Components are reusable elements in Jitter that let you build the core parts of your design once, then reuse them across multiple artboards.
Components consist of:
The main component, which defines the layers, animations, and properties of the component. Changes made to the main component flow through to all instances.
An instance, which is a copy of the main component placed in your project. It inherits all properties from the main component.
Updating the main component in one place and every instance updates automatically, keeping your project consistent without extra work.
Create a component
Add your elements (layers, text, shapes, animations) to an artboard to compose your component. When you're happy with how it looks, select the artboard.
Click ❖ Create component in the property panel, or right click and select Create component. This makes your artboard a main component.
Copy and paste the component onto any other artboard. You can now edit the main component to update all instances.
To make edits to the instance, edit the main component directly. Any updates to the main component will apply to all instances immediately.
💡 Tip: To make edits to the instance, edit the main component directly. Any updates to the main component will apply to all instances immediately.
Detach from a main component
To convert an instance back into its own set of layers so that it will no longer receive updates from the main component, you can detach the instance from its main component. Do this by right clicking the instance and selecting Detach instance.
✏️ Note: Components can only be reused in the same Jitter file. We’re working on supporting components across files in a future update.
Going further with components
Once you're comfortable with the basics, components open up some more interesting motion design tooling:
Nested components: Paste an instance onto a main component or another instance to build up complex designs from smaller, reusable pieces.
Scene transitions: Build each scene as its own component, then place all the instances onto a single artboard in sequence. When you export, they play back as one seamless combined animation.
Looping: When you want a complex animation to repeat, turn it into a component and place multiple instances end-to-end on the timeline to make simple loops
File organization: Components aren't just for reuse and efficiency. Even if you only need your design once, wrapping it as a component keeps your layers clean and easy to navigate as your file grows.
💡 Tip: When you create a component, the artboard's background fill comes with it. If your instance appears to be covering elements underneath, uncheck the Fill on the main component's artboard so that the background in your instance is transparent.