Sketch Copenhagen

Product Introduction

1. Sketch Copenhagen is the third major update of 2025 for Sketch’s design platform, featuring a complete redesign optimized for macOS Tahoe with enhanced functionality across core tools and workflows.
2. The update prioritizes functional design improvements, offering a contextual toolbar, rewritten Inspector, and performance optimizations to streamline UI/UX design processes while maintaining compatibility with modern macOS features.

Main Features

1. The redesigned contextual toolbar dynamically adapts to user selections and tools, integrating a new layer list focus mode that isolates selected layers and their contextual relationships for precise editing.
2. Stacks now support wrapping layouts, enabling horizontal or vertical containers to automatically wrap content into multiple rows/columns with alignment controls, expanding responsive design capabilities without manual adjustments.
3. One-click image background removal leverages Apple’s on-device machine learning with two dedicated modes (for people and objects), ensuring privacy by processing images locally without external server transfers.
4. Workspace organization now supports infinitely nestable folders (formerly Projects/Collections) with inherited permissions, allowing hierarchical structuring of design assets while maintaining access control consistency across teams.

Problems Solved

1. Addresses inefficient layout management through wrap-enabled Stacks, eliminating manual repositioning of elements in constrained containers for responsive web/mobile interfaces.
2. Targets UI/UX designers and collaborative teams needing macOS Tahoe compatibility, offering native integration with system-level features like color spaces and performance optimizations.
3. Simplifies asset preparation workflows by enabling instant background removal for images, reducing dependency on external editing tools during prototype creation or mockup iterations.

Unique Advantages

1. Differentiates from competitors through deep macOS Tahoe integration, including a fully rewritten Inspector with floating color panels, numeric field scrubbing, and modifier-key alternate functions unavailable in cross-platform design tools.
2. Introduces privacy-preserving image processing via Apple’s on-device ML, contrasting with cloud-based alternatives like Figma or Adobe XD that require external data transfers for similar features.
3. Offers 5x faster document opening speeds and improved CSS export accuracy with shorthand radius outputs and layer-name comments, providing technical advantages for developer handoff compared to industry-standard tools.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Does Sketch Copenhagen require macOS Tahoe? Sketch Copenhagen is optimized for macOS Tahoe but remains compatible with macOS Sonoma (14.0.0) and newer versions, though some UI enhancements are exclusive to Tahoe.
2. How does background removal handle data privacy? All image processing occurs locally using Apple’s ML frameworks, ensuring no user assets are uploaded to external servers or third-party services during background removal operations.
3. Can collaborators without Copenhagen access nested folders? Nested folders require all workspace members to use Copenhagen or newer versions, as legacy clients cannot interpret the updated folder hierarchy structure.
4. What performance improvements are included? Document opening is 5x faster through optimized rendering pipelines, with additional gains in large-file handling and reduced GPU load during complex shape shadow calculations.
5. Is the AEUX plugin still supported? The update permanently discontinues AEUX plugin compatibility due to architectural changes, though most core functionality has been integrated into native export/developer handoff tools.