Penpot Blog (Page 2)

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Declarative design with Penpot

Penpot is built with declarative design in mind, using web standards, CSS properties and layouts. Let’s explore how that works in real projects.

Figma to Penpot terminology cheatsheet

Switching from Figma to Penpot? Here’s what everything is called, from boards and flex layout to design tokens and Inspect.

The quick guide to Penpot layouts

You’ve used a design tool before, and you just want to know the basics to help you get started with Penpot layouts. This is the extra quick explainer just for you!

The ultimate guide to Penpot layouts

Everything you need to know about Penpot layouts, whether you want static and pixel-precise, or flexible and responsive. Including designing in CSS Flex and Grid.

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Say hello to background blur

Have you ever heard what "glassmorphism" is? Maybe not, but I'm sure you've seen an increase in glass effects in UI design across websites, apps, and operating systems.

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5 best Sketch alternatives for design teams in 2026

Looking for a Sketch alternative? Compare Penpot, Figma, Lunacy, Framer, and Paper on AI integration and self-hosting to find the best fit for your team.

Background grids vs grid layouts: what’s the difference?

Background grids are guides you use to help you manually position design elements by eye. Grid layouts automate layouts (often responsively) based on the design rules you provide.

5 best Paper alternatives for UI and UX design in 2026

Considering Paper for UI/UX design? See how it compares to five alternatives, including Penpot, Figma, and Framer, before committing to an open alpha tool.

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AI governance in design tools: What happens to your data when AI enters the workflow

AI is built into your design tools, but do you know where your data goes? Learn how AI governance frameworks protect your IP, privacy, and compliance.

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Agile design 101: How teams build better products faster

Agile design itself is changing fast as AI upends how design gets practiced. This guide is a quick Agile design refresher, useful to revisiting the fundamentals.

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The Spirit of Open Source: Penpot’s Recipe of Ambassador Program

Open source isn't just how Penpot is built, it's how we think about collaboration. We grow with our community, not apart from it. The Ambassador Program is the latest way we're putting that philosophy into practice.

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The Three-Stroke Problem

When three kinds of strokes entangle with each other, the resulting design system is chaotic for most initial conditions. Let's go through the stroke rendering in design software.

Design

DesignOps: The Complete Guide to Scaling Design Operations for Enterprise Teams

Master DesignOps for enterprise teams. Discover the 3 pillars of design operations, common challenges, and a step-by-step framework to scale design.

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Tools

Vendor lock-in: What it is, why it matters, and how to avoid it

Vendor lock-in traps your design files in proprietary formats. Learn what it is, why it matters for design teams, and how to avoid it with open standards.

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Design

Designing with breakpoints and design tokens in Penpot

Learn how to implement maintainable developer-friendly breakpoints with design tokens and themes.

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Design

Remote collaboration: 8 tips that make meaningful differences

Learn how you can help your remote team work better together with these eight tips centered on human connections and smart management styles.

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Penpot’s practical guide to multi-directional AI workflows

Learn about practical use cases for design to code, code to design, and design to docs AI workflows with Penpot MCP.

Designing with AI: Why Claude Design is not the future of enterprise design

Claude Design promises faster UI generation, but is it enough for enterprise teams? Learn what it does well, where it falls short, and what to look for in AI design tools.

Beginners

What is UX design?

Learn what UX design is, why it matters, and how to become a UX designer. Explore key skills, UX vs. UI, the design process, and steps to start your career.

Tools

14 best Figma alternatives for UI and UX Design

Figma is powerful but not perfect. Explore 14 UI and UX design tools, from open-source to AI-first, to find the best Figma alternative for your team.

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Data Sovereignty and AI: Managing Risk in Product Workflows

AI is reshaping data sovereignty. Learn how AI-powered design and development tools create new risks, and how to build a sovereignty-first product stack.

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Penpot AI workflows explained

What AI workflows are, how Penpot MCP connects your files to agents, and when they’re worth using on real product work.

Beginners

What is prototyping? A beginner’s guide

Learn what prototyping is, why it matters, and how to get started. From low-fidelity sketches to interactive flows, this guide covers everything you need to build better products before a single line of code is written.

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Tools

How to integrate Penpot with your developer toolchain: APIs and webhooks for workflow automation

Turn design updates into automated workflows. Learn how to connect Penpot with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, Slack, and custom scripts using APIs, access tokens, and webhooks.

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