Balsamiq Cloud documentation
- Introduction to Balsamiq Cloud
- What is Balsamiq Cloud?
- Quick start guide
- Transitioning from a previous version
- Spaces, projects and wireframes
- Next steps
- A couple of little treats for you!
- Account management
- Managing Spaces
- Managing projects
- People and permissions
- Editor overview
- Adding and arranging UI controls
- Editing controls
- Sharing and reviewing
- Collaborative editing
- Using images and icons
- Symbols
- Markup
- Linking wireframes together
- Full Screen Presentation Mode
- Alternates
- Exporting
- Importing
- Keeping projects clean and organized
- Keyboard shortcuts
- The BMPR file format
- Troubleshooting scrollbars on ChromeOS
- Converting BMML files to BMPR
- Setting up a space for Single Sign-On authentication (SAML)
Introduction to Balsamiq Cloud
What is Balsamiq Cloud?
Balsamiq Cloud is a web-based user interface design tool for creating wireframes (sometimes called mockups or low-fidelity prototypes). You can use it to generate digital sketches of your idea or concept for an application or website, and to facilitate discussion and understanding before any code is written. The completed wireframes can be used for user testing, clarifying your vision, getting feedback from stakeholders, or getting approval to start development.
Here's a quick demonstration of how it works.
Quick start guide
To get started, you first need to sign up at balsamiq.cloud and then create a new Space or join an existing one by invitation.
Logging in will let you explore Your First Project, a sample project to help you get started with Balsamiq. You can also create a new, empty project from the Project menu in the upper-left corner.
- Depending on how you work (or your role on the project), you can also invite collaborators to edit or review the wireframes as you build them. Balsamiq Cloud supports real-time collaboration and comments, so that multiple people can work on the same project together. Click on the Share menu icon in the upper-right corner to add collaborators or get a public link to share.
- Now is the time to create your wireframes! Drag and drop, edit, and arrange over 75 user interface control types to create anything you can imagine. Read about adding and arranging and editing controls to learn how to create your wireframes.
Tip: If you've never used a Balsamiq product before, you might want to follow our tutorial on how to create your first wireframe.
- Once you are ready to share your wireframes with clients or stakeholders, you can invite them to the project, share a public link, or export it to a PDF or images.
Transitioning from a previous version
If you are transitioning from Balsamiq for Desktop (or another Balsamiq product), you can drag and drop a project file on the canvas to import it or use the dedicated option in the Project menu.
Note: Do you need to convert some .bmml files (old format) so they can be used in Balsamiq Cloud? Please email us and we'll be happy to convert them for you.
Spaces, projects and wireframes
Balsamiq Cloud uses the concepts of Spaces, projects and wireframes.
- a Space is where your projects live in Balsamiq Cloud.
- a Project is a collection of wireframes that belong together and are stored in a single file (.bmpr).
- a Wireframe is a rough schematic created in the early stages of digital product design to help visualize and communicate the structure of a product or website.
Note: A group of wireframes make up a project and a group of projects make up a Space.
Next steps
The rest of our documentation contains a detailed description of the features and use of Balsamiq Cloud. A good starting point would be People and Permissions, to get familiar with how to add people to your projects, followed by the Editor Overview, to learn about the user interface for navigating and creating your wireframes.
For troubleshooting, frequently-asked questions, and tutorials, head over to our support page. There, you can learn about pricing and payment information, contact us, watch tutorials, and connect with the user community.
Happy Wireframing, from the Balsamiq team!
A couple of little treats for you!
Built-in background music
For years we've been suggesting people use headphones when working on wireframes, to help get in the creative zone. So we asked ourselves: why not give our awesome users a built-in, get-in-the-zone-inducing track to listen to? And so we did!
Just click the Toggle Background Music button on the Left Bar and get to work!
You can also toggle the Background Music on and off using the Play Background Music item in the Smiley Menu.
The track is called Ascension, by Dr. Christopher Lloyd Clarke B.Sc, Msc.D. Meditation music composer and founder of Royalty Free Meditation Music.com.
We cut the track down to 25 minutes, added a Zen bell, then added 5 minutes of nature sounds recorded by our own Michael Angeles in his hikes around Marin County, CA. We then made the resulting 30-minute track loop.
Why the (25 + 5), you ask? Because this way you can use the music to time your Pomodoros, of course!
What should I make for dinner?
We know how it is. It's 5pm, and you've just had a glorious day of work, creating awesome wireframes for your next project.
And then it hits you: what should I make for dinner tonight?
That's where we come in.
From the Smiley menu, select Help and then "What Should I Make for Dinner?". You'll be taken to this page.
Lots and lots of easy, every-day recipes straight from the Balsamiq team's kitchens, in super-quick video format you can watch while you put your jacket on to leave the office.
Just browse through the list of videos, pick one that looks good, jot down the ingredients and run out the door.
Nothing fancy here, this is what we cook for ourselves when we don't know what to make.
Buon appetito! 🙂