# Responsive design on canvas - Applying themes to boards

**URL:** <https://community.penpot.app/t/responsive-design-on-canvas-applying-themes-to-boards/10630>\
**Category:** Help us improve Penpot\
**Tags:** design, design-tokens, responsive\
**Created:** [June 4, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://community.penpot.app/t/responsive-design-on-canvas-applying-themes-to-boards/10630 "2026-06-04T15:03:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nic0m4](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/community.penpot.app/nic0m4/32/10588_2.png) [@nic0m4](https://community.penpot.app/u/nic0m4)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://community.penpot.app/t/responsive-design-on-canvas-applying-themes-to-boards/10630/1 "2026-06-04T15:03:56Z")

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**Background**

Hi! I’m looking to switch from Figma to Penpot because I really like the idea of using real CSS flexbox and grid on a free canvas. I imagine this would give me  
much more accurate code output than what I get from Figma today.

**The blocker**

The main thing holding me back is how themes work. Switching themes changes values across the whole document, which means I can’t have different breakpoints  
coexisting on the same canvas at the same time.

My usual workflow in Figma is to put desktop, tablet and mobile frames side by side, apply different variable modes to each frame, and freely  
experiment with different layouts before deciding on anything. In Penpot, switching to a mobile theme breaks my desktop frame and vice versa.

**The request**

If themes or token sets could be scoped to individual boards rather than the whole document, that would completely solve this. It’s basically the equivalent of  
Figma’s variable modes per frame, and for me personally it’s the one feature that’s blocking the switch from Figma to Penpot.

Cheers!

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**Author:** ![sara.dndg](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/community.penpot.app/sara.dndg/32/10759_2.png) [@sara.dndg](https://community.penpot.app/u/sara.dndg)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2026, 2:40pm UTC](https://community.penpot.app/t/responsive-design-on-canvas-applying-themes-to-boards/10630/2 "2026-07-27T14:40:53Z")

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Hi! The same issue was reported some time ago and there has been a recent update on its progress. I’ll leave the link [here](https://community.penpot.app/t/apply-different-tokens-sets-in-different-boards/9771) so you can keep track of any future developments.