Private Sharing in Sketch Cloud, Sync Shared Styles shortcuts and more in Sketch 46

We’re back again with Sketch 46. In this update, we’ve introduced a major new update to Sketch Cloud, vertical text alignment and a few other enhancements to help improve the way you work. Here are the headline features in this release:

• You can now invite people to view documents shared via Sketch Cloud
• Text can now be aligned to the top, middle or bottom of its layer
• Sketch’s Help menu now shows relevant articles from our online docs as you search
• Over 20 more enhancements and bug fixes, including faster plugin installations and a better way of measuring distances between text layers

Private Sharing in Sketch Cloud

Our biggest update in Sketch 46 isn’t to Sketch itself, but Sketch Cloud. That said, we think you’ll find it incredibly useful. In short, now when you upload a document to Sketch Cloud, you get the option to share it privately with others.

All you need to do is enter the email address(es) of anyone you want to invite and they’ll get a link to view your document. You’ll also now find a ‘Shared with me’ section within Sketch Cloud — separate from your own document overview — with easy access to documents you’ve previously been invited to view.

Vertical alignment for text layers

Following on from the improvements we made to resizing in Sketch 45, this release brings the ability to align text layers vertically within their now fully-adjustable bounding box.

Now, you can set whether text aligns to the top, middle or bottom of its layer and, when you resize that layer vertically, the alignment settings you’ve made will come into play.

Better measurement between text layers

Getting things pixel perfect when you’re working with type isn’t always easy. Up until now, Sketch didn’t account for cap heights and the baseline when it came to measuring the distance between text layers and other elements. That changes with Sketch 46.

Now, holding the Control key along with Option measures the distance from the baseline and cap height of text, rather than the bounding box of the layer. In other words, you can be more precise with your text placement than ever before.

Quick access to online documentation via the Help menu

We want you to get the most out of Sketch, so we’ve been steadily building up our online documentation to help. It’s a treasure trove of information and advice, and with Sketch 46, it’s easier to access than ever.

Like most Mac apps, using the search box within the Help menu will filter down menu items to help you find the one you want. Sketch goes one step further now, listing out relevant online docs where you search term is mentioned. For new users (or even seasoned pros who want to delve deeper), we reckon this will prove really useful.

Plenty more improvements and bug fixes

It wouldn’t be a new release of Sketch without a few bug fixes and improvements made as a result of your feedback (as ever, thank you — keep it coming!). Here are the highlights:

• Installing new plugins is now much faster and we’ll inform you if a plugin is incompatible before you’ve installed it
• Resize to Fit has returned to the main Artboard inspector (we moved the button previously and a few of you thought we’d dropped the feature — we hear you, it’s back)
• The Sync Shared Style menu items now have their own shortcuts — Control-S to sync, Option-Control-S to reset

You can find a full list of bug fixes and improvements on our updates page.

Sketch 46 is a free update for everyone with an active license. If you need to renew your license, you’ll get Sketch 46 and a whole year’s worth of updates after that.

Do let us know what you think of this update — we’d love to hear from you. If you’ve got questions or feedback, you can get in touch with us via our support page or join in the conversation on Twitter.

Sit tight — Sketch 47 is on its way! We’ll have more news on that soon.