How to change an Icon-Image Colour in Figma.

Being a Developer, I always wanted to learn how to design a world class product from scratch (on my own 😅). Recently i have been learning how to design an app using the right tools and process, primarily using the already well established tool, Figma. As Figma supports almost every popular image-type out of the box, and with its brilliant collections of available plugins (for free 😁) we can drag and drop a design for any app or website quite easily.

Figma

The most recurring problem that i encountered was dealing with images, especially Icons and the need to change to different colour’s based on the design scheme (for example Dark vs Light mode).

After searching for a while, I stumbled across this reddit thread (click here, credits to the creator!) and immediately felt like trying the same cool trick on my most favourite plugin.

Changing the colour of Icons.

For my Icon needs i tend to use StreamLine Icons, one of Figma’s most widely used plugins to get any desired shape into the design. You can find the plugin here.

Here is how we can change the colour of an icon imported from this plugin.

1. Load the Plugin by selecting it from the Plugins menu.

Right click on the Frame and select StreamLine Icons from Plugins menu.

2. Select an Icon from the Plugin, e.g the Home Icon.

Select the Home Icon.

3. Select the Icon and remove the fill of “FFFFFF” from the image on the design panel on the right. This will strip down the icon to its boundaries thus removing the unwanted background.

Icon with White Background.

Remove fill from the design menu on the Right side.

Icon without the background white colour.

3. Draw a rectangle on top of the icon, make sure the rectangle is of same dimension as the Icon, e.g 48x48 as in the above image. In case it’s not, it can be adjusted later on as well from the design panel on the right.

Select the Rectangle from the Shape-tools on the toolbar on Top-Left.

Draw the rectangle on top of the Icon. Adjust the size to match the dimensions of the Icon.

4. Select the Icon and the Rectangle by either pressing Cmd+Click on each item on the Layers, or manually on the frame and open the Right Click Menu, then select Use As Mask (shift+cmd+m).

Cmd + click on the Layers to select them.

Right-Click Menu -> Use as mask.

Results 🎉

5. Change the colour of the Rectangle in the Mask to achieve the desired result.

Icon in Red.

Icon in Blue.

Icon can have any colour.

I find this trick quite useful and easy to learn, and the end results are just as amazing. This trick works well with custom image files as well, I will try to add more scenarios to this doc and keep it updated with more findings along the way. Feel free to leave your thoughts or ideas in the comments below. I am always on a look out to learn new things.