Animate your Figma designs with our new Principle integration | Figma Blog

Figma introduced an integration with Principle that lets designers turn static Figma files into advanced, interactive prototypes without coding. Designs can be imported into Principle, animated with realistic transitions and interactions, and later synchronized with Figma while preserving those animations. The integration combines Figma’s collaborative design workflow with Principle’s simple but powerful motion-prototyping tools.

Importing Figma Designs into Principle

• Open Principle, choose Import, and authorize Figma as a design source.
• Imported designs can be enhanced with:
  • Scrolling pages
  • Swipeable image cards
  • Interactive button states
  • Spring, ease-in, ease-out, and linear animations
• These features help static designs behave more like real mobile applications.

Principle’s Visual Prototyping Approach

• Principle provides a visual interface intended to feel familiar to interface designers.
• Users can create realistic prototypes without learning to code.
• Its balance of simplicity and power helps designers remain focused on visual creativity rather than switching into an engineering mindset.

Synchronizing Changes Between Figma and Principle

• Designers can continue editing the original Figma file after importing it.
• Principle detects Figma changes and merges them into the imported prototype.
• For example, resizing a button in Figma automatically updates its size in Principle while retaining the animations already assigned to it.

API-Based Integration

• The integration was built using Figma’s web-based API.
• Principle’s creator used Figma’s API documentation and API Explorer to understand and test how individual files and objects are represented.
• The API Explorer lets developers enter a Figma file ID and inspect the resulting API calls, making it easier to experiment with the platform.

The integration is recommended for designers who want to add sophisticated motion and interaction to Figma designs quickly. Import a Figma file into Principle, refine its animations visually, and use synchronization to keep the prototype aligned with ongoing design changes.