Guide: Figma for developers (without paid account)

Hey, I’m a designer and work a lot with developers who access my designs in Figma. I put together a "quick guide" that might help others.

Honestly, I still see no to little value in dev mode in Figma and I think the most of the FE developers can do the work without it (at least until Figma decides to remove inspecting on the free plan, lol :D)

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Install the desktop app

- Better performance than in browser, especially for large files

- Supports local fonts (no extra work needed)

- Keyboard shortcuts work properly

- Offline access to previously opened files

- Less distractions than browser version

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Create a Figma account

- you can't do much without it (it's free)

- As of the latest update, it's basically unusable without an account: you can only view files

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What you can do as a viewer on a free account

- View comments

- Add comments (including mentions and image uploads)

- See layer dimensions (width, height)

- Measure distances: Select a layer, hold Alt (or Option on Mac), and hover another element

- Inspect layers and copy properties (dimensions, content, colors, typography, etc.)

- Export assets (SVG, PNG, JPG, PDF)

- Run prototypes

- Use built-in voice calls

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What you can't do without a paid seat

- Use any Dev Mode features, even if added in design mode

  - Includes annotations (used to be free until May 2025)  

  - Accurate measurements

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Dev Mode trial tip

Ask for edit access on a file — you’ll get 3 days of Dev Mode access while waiting for approval.