Open and use a plugin
Try it with Scan, which makes QR codes. All you need is one empty scene. Other plugins open the same way.
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Open the Plugins panel
In the button row at the top right, click the lightbulb Plugins button. The Plugins panel opens, and the list fills in one row at a time from the top. If “No plugins yet” shows briefly the first time you open it, wait. On the web, if the list stays empty, check your internet connection and open the panel again.
Clicking the lightbulb button opens the Plugins panel, and the list fills in one row at a time. Video: Clicking the lightbulb Plugins button in the button row at the top right opens the Plugins panel, and the list of built-in plugins fills in from the top. -
Open Scan
Scroll down the list and click Scan. The Scan panel opens separately, next to the list. Only one plugin is open at a time. Clicking another one closes the one before.
Clicking Scan in the list opens the Scan panel beside it. Video: Clicking Scan in the plugin list turns its row blue, and the Scan panel opens separately to the left of the list. -
Type an address
When it first opens, Link on the QR tab is selected. Clear the address in the Address field and type the address to link to. The code in the preview at the top changes right away. The “Scans” badge at the top right of the preview means the code actually scans.
Typing an address changes the QR code pattern in the preview, and the “Scans” badge stays at the top right. Video: Typing a new address in the Address field of the Scan panel changes the QR code pattern in the preview at the top, while the Scans badge at the top right stays as it is. -
Add it to the scene
Scroll to the bottom of the panel and click Insert. The QR code appears as a single group in the center of the scene and is selected. It’s an ordinary object, so you can move and resize it. On a narrow screen, the Scan panel hides the QR code. Drag the Scan panel’s title bar to move it aside.
Clicking Insert adds a QR code in the center of the scene and selects it. Video: Scrolling to the bottom of the Scan panel and clicking Insert adds a QR code as a group in the center of the scene and selects it, and the button’s name changes to Update. -
Close the plugin
Click the X button at the right end of the Scan panel’s title bar. The plugin stops, and the QR code you made stays in the scene. To close the Plugins panel, click the lightbulb button again.
Plugin screens are in English
Even when you use the editor in Korean, the descriptions in the plugin list and each plugin’s panel are in English. So this page gives the plugins’ button names in English, exactly as they appear on screen. The search field above the list also searches the English descriptions, so search “background” to find Cutout, which removes backgrounds, and “qr” to find Scan.
Plugins that add motion
They all make ordinary keyframes on the timeline. After you add them, you can still edit each one in the Timeline, and the motion shows when you play in Animation mode.
Cue
Lets you pick one of 47 entrance, emphasis, exit, and loop presets and add it with one click. They include moves such as fade, slide, and pop. For how to use it, see One-click presets.
- To startSelect the objects to animate (several objects start one after another)
- Then chooseA card on the In · Emphasis · Out · Loop tab
- Then clickApply
Typer
Makes text appear one character at a time, as if it’s being typed. It can also erase text and cycle through several sentences. Korean builds up one jamo at a time, the way it’s typed. It also adds a blinking cursor.
- To startSelect a text object
- Then chooseType · Erase · Cycle
- Then clickApply
Domino
Rearranges when objects that already have motion start. It offsets them at a set interval, chains them so each one starts when the one before ends, or scatters them at random.
- To startSelect two or more objects that have keyframes
- Then chooseStagger · Sequence · Chain and more in Mode
- Then clickApply · Before you close the panel, Restore timing brings back the original timing
Physics
A physics simulation that drops objects and makes them collide. Set gravity and walls, preview it in the panel, then turn it into position and rotation keyframes.
- To startIn Bodies, set the objects to move to Dynamic (for all of them, All dynamic)
- To previewPreview
- Then clickBake keyframes
Woofer
Analyzes the sound of audio or video in the scene, and animates objects’ size, position, rotation, and opacity to the beat and frequency range. To add audio, see Images, video, and audio.
- To startAdd an audio or video object to the scene, and select the objects to animate
- Then chooseA preset card such as EQ Bars
- Then clickBake
Gimbal
Follows a point or area in a video all the way through. It makes an object follow that motion, or steadies a shaky video.
- To startA video object in the scene
- To trackPlace a marker on the preview with Point or Region, then Track
- Then clickSelect the object that should follow, then Apply · For shake, Stabilize in Stabilize clip
Plugins that refine images
Select one image, then open the plugin. When you apply it, the image changes to a version with the background removed. Restore original, which brings back the original image, works only until you close the panel. After that, press ⌘Z to undo. To select and remove the background by hand, you can also use Image editing.
Cutout
Removes a photo’s background and makes it transparent. Auto guesses the subject, and you correct it by painting the areas to keep and to remove. Auto guesses by color, so with several subjects it may keep only one. If that happens, paint the areas to keep with Keep.
- To startSelect one image
- Then refineAuto · Wand · Keep · Remove
- Then clickApply
Matte
Makes the background transparent in a photo shot in front of a green or blue backdrop (chroma key). It finds the background color automatically, and you can also click the preview to pick it yourself.
- To startSelect a green screen or blue screen image
- Then fine-tuneTolerance · Softness
- Then clickApply
Plugins that make objects
They make ordinary objects (text, shapes, paths, and frames). After you add them, you can still select and edit each one.
Anagram
Splits one text object into separate text objects by character, word, or line. The pieces stay selected in reading order, so you can go on to animate them one character at a time with Cue.
- To startSelect a text object
- Then chooseCharacters · Words · Lines in Split into
- Then clickApply — split text
Array
Duplicates the selected object in a grid, a line, or a circle. In a circle, the original stays in the center with the copies around it. You can make each copy’s size, rotation, and opacity change a little.
- To startSelect one object to duplicate
- Then chooseGrid · Linear · Radial in Mode
- Then clickApply — create clones
Mockup
Puts a screenshot, a video, or a frame you made into a device frame such as a phone, tablet, laptop, monitor, or browser window. If you put in a frame, the interactions inside it still work.
- To startSelect the image, video, or frame to put on the screen
- Then addUse selection, then choose a device
- Then clickInsert
Scan
Makes QR codes and barcodes. They can hold a link, Wi-Fi, a contact, an email, a phone number, or a text message. A badge at the top right of the preview tells you whether the code actually scans.
- To startOpen it with nothing selected
- Then chooseQR · Barcode, and what it holds
- Then clickInsert
Jam
Makes boards to work on together. It has colored sticky notes, arrows that connect objects, and 16 ready-made boards such as retro, kanban, and mind map. To edit with others, see Edit together.
- Add a sticky noteClick Note, then press ↩ to type text
- Add an arrowSelect two or more objects, then Arrow
- Add a boardChoose it from ▾ next to the board name, then click that name
Add and remove plugins
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Open the Plugins page in Studio
In Studio, click Plugins at the bottom of the left sidebar. It shows the 13 built-in plugins and plugins published after review. Built-in rows show “Default” instead of an install button.
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Install from Studio
Click Install in the row of the plugin you want to add. The right end of the row changes to “Installed,” and the plugin joins the list in any editor you open with that account. It works the same on the web and in the desktop app. An editor that’s already open gets it when you open the editor again.
Clicking Install shows “Installed” at the right end of the row. Video: On the Plugins page in Studio, clicking Install in a published plugin’s row changes the right end of the row to Installed and a Remove button. -
Import from a file
To import a .sshowplugin file you received, click the + Import plugin button in the title bar of the Plugins panel. When you choose the file, the plugin goes straight into the list. Importing a new file of the same plugin replaces the earlier one.
Choosing a .sshowplugin file adds a new plugin at the bottom of the list. Video: Clicking the + button in the title bar of the Plugins panel and choosing a .sshowplugin file adds a new plugin row at the bottom of the list. -
Remove a plugin
In the Plugins panel, click the − Remove plugin button at the right end of that plugin’s row. The row disappears from the list right away, without asking. A plugin installed from Studio is removed from your account too. You can also click Remove on the Plugins page in Studio. The 13 built-in plugins can’t be removed.
Plugins imported from a file go away when you reload
A plugin imported from a file is only in the editor you have open now. Closing or reloading the editor removes it from the list, so import it again each time you use it. If the plugin is published in Studio, install it there and it stays in your account.
Undo and safety
What a built-in plugin changes with one click is usually a single undo step. Click the canvas once, then press ⌘Z to undo it all at once. Only Mockup with a screen placed in it takes two steps (screen → frame), so press ⌘Z twice. Pressing ⌘Z inside the Cutout, Matte, or Gimbal panel undoes only work done in that panel (painting, picking a color, trackers). For undo in general, see Save and undo.
Plugins run in a space walled off from the editor and can’t connect to the internet. They read and edit the document only through a channel the editor opens for them, and can’t reach the editor’s screen or your account.
What plugins make are ordinary objects and keyframes. They look exactly the same in an editor without that plugin and on the playback screen.
Editing what you added, full descriptions, and making your own
To edit a QR code or mockup you added. Select it, then open Scan or Mockup. The settings you used to add it show again, and the Insert button changes to Update. To add another one with the same settings, click Insert new.
To read a full description. Descriptions in the list are cut off after two lines. Open the plugin and click the circled i Plugin info button in its panel’s title bar. The version, author, ID, and full description expand.
To make your own. Pack one HTML document, which becomes the plugin’s screen, and the manifest plugin.json into a .sshowplugin file. For how to make one, see Plugin API. For the plugin you use inside Figma, see Figma plugin.
Updated 10/12/2026 · The videos on this page were recorded in the current editor.