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

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. 🙂