Open a file from a good studio and you can tell in ten seconds which version the client approved. None of that is luck. Somebody decided, before the first was drawn, where each stage of the job would live, what every frame would be called and which parts would come from the brand's instead of being pasted in. A file is a document other people open without you, often months later, and the setup is written for them.
Start with where the file lives, because that decides who can find it. Figma keeps files in in the file browser, and folders began replacing what Figma used to call projects on 3 August 2026, with the change reaching every account over the following weeks. A studio gives each client a folder and keeps every job file for that client inside it. are the alternative. A draft is private to you until you invite somebody or move it into a folder, which suits a quick test and does not suit client work. On the free Starter plan you get one folder holding three design files, and a draft cannot be edited by a second person, although any number of people can view it.
The structure inside the file is much the same for most graphic jobs. run in the order the work moves, starting with a cover and the working page, then what was presented, what was approved and an archive, with dividers between them. hold one deliverable each. Frames carry names that say what and how big, such as Poster A2 v3, because a layers panel full of Frame 1268 tells nobody anything. Pages also keep a big file quick, since Figma loads only the page you land on and fetches the others one at a time as you move to them. On the free Starter plan a file holds three pages, shows only 30 days of history and cannot publish a library, so a studio doing client work pays for Professional.
The brand itself should arrive from a library, never as loose copies. A library is a file whose styles, components and variables are published for other files to use, and a studio turns the client's library on in each job file from the Assets panel. When the brand team publishes a change, such as a new logo lock-up or a corrected green, Figma offers the update to every file that uses it. It does not apply it silently. A blue badge appears on the Libraries icon at the bottom of the left navigation bar, and anyone with edit access can compare each change side by side with the old version before accepting it. Fonts need the same forethought. A file set in a typeface that is not installed on the next person's computer shows a missing font icon in the left sidebar, so the brand's fonts go on every machine that will open the file, and Figma in a browser also needs Figma's font installer before it can use them.
Sharing is the other half of the setup. Every file has a Share button, and the two permissions that matter are "can view" and "can edit". A client with "can view" can open the file and leave comments, and unless the owner has restricted copying and sharing, they can also copy and export assets from it. "Can edit" gives full editing access, although editing also needs a seat that includes Figma Design. Keep the feedback in comments. Anyone with view access can press C to enter comment mode and pin a note to the exact spot on a frame, and the studio replies and resolves each note as it is dealt with, so the file keeps its own record of what was asked for. A link can point at a single frame too, because a Figma address that includes a layer's node ID opens the file focused on that layer, and renaming the file later does not break it.
AI helps with the tidying and none of the deciding. Rename layers, in the Actions menu, names frames, groups, text and image layers from what they contain and where they sit, and it leaves alone anything you have already named. The agent, opened with the Agents button or Command-Enter, will follow an instruction like the one in Figma's own guide, to standardise every layer name on a page to kebab-case. It runs on Figma's servers, so it cannot reach fonts installed only on your own computer. Neither tool can tell you which stage a frame belongs to. That is still a person's call.
Worked example
A new job file in fifteen minutes
- 01Make the file inside the client's folder instead of in Drafts, and name it for the client and the job with the year at the end, such as Hartley Tea Spring launch 2026.Drafts stay private to you until you share them, and a file the team cannot find does not exist for them.
- 02Build the pages before any work: Cover, a divider, Working, Presented, Approved, another divider, Archive.A page whose name starts with a hyphen turns into a divider, as long as the page is empty. Starter files stop at three pages, so on that plan keep Working, Presented and Approved, and move old rounds to a second file.
- 03On the Cover page, draw a 1920 by 1080 frame with the job name, the date and the current status, then right-click it and choose Set as thumbnail.That is the size Figma recommends for thumbnails. The file browser then shows the status without anyone opening the file.
- 04Wrap each deliverable's frames in a section (Shift-S), and name every frame by what it is and how big, such as Poster A2 v3 or Post 4x5 v2.A section moves as one piece, so a whole round goes from Working to Presented in a single drag.
- 05Turn on the brand's library from the Assets panel. Never paste the logo or the colours in as loose copies.Library parts are offered every update the brand publishes, and pasted copies never are. Publishing a library needs the Professional plan or above.
- 06Before the first round reaches the client, open the team's settings, find the AI section and check Content training.It has been on by default for Starter and Professional teams since 15 August 2024, and off for Organization and Enterprise. Turning it off leaves every AI feature working.
- 07At the end of each session, select the messy frames and run Rename layers from the Actions menu. Then read the names it chose.It names layers from their content and position, and it skips anything you named yourself, anything hidden or locked, and layers inside instances. It needs a paid plan and a Full seat, and it costs no credits.
- 08Save a named version before every review, with Command-Option-S on a Mac or Ctrl-Alt-S on Windows.Figma saves a checkpoint every 30 minutes on its own, but a checkpoint does not say which version the client approved. Starter teams can see only 30 days of history.
The words, in plain language
- Page
- A separate canvas inside one file. A studio gives each stage of a job its own page.
- Section
- A labelled area on a page that keeps a group of frames together. Shift-S draws one.
- Frame
- A container with its own size and layout rules. Everything you export starts as one.
- Library
- A file whose styles, components and variables other files use. Publish a change once and every file using it is offered the update.
- Named version
- A save point you label yourself in version history. Make one before every client review.
- Folder
- Where a team's files live in the file browser. Figma began replacing projects with folders on 3 August 2026.
- Draft
- A file in your own private space. Nobody else sees it until you invite them or move it into a folder.
Why it matters
A messy file charges its cost to the next person who opens it, and the next person is usually you, in six months, hunting for the approved artwork while the client waits on the phone. Structure is cheap at the start. It is expensive to add later, because by then nobody remembers which of four near-identical frames went to print.
Anyone with view access to a file can open every page of it, including the routes you killed, and can export what they find unless copying is restricted. So the rounds you present go on their own page, or in a separate file, and the working mess stays where no client link reaches it. The same care applies to the agent. Since 23 June 2026, new chats with it in a design file are visible by default to everyone on the file with a Full seat and edit access.
Settle the AI settings before the first client file. Since 15 August 2024, content training has been on by default for Starter and Professional teams, which lets Figma use their files to train its AI models, until an admin turns Content training off in the team's AI settings. Organization and Enterprise plans start with it off. Switching it off costs you nothing. Every AI feature keeps working.
The module builds on this file. It moves on to frames, layout guides and auto layout, so a layout survives a longer headline, then to styles and variables that hold a brand's colours, type and spacing in one place, and to components and variants that turn a brand kit into reusable parts. It takes Figma's AI tools one at a time, including making and editing images inside the file and the chores worth handing over, then covers Figma Make for work that moves and Figma Buzz for templates that people who are not designers fill in. It ends with one working afternoon that takes a brief to a finished poster and its social sizes.
Elsewhere
- Type
- technique
- Period
- contemporary