Zeplin

Zeplin is intended to allow application developers and designers to share different types of resources they need to collaborate on their work.

It is available as both a plugin and a standalone application. It works by converting designs made on various tools, such as Sketch, Adobe XD CC, Figma and Adobe Photoshop, into a format that generates code snippets, design specs and assets.

Being a product made for professional use, Zeplin has a steep learning curve, which gradually turns flatter as you become familiar with its workflow. As it is actually a client, the tool requires an Internet connection to work properly.

Zeplin can help you organize your projects’ assets in the form of component libraries. In this respect, the tool supports three main kinds of projects: web, iOS and Android, which allows unifying ideas by the different team members.

As said above, the application works together with some of the most widely used design tools. Zeplin together with the corresponding plugins facilitates exporting designs without much complication. Luckily, these plugins are installed without user intervention, but it is also possible to do it manually. Along with the projects, some useful information is also exported, including assets like specs about colors and fonts. Likewise, this tool generates code snippets that can be readily inserted into the source code of the application you are developing.

In general, Zeplin creates a bridge between designers and developers that significantly reduces the time and effort required through better communication of the ideas. Thus, it contributes to making the developing process more efficient. The product can be used for free but it only supports creating one project without cost, so you will probably need more, which you can get if you purchase one of the paid versions, named Starter, Growing Business and Organization.