Figma Boolean Operations: A Comprehensive Guide

Designers are often faced with the challenge of creating complex shapes and designs. Figma Boolean operations provide an efficient solution to this problem, allowing designers to combine any set of shape layers through one of four formulas: Union, Subtract, Intersect, and Exclude¹. This blog post will guide you through the essential details and helpful tips on using Figma Boolean operations.

Understanding Boolean Operations in Figma

Boolean operations in Figma are mathematical methods used to combine shape layers. The operations available include:

1. Union: This operation enables designers to combine two shapes into one, incorporating all areas of both shapes.

2. Subtract: This operation allows you to use one shape to remove a portion from another shape. The first shape remains intact, while the second shape is subtracted.

3. Intersect: This operation helps to create a new shape from the overlapping areas of two shapes.

4. Exclude: This operation forms a new shape by removing the intersecting section from the union of two shapes².

Working with Boolean Operations

Figma's Plugin API provides a BooleanOperationNode class that allows developers to easily implement these operations in plugins³. To master Boolean operations, you need to familiarize yourself with these steps:

1. Selection of shapes: Start by selecting the shapes you want to combine.

2. Choosing the operation: Decide which Boolean operation you want to use for your shapes.

3. Apply the operation: In the right sidebar, under the Boolean operations menu, apply your chosen operation.

4. Adjust if needed: You can modify your new shape by double-clicking it to access individual nodes, or modify the original shapes by digging into the Boolean group⁴.

Practicing Boolean Operations

To get comfortable with Boolean operations, consider practicing with existing shapes and designs. An excellent resource for this purpose is this interactive tutorial on Boolean operations⁵.

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Footnotes

1. Figma Boolean operations – Figma Learn - Help Center ↩

2. BooleanOperationNode | Plugin API ↩

3. Use expressions in prototypes – Figma Learn - Help Center ↩

4. Learning Boolean Function On Figma | by Prakhar Verma | Bootcamp ↩

5. How to use Boolean Groups in Figma ↩