To add a frame in Procreate, turn on Animation Assist (Actions wrench > Canvas > Animation Assist) and tap Add Frame in the timeline at the bottom. This inserts a blank frame next to your current one. In Procreate Dreams, double-tap the Timeline at maximum zoom to open Draw & Paint mode and tap the add icon, or hide the Timeline to use Flipbook and flick past the last frame to create a new one.

Which "frame" do you mean?

"Frame" means two different things in Procreate, and people searching this phrase usually want one of them:

• An animation frame: a single drawing in a frame-by-frame sequence. This is handled by Animation Assist in Procreate and by the Timeline and Flipbook in Procreate Dreams.
• A decorative frame: a border or picture-frame effect around finished artwork. This is typically built with layers and selections rather than a dedicated "add frame" command.

Most of this article covers animation frames, since that's where Procreate has dedicated tools. A short section near the end covers borders.

Add a frame in Procreate with Animation Assist

Animation Assist is the lightweight animation mode inside standard Procreate. It's a good fit for quick loops, animatics, and rough motion tests.

Turn on Animation Assist

1. Tap the wrench icon at the top left to open the Actions menu.
2. Tap Canvas.
3. Switch on Animation Assist.

The canvas zooms to show your whole artwork, and a timeline appears along the bottom. Every existing layer in your document shows up there as a frame. The bottom layer in the Layers panel is the leftmost frame, and frames run chronologically from left to right. The timeline works like the Layers panel turned on its side.

Add the frame

1. Select the frame you want to build from. The selected frame is underlined in blue.
2. Tap Add Frame. A blank frame appears beside the current one.
3. Draw on the canvas as usual. Your marks go to whichever frame is selected.

Each new frame is also a new layer, so you can inspect or rearrange the same content in the Layers panel. If one frame needs several objects, put them in a layer group. Procreate treats a group as a single frame in the timeline, which suits separating line work, color, and shadow on one drawing.

Use onion skin for the next drawing

Onion skinning is on by default when you open Animation Assist. It shows faint copies of neighboring frames, so you can see where the previous pose was and judge spacing for the next one. You can adjust:

• How many frames appear before and after the current one
• The opacity of the ghosted frames
• The color of the onion skin

Keep the frame count low, around one or two, or the canvas turns into visual noise. Choose an onion-skin color that contrasts with your background, otherwise the guides disappear.

Add a frame in Procreate Dreams

Procreate Dreams is the dedicated animation app. It has a full timeline with tracks, and offers two ways to add frames to a frame-by-frame sequence.

Add a frame on the Timeline

1. Tap a track to place the Playhead where you want to work.
2. Zoom into the Timeline as far as it goes, then double-tap it. A small window opens around the selected frame.
3. Tap to enter Draw & Paint mode and paint your first frame.
4. Tap the add icon on the current frame to create the next one, then paint it.
5. Repeat until the sequence is complete.

Turn on onion skins here too. Seeing the previous and next frames makes it far easier to judge where the next drawing should go.

Add a frame in Flipbook

Flipbook strips the interface down to the drawing, which suits a straight-ahead pass.

1. In Draw & Paint mode, drag the handle at the center of the Timeline up or down to hide the Timeline and bring up Flipbook.
2. If you're on the last frame of the sequence, flick to the next frame. This creates a new one.
3. To insert a frame between existing ones, tap the central frame in Flipbook to reveal the add button, then tap it.

One caveat: if you move from the Timeline to Flipbook, delete any extra content at the end of the sequence that isn't a single frame. Leftover clips or multi-frame elements there can interfere with how Flipbook adds frames.

Manage frames after you add them

Adding frames is only half the job. Timing and structure are controlled through frame options.

Hold, duplicate, and delete (Animation Assist)

Tap a frame to select it, then tap it again to open Frame Options:

• Duplicate copies the frame and places the copy next to it. Use it when a pose changes only slightly.
• Delete removes the frame. A two-finger tap undoes either action.
• Hold Duration keeps a single drawing on screen for multiple frames, up to 120. Held frames appear as greyed-out frames in the timeline.

For hold math, divide by your frame rate. At 12 fps, a one-second hold is 12 frames. Holds let you vary timing without redrawing.

Foreground and background frames

Animation Assist can lock one frame as a persistent Foreground (rightmost frame, drawn over every other frame) and one as a persistent Background (leftmost frame, drawn underneath). Only one of each can exist at a time. Layers you create afterward can't be moved past them. This is a quick way to keep a static background or an overlay, such as a vignette, constant while the character layers change.

Playback settings

Three playback modes control how the animation previews:

• Loop restarts from the beginning continuously.
• Ping Pong plays forward then backward.
• One Shot plays once and stops.

Use Loop for cycles such as walks and idles, and One Shot when you're checking a single action.

Add a decorative frame or border around artwork

If you meant a border around a piece, build it as a separate layer. This keeps it editable and easy to remove.

1. Create a new layer above your artwork.
2. Use the Selection tool to select a rectangle (or another shape) covering the full canvas.
3. Fill it with your frame color.
4. Make a second, smaller selection inside it and clear that area, leaving only the border.
5. Adjust thickness by changing the size of the inner selection.

For textured or hand-drawn frames, skip the selection and paint the border directly on its own layer with a textured brush. For a mat-and-frame look, repeat the process on two layers with different colors and sizes.

Keeping the frame on its own layer lets you swap colors, change opacity, or hide it for the final export when a client wants the artwork unframed.

Common mistakes when adding frames

• Drawing on the wrong frame. The selected frame receives your marks. Check the blue underline before you start.
• Using layer groups carelessly. A group counts as one frame, so a group with several layers is still one drawing in time. Merge or regroup if the frame count looks wrong.
• Overusing onion skin. Too many visible ghosts makes spacing harder to read. Start with one or two.
• Skipping holds. Duplicating a frame several times works, but a hold is cleaner and easier to retime.
• Leaving stray content at the end of a Dreams sequence. This can complicate Flipbook, as noted above.

Quick reference

Once you know which "frame" you're after, the process is short: turn on Animation Assist or enter Draw & Paint in Dreams, add the frame, and let onion skin guide the next drawing.

To add a frame in Procreate, turn on Animation Assist (Actions wrench > Canvas > Animation Assist) and tap Add Frame in the timeline at the bottom. This inserts a blank frame next to your current one. In Procreate Dreams, double-tap the Timeline at maximum zoom to open Draw & Paint mode and tap the add icon, or hide the Timeline to use Flipbook and flick past the last frame to create a new one.

Which "frame" do you mean?

"Frame" means two different things in Procreate, and people searching this phrase usually want one of them:

• An animation frame: a single drawing in a frame-by-frame sequence. This is handled by Animation Assist in Procreate and by the Timeline and Flipbook in Procreate Dreams.
• A decorative frame: a border or picture-frame effect around finished artwork. This is typically built with layers and selections rather than a dedicated "add frame" command.

Most of this article covers animation frames, since that's where Procreate has dedicated tools. A short section near the end covers borders.

Add a frame in Procreate with Animation Assist

Animation Assist is the lightweight animation mode inside standard Procreate. It's a good fit for quick loops, animatics, and rough motion tests.

Turn on Animation Assist

1. Tap the wrench icon at the top left to open the Actions menu.
2. Tap Canvas.
3. Switch on Animation Assist.

The canvas zooms to show your whole artwork, and a timeline appears along the bottom. Every existing layer in your document shows up there as a frame. The bottom layer in the Layers panel is the leftmost frame, and frames run chronologically from left to right. The timeline works like the Layers panel turned on its side.

Add the frame

1. Select the frame you want to build from. The selected frame is underlined in blue.
2. Tap Add Frame. A blank frame appears beside the current one.
3. Draw on the canvas as usual. Your marks go to whichever frame is selected.

Each new frame is also a new layer, so you can inspect or rearrange the same content in the Layers panel. If one frame needs several objects, put them in a layer group. Procreate treats a group as a single frame in the timeline, which suits separating line work, color, and shadow on one drawing.

Use onion skin for the next drawing

Onion skinning is on by default when you open Animation Assist. It shows faint copies of neighboring frames, so you can see where the previous pose was and judge spacing for the next one. You can adjust:

• How many frames appear before and after the current one
• The opacity of the ghosted frames
• The color of the onion skin

Keep the frame count low, around one or two, or the canvas turns into visual noise. Choose an onion-skin color that contrasts with your background, otherwise the guides disappear.

Add a frame in Procreate Dreams

Procreate Dreams is the dedicated animation app. It has a full timeline with tracks, and offers two ways to add frames to a frame-by-frame sequence.

Add a frame on the Timeline

1. Tap a track to place the Playhead where you want to work.
2. Zoom into the Timeline as far as it goes, then double-tap it. A small window opens around the selected frame.
3. Tap to enter Draw & Paint mode and paint your first frame.
4. Tap the add icon on the current frame to create the next one, then paint it.
5. Repeat until the sequence is complete.

Turn on onion skins here too. Seeing the previous and next frames makes it far easier to judge where the next drawing should go.

Add a frame in Flipbook

Flipbook strips the interface down to the drawing, which suits a straight-ahead pass.

1. In Draw & Paint mode, drag the handle at the center of the Timeline up or down to hide the Timeline and bring up Flipbook.
2. If you're on the last frame of the sequence, flick to the next frame. This creates a new one.
3. To insert a frame between existing ones, tap the central frame in Flipbook to reveal the add button, then tap it.

One caveat: if you move from the Timeline to Flipbook, delete any extra content at the end of the sequence that isn't a single frame. Leftover clips or multi-frame elements there can interfere with how Flipbook adds frames.

Manage frames after you add them

Adding frames is only half the job. Timing and structure are controlled through frame options.

Hold, duplicate, and delete (Animation Assist)

Tap a frame to select it, then tap it again to open Frame Options:

• Duplicate copies the frame and places the copy next to it. Use it when a pose changes only slightly.
• Delete removes the frame. A two-finger tap undoes either action.
• Hold Duration keeps a single drawing on screen for multiple frames, up to 120. Held frames appear as greyed-out frames in the timeline.

For hold math, divide by your frame rate. At 12 fps, a one-second hold is 12 frames. Holds let you vary timing without redrawing.

Foreground and background frames

Animation Assist can lock one frame as a persistent Foreground (rightmost frame, drawn over every other frame) and one as a persistent Background (leftmost frame, drawn underneath). Only one of each can exist at a time. Layers you create afterward can't be moved past them. This is a quick way to keep a static background or an overlay, such as a vignette, constant while the character layers change.

Playback settings

Three playback modes control how the animation previews:

• Loop restarts from the beginning continuously.
• Ping Pong plays forward then backward.
• One Shot plays once and stops.

Use Loop for cycles such as walks and idles, and One Shot when you're checking a single action.

Add a decorative frame or border around artwork

If you meant a border around a piece, build it as a separate layer. This keeps it editable and easy to remove.

1. Create a new layer above your artwork.
2. Use the Selection tool to select a rectangle (or another shape) covering the full canvas.
3. Fill it with your frame color.
4. Make a second, smaller selection inside it and clear that area, leaving only the border.
5. Adjust thickness by changing the size of the inner selection.

For textured or hand-drawn frames, skip the selection and paint the border directly on its own layer with a textured brush. For a mat-and-frame look, repeat the process on two layers with different colors and sizes.

Keeping the frame on its own layer lets you swap colors, change opacity, or hide it for the final export when a client wants the artwork unframed.

Common mistakes when adding frames

• Drawing on the wrong frame. The selected frame receives your marks. Check the blue underline before you start.
• Using layer groups carelessly. A group counts as one frame, so a group with several layers is still one drawing in time. Merge or regroup if the frame count looks wrong.
• Overusing onion skin. Too many visible ghosts makes spacing harder to read. Start with one or two.
• Skipping holds. Duplicating a frame several times works, but a hold is cleaner and easier to retime.
• Leaving stray content at the end of a Dreams sequence. This can complicate Flipbook, as noted above.

Quick reference

Once you know which "frame" you're after, the process is short: turn on Animation Assist or enter Draw & Paint in Dreams, add the frame, and let onion skin guide the next drawing.