Axure Integration with Adobe products


#1

Hi everyone,

My team has recently purchased Axure and are now in the process of attempting to integrate it into our workflow. The initial idea was to utilize Axure for UX designers for wireframing purposes only. As we’ve noodled around and found further functionality around commenting and allowing stakeholders to review the work we have entertain the idea of integrating Axure into other disciplines. Specifically, visual (UI) designers.

There’s no denying the fundamental relationship that designers hold dear with Adobe. Whether that’s Photoshop, Illustrator, etc… Personally, I use illustrator to do all my design work and likely will never change that reality. It offers a flexible, creative environment with no limitations. Allows me to work freely and efficiently.

What it boils down to… I need some way to avoid doing double the work. We will continue using Illustrator to create designs. I need the ability to take my illustrator files (shapes, text, groups, images and all) and copy/paste/import into Axure as separate components rather than one flat image.

I’ve seen suggestions for Sketch+Axure, but Sketch does not deal really well with pasting artwork from Illustrator into it. Perhaps my one-time attempt at it isn’t an accurate view into its possibilities. If that’s the case… how exactly does Sketch integrate with Axure?

Another thought… Project managers would love JIRA integration. Is that a thing?

TLDR:

  • I need a way to use my design work created in Illustrated in Axure without having to recreate each UI component.
  • Heard of Sketch, but not having luck with it. Pasting into sketch from illustrator seems wonky.
  • Any other methods or tools?

Thanks!


#2

Hi willdmeyer,

Welcome to the forum; thanks for submitting your first post! I’d be curious to know how other users might weigh in as well, particularly about their workflows involving Sketch and Adobe tools.

It sounds like you’ve made a couple attempts at importing Illustrator assets into Axure RP. We understand how important that functionality is, and generally speaking, copying and importing from Illustrator into RP is actually expected to work. We had run into a couple conflicts between the tools in earlier builds, but by and large those issues should now be addressed with current updates. (This was a recent issue we noticed, which comes with a possible workaround.) If you have a specific example (or perhaps a video) that demonstrates your workflow and Axure RP’s limitations, please don’t hesitate to share that with us for our reference. We can then submit a ticket on your behalf.

WRT Jira integration, this is on the table for review as well. And I’ll update our product management team about your comment here. Thank you!


#3

Hello,

Alex thank you for the response.

My team is having the same challenge as Willdmeyer. Axure has always been part of our workflow for our IA team and InDesign and Photoshop is commonly used by the design team. We are using atomic design for a current project and looking to reduce the rework between IA and design for widgts and design elements during the project. Is there a way for a widget library to be shared between Axure and Adobe so that each group can leverage the tools they are use to using while keeping the latest and greatest designs avaiable for our Axure prototypes and developers?


#4

Hi fssmith04!

Thanks for providing that background. Axure widget libraries cannot be used across other applicatinos. And there haven’t been new integrations like that added for working between Axure RP and other Adobe tools. Since this original post, a recent new feature that we added was the ability to edit imported SVGs as custom shapes in Axure RP 8:

Although that may bridge a small gap in your workflow, I can definitely see how it still falls short in terms of the integration that you’re looking for. In terms of your project cycle, it sounds as if your RP prototype includes widgets whose styling frequently changes as you redesign widgets in Adobe. I’ll go ahead and log a request to review that workflow. Besides a full integration, it also sounds like it’ll help to be able to update Adobe assets, export them to a local folder, use them in Axure RP, and reflect graphical changes in the target RP project as you export design updates. LMK if you have further suggestions in the meantime though!


#5

Jira Integration: https://marketplace.atlassian.com/vendors/1214399/axure