Ask HN: Figma just got bought by Adobe – is Sketch cool again? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Figma just got bought by Adobe – is Sketch cool again?

13 pointsreimertz11 comments

I am preparing for a presentation I am giving next month and realized all my old slides where created in Sketch back in 2019 when Sketch was kind of cool still.

And that made me think. If I was working at Sketch, the news of Adobe buying Figma must have been the best of news, right?

If Sketch would copy-paste every single feature Figma has, hell, they could even make it their new motto: "We're like Figma before they got bought by Adobe", they'd eventually win.

Thoughts?

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Even before Figma sold to Adobe a major problem with their product is the proprietary "file format". Basically they import .sketch files but you can't export your work and you're locked in. When they want more money they can just raise prices and you'll pay if you're a business for example, because your process is littered with links to figma files and etc... Sketch is not perfect, but at least their file format is open source and is "imported" in other tools and you own your files.

> If I was working at Sketch, the news of Adobe buying Figma must have been the best of news, right?

I would be terrified if I were Sketch.

If Adobe really does leave Figma alone like they say they are AND Figma gets the immense distribution advantages of Adobe - it's a tough situation for Sketch. They'll get stomped more than they already are.

Everything I've heard says that Adobe is looking to Figma as their future rather than looking to swallow the company like a typical acquisition.

Sketch is Mac-only though. I work in environments where Macs are very rare and I've seen a lot of people using Figma for all sorts of things.

Unfortunately I don't think Figma's market base shares the pejorative associations with Adobe as do the majority of HN. To the mainstream, Adobe is to design tools what Microsoft is to office tools or Google is to search and email. A rival would have to significantly outperform Figma before the market shifts, which may become possible some years down the line if Adobe screws things up.

It's uncertain how Figma will change as an Adobe product. It's wise to have a few alternatives ready just in case.

Sketch remains one of the top UI design apps. I remember when I switched the first time from Photoshop to Sketch. Saved me tons of time and I easily 2-3x my design process.

Another alternative is penpot.app.

As long as Figma and Figjam are priced as is, I'll be using it.

I also use Lunacy[0] and Penpot[1].

Lunacy is a cross-platform alternative and works natively with Sketch files. It's free and I love it!

Penpot is an open-source alternative and runs in the browser like Figma.

why does it matter who owns and sells a software package that is being bought and paid for by your employer?

It doesn't until they ruin it or make it so expensive that my employer looks for crappy alternatives.

To my understanding, its quite important if your unemployed/a newly graduated student, as of course there is no company to pay for your software package, but you still need to produce a portfolio.

Also thinking about it, it'd be an issue for freelancers. I guess they'd just up their rates, but that makes them harder to sell.

Why assume everyone here has an employer?

Because Adobe has a track record of buying up competitors only to let them stagnate or die, stopping feature development, etc. Figma is a much-loved product and I don't want Adobe to kill it, whoever pays for it.

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