Balsamiq for Desktop Documentation
- Introduction to Balsamiq Wireframes for Desktop
- Editor Overview
- Adding and Arranging UI Controls
- Editing Controls
- Sharing and Reviewing
- Using Images and Assets
- Symbols
- Markup
- Linking Wireframes Together
- Full Screen Presentation Mode
- Alternates
- Exporting
- Importing
- Keeping Projects Clean and Organized
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- The BMPR File Format
- Autosaving
- Backups and The Support Folder
- Windows Advanced Installation Instructions
- macOS Advanced Installation Instructions
- Editing Balsamiq Cloud Projects from Wireframes for Desktop
- Installing Balsamiq Wireframes on Linux
- Prerequisites
- Installing Balsamiq Wireframes via Lutris
- Current Limitations
Installing Balsamiq Wireframes on Linux
While our web-based apps like Balsamiq Cloud and Balsamiq Wireframes for Google Drive work with Linux "out of the box", it is possible to install the Windows version of Balsamiq Wireframes for Desktop on most Linux distros by using Lutris.
Prerequisites
There are a couple of things you need to have before you can install Balsamiq Wireframes on Linux:
- A mainstream Linux distribution (Ubuntu / Debian / Fedora / Mint), with curl, wine and wine32.
- Lutris - Lutris makes it easy to install wine-powered applications. You can download Lutris or look at the installation instructions on Github.
Installing Balsamiq Wireframes via Lutris
Once you have the prerequisites installed, installing the app via Lutris is pretty easy. Just check what version of Lutris you're using, and then run the appropriate command.
If you're on Lutris 5.8 or newer:
If you're on Lutris 5.7.1 and older:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/balsamiq/balsamiq-wireframes-linux/master/bw.yml -O /tmp/bw.yml && lutris -i /tmp/bw.yml
Once you have the installer downloaded and running, you need only follow the installer's steps to get Balsamiq Wireframes installed on your system. Then, after installation is complete, you can run the app via the desktop shortcut, Applications folder, or however you run apps on your machine.
Current Limitations
We will try to keep an updated list of the limitations and incompatibilities of this version of the app. If you happen to fix any of them on your own, please submit a Pull Request on our Github Project.
- The Linux App cannot connect to Balsamiq Cloud and edit Cloud projects. You will need to use your web browser to do that.
- Export PDF doesn't work if certain UTF-8 fonts are present (emoji, some Asian Language fonts, etc)