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Questions about the main component and its relationship to instances


_Platform_Design

Hi. I’m Jun, a design system manager in South Korea.

I have a question about components.

Let’s say you have a file A and a file B.

In file A, I created a local component and used the instance on page a,b of A.

Then, if you want to use the local component from A in file B, you can do it in two ways

Option 1. Copy the local component from A and paste it into pages a,b of file B.
Option 2. Move A’s local components to a separate file and use them in B via the library after publishing.

I already know that option 2 is the preferred option, because the component needs to be published from the library so that it can be used in multiple files.

However, Figma doesn’t systematically prevent Option 1, and I can still use the local component from file A in any file.

What I’m curious about is whether the main component and instances are still fully connected, without any loss of integrity, with Option 1. I wonder if a component that is not published as a library becomes a kind of “ghost instance” that is not linked.

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Gleb
  • Power Member
  • 4710 replies
  • April 15, 2024

It’s basically a fallback method in case you forgot to publish the component by accident. This shouldn’t be used intentionally. The instance is linked but won’t receive any updates from the main component until you publish it.


_Platform_Design

you’re right. thank you!


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