Chapter 4 › Lesson 15

15. Build a Text Input Field

Skills: Frame with auto layout containing label, input area, placeholder text; Border styling for input field; Padding and gap for label and input; Corner radius for input

A text input field is a core building block of any form. You'll build it as a component with a label, an input area, and placeholder text — all structured with auto layout.

15. Build a Text Input Field
Figure: An input component structured as: vertical auto layout containing a label text, a rounded input rectangle with border, and placeholder text inside.

Step-by-step

  1. Press F and create a frame 320 wide — this is your input container
  2. Enable Auto Layout with Shift + A, set direction to Vertical, gap: 6
  3. Add a text layer for the label: press T, type "Label" — set font size 12, font weight Bold, colour #1a1a18
  4. Press R and draw a rectangle 44px tall with corner radius 8 — this is the input area
  5. Give the rectangle a white fill and a 1.5px border (#c8c6bd)
  6. Add horizontal padding: 12 to the rectangle using Auto Layout (select it, enable Auto Layout, set padding 0 top/bottom, 12 left/right)
  7. Add a text layer inside the rectangle: press T, type placeholder text like "Enter value...", set colour to #b0aea6 for a placeholder look
  8. Make the whole input (label + rectangle + placeholder) a component: press Ctrl + Alt + K
  9. Add a text property for the label and another for the placeholder — so you can change them per instance
  10. Test: duplicate your component instance and change the label and placeholder text from the Properties panel

Pro tip

Text properties are different from variants. A text property lets you change the text content of a specific layer in your component instances — perfect for labels and placeholders.