Hello,
today marks 3 months since my first commit to Penpot Desktop. It’s also close to the end of the year, a great time for a review and talk about the future.
What’s Done
As with any project that has been out of development for some time, half a year in this case, I started with routine updates. For example, Penpot Desktop is now running the latest version of Electron (the framework it’s based on), which is important for security and maintainability.
From there it was time for documentation, fixes, and smaller features. All are good options to improve stability of a project and familiarise yourself with a code base, I used that.
Here are development highlights of 2024:
- Updates to the framework, build tooling, and dependencies.
- Security improvements in form of a process sandboxing, in-app navigation rules, and a webview verification.
- UI fixes resulting in clean tab navigation and a more consistent UI across the platforms.
- Features like a dedicated reload button, dynamic instance support, and navigation requests controls.
The First Code Contribution
Huge shoutout to @Beryesa for their work on Flatpak build and getting Penpot Desktop on Flathub.
It’s now live in the app store, with improvements planned and awaiting upstream fixes.
What’s Next
With a quarter behind us, let’s talk Q1 2025.
We are not out of the forest in terms of the technical debt. A decent chunk of the development time will go to migrating away from one of the dependencies that is seriously outdated and no longer maintained - the tab interface package. It’s an investment that will have returns in form of a better UI (compatible with the planned features) and a more secure application.
To the features now.
System/Local Fonts
Local fonts is probably the most requested feature and constantly on my radar. However, based on the prototyping I have done so far, it’s also the easiest one to overpromise on in this list. I just want you to know that it is a work in progress.
Multi-instance Support
The next milestone in the instance’s evolution is support for multiple instances. It will allow you to open Penpot from different sources simultaneously, which will be segregated and visualised in tabs, and manageable with a dedicated interface.
Friendly Local Setup
Penpot’s big feature is the ability to self-host it, which allows you to keep the work more private or simply work offline. However, it requires an extra setup and I believe it would help a lot if the process was abstracted in the app - at least to a certain degree.
The Interface
Penpot Desktop is getting a new, refreshed look. You can expect better working experience, encapsulating new features (some mentioned above), supported by new and improved menus, and a seamless feel with the Penpot application itself.
Below is an early mock-up and you can play with the prototype - make sure to click around.
The mock-up is based on Penpot’s Pencil, with a few minor modifications. Thank you Penpot team for releasing the design system.
Final Words
Thank you everyone for contributions - code submissions, bug reports, feature suggestions, feedback, spreading the word, and your activity overall.
If it’s the first time you are hearing about Penpot Desktop, give it a try - check out the installation options.
This is the last planned update post in 2024. Have a great end of the year. Stay tuned for future updates.
