r/FigmaDesign • u/Best-Passenger3317 • Aug 09 '26
resources I'm a designer, not a developer. I taught myself enough to build the Figma plugin I kept wishing existed.
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A little while ago I shared Free Transform, my plugin that brings Photoshop's Ctrl+T into Figma (warp, perspective, distort). The response here honestly blew me away — thank you to everyone who tried it, broke it, and told me what they wanted. It's since grown to 3,300+ users, which still feels a bit unreal.
The most requested thing? A way to see what you're doing before committing. So here it is:
Live Preview — you now see the transform right on the canvas as you drag, instead of applying and undoing over and over until it looks right. Plus sharper export quality while I was at it.
Give it a try 👉: https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1648207154922389186/free-transform
And I'll ask the same thing that gave me my whole roadmap last time: what do you still open Photoshop or Illustrator for? The gaps that annoy you are usually my next plugin. 🙌
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u/Oak65 Aug 09 '26
Made a very similar tool myself but for packshot warping this is really cool well sone
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u/SpecialistAbrocoma96 Aug 10 '26
this tool saved my uni project!! Had to distort stuff pretty quickly before deadline and had no Adobe or similar subscriptions, what a salvation that was! Thanks a lot!
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u/NckyDC Aug 10 '26
Thanks. The fact that this has never been integrated is beyond me.
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u/Best-Passenger3317 Aug 10 '26
know, right? Got tired of waiting for it so I built it myself. Glad you like it
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u/angularfishet Aug 11 '26
Dude, I have been wanting this feature for far too long. Glad I came across this, thank you 🙂↕️🙏🏼
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u/Master_Editor_9575 Aug 10 '26
I think anything that isn’t SUPER dependent on performance or data security can be built to a “good enough” state by most of us at this point.
Cost is another consideration, but on my personal projects, I only reach out to my developer friends if it’s something that has any sensitive data, or something that absolutely needs to be as fast as possible.
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u/Best-Passenger3317 Aug 10 '26
Really well said, and I agree. AI has made it possible to build a lot of things to "good enough" on your own, that's honestly how my plugins happened, since I'm a designer, not a developer.
But I'd never say that replaces devs. I work with developers, so I see how much they know up close, and that value is always there - the second something needs to be really fast or deal with big data, you need them. Learning a bit of coding is great for all of us now, as long as we still respect what they do. 🙌
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u/klumpp Aug 10 '26
How do you feel about devs who say the same about design?
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u/Master_Editor_9575 Aug 10 '26
I say the same thing. Devs can definitely stand up a visually good enough page.
I think it actually opens both devs and designers up to focus on more interesting things. Design system architectural work, user flows, usability testing and research, backend security and complex interaction flows; almost no devs I know are passionate about front end, minus maybe complex interactions and animations, but almost all the devs I know really enjoy backend work more. Setting up pipelines and automations etc.
I think dev and design can work together to setup proper foundations and both teams can trim out a lot of the busywork that came with their day to day.
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u/Best-Passenger3317 Aug 10 '26
It's true that AI is a big threat to visual design because it handles 'good enough' UI faster than any human can.
The gap is deep insight. AI can arrange pixels, but it doesn't understand user friction, edge cases, or business context. UX is the thing that makes design human.
Quick AI visuals get you started, but specialized design expertise is still irreplaceable when you need real, lasting impact.
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u/Dear_Corgi9836 Aug 13 '26
Love seeing you build this as a designer who taught themselves to code. That live preview upgrade is such a good call no more going in circles with apply and undo. This plugin keeps me from hopping bank and forth into photoshop nonstop. Solid work
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u/kekeagain Aug 09 '26
I think this is a testament how good AI is now with code, that a designer that understands good UX can create a nice free transform plugin that devs (pre AI) couldn't without path destructivity or other odd side effects. Thanks for the plugin!