Our team has just released Lunacy 3.0. It is a native Windows app that opens, edits, and stores .sketch files. And it’s completely free.
Why Was Lunacy Started?
Let’s go into some flashback how Lunacy has covered the path from a viewer to an editor.
Sketch is a default standard for design, but it exists exclusively for Mac. We were often annoyed that our teammates on Windows were unable to work with our Sketch files, and that we had to employ numerous conversions and half-baked tools.
First, we launched our Sketch viewer back in 2016. Two weeks later Sketch changed the format, making us rewrite most of the code. The result? Lunacy supports, not only the new .sketch files your mate just saved but also older templates found at SketchAppSources. Right now, Lunacy viewer is among the top 10 design tools in the Microsoft Store
We never stopped working on it–and now we are developing a full-fledged editor that supports the features of the original Sketch for Mac, resolving tons of bugs and performance optimizations.
How Lunacy Is Useful for You?
Among the long-awaited features, we would mention that Lunacy can:
- Read any .sketch files of all versions (we spent 13 months testing it far and wide)
- Automatically download missing Google Fonts
- Publish assets directly to a CDN
- Save .sketch files(alpha)
Although concentrated on MVP, we couldn’t help but add a “killer” feature that we missed for years: exporting assets directly to a CDN. Instead of saving an image to a disk, you can get its URL with a single click, ready to insert into your HTML. Lunacy uploads the file to our CDN servers. The service is free thanks to the generous sponsorship of KeyCDN.
Another cool feature is the automatic downloading of Google Fonts. If you open a file with missing fonts, Lunacy will check Google Fonts and download those that are missing. The process is so smooth you will never even notice it. Designers use Google Fonts 90% of time, so… say goodbye to font hell.
Finally, Lunacy integrates with Sketch the Ripper—a fast and rustic alternative to the specialized tools like Zeplin. Imagine you are a designer who finished working on a piece. You share your designs with a single click and get a link to all the assets ripped off(example). Magic.
What’s on the Horizon
Put simply, we put in a lot of effort. We keep reinvesting the money earned from our icons to:
- Grow our Lunacy team (currently of 6 people).
- Make Lunacy up to par with Sketch for Mac (we’ve got 80% of the editing features so far).
- Add some handy features that we were missing.
- And something that we used to patch with plugins.
One more thing: come back in June, and you’ll see something totally new. Something, that will give designers a super-power.
Meanwhile, check Lunacy on Product Hunt – your feedback is the way to get the product better. You can also find an extended review for Lunacy on UX Planet