Ability to link/embed frame from one file inside another (like PS Smart Objects)

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.