Define default padding for Auto Layout (or set to 0)

+1 for default padding to 0

Please allow me to control the default with a setting. I prefer 0, but others may not.

It’s very frustrating to have to reset everything to 0px every time an auto layout is added… would love to be able to configure a default somehow.

Lets get a 0 as the default 😃

Another vote for set to 0! I also want my auto-layouts to always be ‘fill’ 99% of the time, I work in a lot of nested auto-layouts for responsive web design.

I would prefer the children added inside an auto layout to not lose their current auto-layout setting, usually ‘fill’ in my use-case, unhelpfully changed to ‘fixed’. Every time I make a nested auto-layout I have to strip out the default padding to 0, and then set the parent to ‘fill’ from ‘fixed’ and then also manually re-set all the children back to ‘fill’. I have done it so many times now it is automatic, but it is a lot of UI interactions that could be avoided with better default setting options. I do this many many times every single day. 🙂

The issue here isn’t what this specific setting should be. The issue is that Figma should not be forced to guess.

To me this is a broader discussion about the ability to set defaults.

• Why are all newly drawn frames filled #FFFFFF?
• Why are all newly drawn shapes filled #D9D9D9?
• Why does Figma default to my most recent text properties upon placing new text, but doesn’t do this for any other object property?

I would love the answer to be that Figma is working on design tokens, which any concept of comprehensive defaults would depend on.

I think being able to set defaults somewhere would be good. Especially if you can define those defaults from your design system. Regardless, having a way to easily set and forget some settings like this are meaningful.

Another vote for user-chosen defaults.

Yeah I would like to set my own default values for these features:

• Auto layout frame
• new shape color

They definitely should be working on tokenizing these, but who knows what priority level that is. Offering defaults to these simple settings should be trivial to add.

I would love multiple padding presets. Something similar to the Layout grid submenu or the Text menu that would allow me to assign preset Auto layout and constraint properties.

The biggest problem when adding Auto Layout to a single layer is that it adds padding that was not originally there. This causes the single layer to move position.

When I apply Auto Layout on a single layer it’s often because I am setting up a new list of layers and want that layer to be the first, starting at it’s current position.

Having to remove the padding of the new Auto Layout to make the layer go back into it’s original position is time consuming.

Every day I get more and more frustrated manually setting all my auto layout padding to zero. I must do it literally hundreds of times a day. Shift + A, Click, 0, tab, 0, tab, 0. SO MANY TIMES.

This one seems like a no-brainer. Sure, keep it on 8 for new users so they can see it working and understand (which is the only rationale I can think of that it is there in the first place), but allow us to change it afterwards.

This solution seems much simpler than what you are doing.

Also you can Cmd/Ctrl + Click the spacing field to enter both values at the same time.

Only the spacing might be an issue depending on how the objects are laid out.

Thanks for your reply. I find it easier/faster to 0,tab etc as the command click only does all the padding, not also the spacing. So I can blitz through resetting all 3 inputs with quick repetitive keystrokes.

I’ll give the frame and then auto layout tip a go thank you. Seems like that’s an uneccesscary step though.

The real answer IMO is there should be no defaults. The UI shouldn’t be opinionated about what a user intends to do. 🙂

So frustrating to have multiple extra steps when adding an auto layout frame. Having to manually remove or change 4 different parameters.

I understand the intent is to teach new users how auto layout works, but surely there is a better way that doesn’t impact the workflow of people who know how to use the feature!

You mean the default values of 8px right? Yes this is really time consuming and frustrating having to remove those manually multiple times a day. It actually should default to 0.

+1 for default padding.

My excitement from learning the shortcut Shift + a was short-lived when I realized Figma automatically added 8px padding to my frames created this way. If the goal of adding the default 8px padding is to demonstrate how auto layout works for newer users, then it would be great to allow users to adjust this default padding, as a lot of us end up spending hours a day in the product.

For now, I’m selecting at least 2 objects before applying auto layout via the shortcut, which seems to give me 0px padding.

+1 for 0 padding

+1000 for 0 padding, I alwyas need to remove the stupid 8px padding in both vertical and horitonal inputs in Figma panel and it is annoying AF

Fastest way I found to apply auto layout with 0 paddings: 🙂
Select object → option+cmd+G → shift+A

Didn’t read the comments above, but defaulting to 0 would be a huge timesaver. Rarely do I want to use my nudge amount. Going and having to manually 0 out the padding is time consuming and sometimes I forget an item and run into not knowing why something has added space when I didn’t want it. I see why you add the 10 to show the item changed, but maybe there is a way to show the transition with color or something

Faster way. Just Shift A will add auto layout without a group. It blew my mind when I learned that.

Actually, even faster: Select object → cmd+G → shift+A 😂