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Top-down Symbol Library Creation in a Nutshell

I've been creating and converting a lot of symbols libraries of the top-down variety, where you create a symbol library and save to assets, rather than using the inline/bottom-up approach of just converting groups to symbols as you go. Judging from question in our Get Satisfaction forum, a step-by-step instructions might help to understand how to use the top-down approach.

There are 2 ways to create a symbol library if you're not using the Convert to Symbol feature:

Method 1: One symbol per asset file

  1. Create a new mockup and save it to either your global assets/ (account assets) folder or to a project's assets/ folder. For instance, to create an Arrow icon symbol, create assets/arrow.bmml.
  2. Add your component(s) onto the canvas and save.

Now your symbol will appear in Account Assets or Project Assets library tab whenever you're working on a Mockup. Mockups must be saved at least once for these tabs to appear in the library.

Method 2: Multiple symbols in a single symbols library file

  1. Create a new mockup and save it to either your global assets/ (account assets) folder or to a project's assets/ folder. For instance, to create an icon library, create assets/icons.bmml.
  2. Add your component(s) onto the canvas, then select the ones you want to turn into a symbol and press Ctrl-G or use the menu Edit > Group.
  3. With the group selected, the property inspector will show a name input. Enter the name for this symbol.
  4. Repeat 2-3 to create more symbols.

Now your symbols will appear in Account Assets or Project Assets library tab whenever you're working on a Mockup. Mockups must be saved at least once for these tabs to appear in the library.

Hope this helps, and if you need even more concrete help, ask in the forum. If you haven't used symbols yet, check out the documentation and the main tutorial for using symbols.

Mike for the Balsamiq Team

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