Auto Layout

XD stacks (content-aware groups) are converted to Figma auto-layout frames. These options control which groups qualify for auto-layout and how alignment and spacing are determined.

Quick reference

Eligibility

Convert XD stacks to Auto Layout

Default: ON Master switch for auto-layout conversion. When ON, XD groups with contentStackType (horizontal/vertical stacks) are converted to Figma auto-layout frames with appropriate padding, spacing, and alignment.

When OFF, all groups are converted as plain frames with absolute positioning (same as Free mode).

Spacing threshold

Default: ON (10px)

Checks whether spacing between stack children is uniform. If spacing varies by more than the threshold, the group falls back to a plain frame. This prevents auto-layout from being applied to groups where items are intentionally placed at irregular intervals.

Overflow exclusion

Default: ON (1.0x)

Excludes groups where children extend beyond the artboard bounds by more than the specified multiplier. Prevents auto-layout from being applied to decorative elements that intentionally overflow.

Cross-size ratio

Default: ON (5.0x)

Excludes groups where the ratio between the largest and smallest child on the cross-axis exceeds the threshold. Prevents auto-layout from being applied to groups with vastly different sized children.

Alignment

XD stacks have no explicit alignment property (MIN/CENTER/MAX) — children are positioned by coordinates. So during conversion, cross-axis alignment must be inferred from child positions. The Alignment section controls inference confidence with a single mode selector.

Alignment inference

Default: Balanced (choose from 4 modes)

A mode selector that controls CENTER/MAX inference confidence on a single axis. Each mode combines voting strategy and verification logic differently.

Mode	Inference	Weighted voting	CENTER verification	When to use
Off	No	—	—	Faithful to XD coordinates, always MIN (top/left)
Strict	Yes	Yes	Yes	Multi-stage verification minimizes false positives (conservative)
Balanced (default)	Yes	No	Yes	Standard. Guard suppresses only false-positive CENTER
Native-first	Yes	Yes	No	Lean toward Figma-native CENTER. Guard removed so CENTER wins more often

Glossary:

• Weighted voting: Votes are weighted by child size — prevents large content from being outvoted by small decorations
• CENTER verification: After CENTER wins the majority, demotes to MIN if applying CENTER would shift specific children beyond a threshold

When to use:

• Default to Balanced. Best for typical designs with centered content in stacks
• When large content (images, tables, etc.) is being pulled around by small decorations (icons, buttons, etc.) → Strict or Native-first
• Lists/cards/grids with mixed-width children where only some elements stick out to the center → Balanced or Strict (both have CENTER verification)
• CENTER/MAX is unpredictable, or you want strict XD coordinate fidelity → Off
• Maximize Figma-native CENTER alignment → Native-first

Skip ambiguous auto-layout

Default: OFF When cross-axis alignment inference finds no clear majority for any alignment (MIN / CENTER / MAX), this option reverts the frame to a plain frame with absolute positioning instead of guessing.

This is an orthogonal toggle independent of Alignment inference mode (combinable with any mode; meaningful for any mode other than Off).

When to use: Enable this when specific frames show noticeable misalignment from auto-layout, as a last resort when you prefer accurate reproduction of the original XD positions over preserving auto-layout structure. Since this reduces the number of auto-layout frames overall, try mode switching first.

Preserve cross-axis offset

Default: OFF In Figma, counterAxisAlignItems applies uniformly to all children. So if some children are full-width and others have left margins, the margins are lost. When ON, offset children are wrapped in transparent frames that preserve their original position.

A tolerance dropdown controls how small an offset must be to trigger wrapping: Strict (5px) catches even small margins, Standard (10px) is the default, Tolerant (20px) only wraps children with large offsets.

When to use: Enable this when list items lose their left margins in Pro mode. If margins are still lost, try lowering the tolerance to Strict.

Pair with Alignment inference = Balanced/Strict: When the mode’s CENTER verification demotes CENTER → MIN and the container also holds full-width separators or backgrounds, the rows may end up flush to the left (x=0) because the full-width children block padding inference. In that case, also enable Preserve cross-axis offset. Once MIN is locked in, Preserve activates and wraps the offset rows in FILL frames to restore their original x position.

Spacing

Spacing method

Default: Mode

Determines how itemSpacing is calculated from XD’s per-child margin values.

• Mode: Uses the most frequent margin value. Best for uniform spacing with occasional outliers.
• Average: Uses the average of all margin values. Best for spacing that varies slightly.