Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Design Sketch Basics Build a Mobile Interface Creating a Wireframe

Carson Carbery
Carson Carbery
9,876 Points

When copying from template, I get elements with rotate symbols next to them, instead of groups

When I copy from the template as shown in the course e.g. header elements. The instructor gets groups copied as layers and can expand them and perform actions on them. Instead when I copy I do net get the groups, just the header elements with a rotate symbol next to them. Many thanks for any help with this

Adam Warner
Adam Warner
546 Points

Carson, I just started with Sketch myself, but I believe this is something that has changed in the UI with newer versions of Sketch (could be wrong). It's because they are symbols in the new library and symbols are identified by the rotating purple arrows. I assume this was done to make things more clear and prevent accidental editing of core symbols.

Either way, if you double click on one of the symbols in the layers palette, it will take you to an area where you can edit them. Or, alternatively, hit the box with an arrow next to "Page1" at the top of the layers palette and you will see a "Symbols" section that you can navigate to and edit the symbols.

Hope this helps.

3 Answers

Kaitlyn Threndyle
Kaitlyn Threndyle
18,204 Points

In Sketch, when you have the element you want to change selected, in the right side inspector panel click on the little up/down arrows of the section that says Bottom Bar/tab bar (or navigation bar or status bar-which ever you happen to be editing. Then you click "detach from symbol". Voila! This will make a folder of the layers in the layer panel and you can edit each one like in the video.

Adam Warner
Adam Warner
546 Points

Thanks Kaitlyn! It is important to note that when he does as you say the group is no longer a symbol. He would have to select the folder and make it a new symbol once he is done making the changes if he wants it to still behave as a symbol.

Carson Carbery
Carson Carbery
9,876 Points

Hi Adam, thanks for the answer. I had also noticed that I can edit the symbols in the other area. But that doesn't allow me to follow the course and more importantly only shows the changes (eg a colour or opacity change) for that individual symbol, and not how it will look in the actual drawing that I am making i.e. when combined with the other layers. This makes it extremley difficult to use, as you wont see the effects of any changes you make without toggling between different screens (bit crazy that they've even set it up this way), so I am guessing that there must be some way of still doing this as in the version used in this course? Any ideas from anyone would be really welcome. Thanks so much.

Double click on the Navigation bar. This will show the elements with the symbol/group. You can delete the individual element(s) that you don't want, and then click the "Return to Instance" button that appears in the upper left corner of the work area. Viola!