Import from Figma, paste the link and choose Import.
  4. Wait while it reads every page. A big file can take several minutes. The new file opens when it is done, named after the Figma file.

Each Figma page is a page in the Kite file, listed above its layers in the left panel.

Or paste a few frames

Only need part of it? In Figma, select the frames, right-click them and choose Copy (or press ⌘C). In a Kite file, right-click the board and choose Paste here (or press ⌘V). They arrive as Kite layers, with their pictures.

3. Check fonts and pictures

  1. Click an empty part of the board so nothing is selected.
  2. If the right panel shows Missing fonts, those families aren't on Google Fonts or in your workspace, so their text is drawn in a fallback. Fix each one:
    • Add beside a font listed under On this computer puts your copy in the workspace (Chrome and Kite for Mac).
    • Upload fonts… takes the font files.
    • Replace fonts… swaps the family for another everywhere in the file.
  3. Look through the pages for grey boxes where pictures should be. Those didn't come over in time: copy the frame in Figma and paste it into Kite again.

Masks, FigJam stickies and a few picture adjustments don't come over. The full list is in Figma.

4. Set up its design system

An import brings layers and pictures, but not Figma's variables. Give the file a design system so you and your agents keep to its colours and type:

  1. Right-click the frame that best shows the design, such as its home screen, and choose Make a design system from this frame.
  2. Kite reads the colours, type, radii, shadows and spacing that frame uses into a new design system, and the file starts using it.
  3. At the top of the left panel, click the Assets tab, then Local variables, to see and rename what it found, or open the system from Design systems to add skills and modes.

Already have the brand in a design system? Choose it in the box at the top of Assets instead.

5. Send a frame back to Figma

  1. In Kite, click the frame's name above it on the board to select it.
  2. Right-click the frame and choose Copy/Paste as → Copy to Figma. Wait for Copied — paste it in Figma.
  3. In a Figma file, right-click the canvas and choose Paste here.

It arrives as editable frames, auto layout, text, shapes and pictures. Components come over as ordinary frames, and colours as plain colours, not Figma variables.

Moving a team over? Invite them in Settings → People. A new file, an imported one included, is open to everyone in your workspace unless you change that in Share.

Next

PreviousBuild a button componentNextReview a design with your team