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If I have two files and I can’t decide which file an object/frame/pageg should live in, I’d love to be able to embed a live/syncing view of the frame into another Figma file. I imagine it working like a PS Smart Object where you can double click or something similar to jump to the original to edit it if needed.


Right now, my best option is adding a button widget or link to the frame. You could almost do something similar with components, but I feel like it’d end up clogging up the component libraries if used for this purpose.


Thoughts?

Components are like smart objects but much better. What’s your concern about using them?

Don’t I have to publish a component to a library to use it in another file? I’d end up having a huge amount of components/libraries that are pretty unnecessary. I don’t want to have to publish a new library each time I want a frame to “live” in two files.

Isn’t it the same as huge number of files on your disk containing smart objects to re-use?

No, not quite, because I can place a PSD/smart object directly into another PSD as a Smart Object without having to make a library or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong, I love components and use them often, but they just don’t quite fit for this use case, for me.

The only reason you make a library is to make shared assets accessible. When you work on a file system PS knows where the source is. In cloud environment there is no file system per se, so you have to publish stuff. I could imagine Figma being regular desktop app working with files on a drive with the same capabilities as PS/AI

Fair, I get that. But you’d think Figma has to have some backend IDs for files they’d be able to use to achieve something like this. I might actually see if there is a way I can use ChatGPT, etc. to help me make a plugin or widget to show a live view of a frame from another file.

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