Procreate has no artboards, so you can't place a second canvas inside the same document. To add another canvas, open the Gallery, tap the + button in the top right, and pick a preset size or a custom canvas. To keep several pages in one file, turn on Page Assist. To keep related canvases together, group them into a Stack in the Gallery.

Quick answer: which method fits your situation

Method 1: Create a new canvas from the Gallery

This is the standard route, and it's how every Procreate document starts.

1. Open the Gallery (the screen with all your artwork). If you're inside a canvas, tap Gallery in the top left.
2. Tap the + icon in the top right.
3. Choose a preset (Screen Size, Square, 4K, A4, and so on), or tap the custom canvas icon to enter your own dimensions, DPI, and color profile.
4. Tap Create.

If this canvas will feed a video or motion project, set the dimensions before you draw. For a 16:9 frame at 1920×1080 or 3840×2160, enter the pixel size directly. Procreate caps the number of layers according to canvas size, so a 4K canvas gives you fewer layers than a small one. Decide the final resolution first rather than resizing later.

You can also start a canvas from an image. In the Gallery, use Import for files or Photo for your library, and the image becomes a new document at its native size. That's a quick way to build a canvas around an existing render, a still pulled from a video, or a screenshot from your composition.

Method 2: Duplicate an existing canvas

When you want a second version of a canvas, with the same dimensions, layers, and settings, don't build one from scratch.

1. In the Gallery, swipe left on the artwork thumbnail.
2. Tap Duplicate.

The copy appears next to the original. This works well for:

• Testing a color pass without risking the approved version.
• Branching a style frame into alternate lighting or palette options.
• Creating the "after" state of a storyboard panel.

Duplicating also gives you something no undo history does: a clear fork you can come back to.

Method 3: Use Page Assist for multiple pages in one document

If what you really want is several canvases inside one file, Page Assist is the closest thing Procreate offers. It treats the layers in a document as pages, so you can flip between them like a sketchbook or storyboard.

To use it, turn it on from the Canvas section of the Actions menu (the wrench icon). Each page then holds its own content, and you navigate between them without leaving the document.

Be aware of the limits before you commit to it:

• Opacity and blend modes can behave differently. Artwork can look different with Page Assist on compared with a normal canvas. Experienced users in the Procreate community recommend using it for the sketching phase only.
• Finish pages on their own canvases. Once a page needs final rendering, move it to a standalone canvas with Page Assist off, so what you see matches what you export.
• It still shares the document's layer budget. More pages doesn't mean more layers.

For storyboards and thumbnails, that trade-off is usually fine. For final frames that go into a composite, it isn't.

Method 4: Group canvases with Stacks

Stacks don't add a canvas to a document, but they solve the organizational problem that makes people want multiple canvases in the first place.

1. In the Gallery, drag one artwork thumbnail on top of another.
2. Procreate creates a Stack containing both.
3. Tap the Stack to open it, then rename it from its title.

Use one Stack per shot, scene, or client project. Inside it you can keep the sketch canvas, the final canvas, and a texture canvas side by side. It's not as fluid as scrolling across artboards, but it keeps everything one tap away.

Method 5: Treat one large canvas as a layout sheet

Illustrator and Affinity Designer have artboards, and people regularly ask for the same thing in Procreate, for example to present several ideas to a client in one scroll. Procreate doesn't offer it, and there's a structural reason it's hard: the layer limit depends on canvas size, so splitting one document into multiple artboards would split the available layers too.

The workaround is a single large canvas where you lay out several frames in a grid, like a contact sheet or a storyboard page. It's good for:

• Concept exploration where you want everything visible at once.
• Presentation boards.
• Comparing palettes across frames.

The cost is real. A big canvas has fewer layers, and each "board" competes for them. If you need deep layer stacks per frame, use separate canvases instead.

Moving content between canvases

Once you have more than one canvas, you'll need to move work between them.

• Copy All and Paste. Inside a canvas, swipe down with three fingers to open the copy and paste menu. Choose Copy All to copy the flattened canvas, then open another canvas and paste it in as a new layer.
• Drag and drop. Procreate supports iPad multitasking, so you can open Procreate and another app, such as Photos or Files, side by side and drag content across.
• Layer by layer. Copy individual layers instead of the whole canvas when you need to keep elements separate.

Exporting each canvas or layer for your pipeline

Getting work out cleanly matters as much as setting up canvases, especially if the destination is After Effects, Premiere Pro, or Nuke.

Export a single layer:

1. Open the Layers panel and hide every other layer by unchecking its box.
2. Open the Actions menu (wrench icon) and tap Share.
3. Pick a format and destination.

Export layers by drag and drop: Open Procreate and Photos or Files side by side, then drag layers out. They export as PNG, because layers usually carry transparency that JPEG would drop. You can drag one layer or a group of them at once, and hidden layers can be exported too. The Drag and Drop Export setting in your iPad's Procreate settings lets you choose a preferred image format, but layer exports still come out as PNG.

Export a whole canvas: Use Actions → Share and choose PNG, PSD, TIFF, or another format. PSD keeps layers, which is usually the right choice if the file continues into After Effects or Photoshop.

For consistency, name your canvases and layers before exporting. A numbered convention like sh010_keyA, sh010_keyB saves time when the files land in a composition.

From Procreate canvases to motion

A common reason motion artists end up with several Procreate canvases is that each one is a key moment: a start pose, an end pose, a style frame. That is the same structure keyframe-driven video tools expect.

Styleframe is an AI video and motion tool that can work from keyframes, so canvases you've exported from Procreate can serve as the frames that define a shot. A practical workflow looks like this:

1. Draw key frames on separate Procreate canvases at the same aspect ratio.
2. Export each as PNG.
3. Use them as keyframes in a keyframe-driven video tool to generate the motion between them.
4. Bring the result into After Effects or Nuke for compositing.

Treat it as an extension of your drawing workflow, not a replacement for it. Your Procreate canvases remain the source of the look; the tool helps carry that look into motion.

Troubleshooting common issues

The new canvas won't create or layers are limited. Large dimensions reduce the number of layers available. Lower the pixel size or DPI, or split the work across canvases.

Colors shift between canvases. Check the color profile in each canvas's settings. Use the same profile (and set it before painting) if the files will be matched in a composite.

Pages look different from the final export. If you used Page Assist, move the page to a normal canvas before finishing, since opacity and blend modes can render differently.

Exported layers have no background. That's expected. Layer exports are PNGs with transparency. Add a background layer or flatten the canvas if you need an opaque image.

You can't find an older canvas. Check inside Stacks. Dragging one thumbnail onto another makes it easy to bury files accidentally.

Summary

Procreate doesn't offer true artboards, so adding another canvas means choosing the method that matches your goal: create a new canvas from the Gallery, duplicate an existing one, use Page Assist for multi-page sketching, organize with Stacks, or lay out several frames on one large canvas. Decide on resolution and color profile up front, name your files consistently, and export layers or canvases in formats your motion pipeline can use. From there, those canvases can become keyframes that carry your drawn style into finished video.

Procreate has no artboards, so you can't place a second canvas inside the same document. To add another canvas, open the Gallery, tap the + button in the top right, and pick a preset size or a custom canvas. To keep several pages in one file, turn on Page Assist. To keep related canvases together, group them into a Stack in the Gallery.

Quick answer: which method fits your situation

Method 1: Create a new canvas from the Gallery

This is the standard route, and it's how every Procreate document starts.

1. Open the Gallery (the screen with all your artwork). If you're inside a canvas, tap Gallery in the top left.
2. Tap the + icon in the top right.
3. Choose a preset (Screen Size, Square, 4K, A4, and so on), or tap the custom canvas icon to enter your own dimensions, DPI, and color profile.
4. Tap Create.

If this canvas will feed a video or motion project, set the dimensions before you draw. For a 16:9 frame at 1920×1080 or 3840×2160, enter the pixel size directly. Procreate caps the number of layers according to canvas size, so a 4K canvas gives you fewer layers than a small one. Decide the final resolution first rather than resizing later.

You can also start a canvas from an image. In the Gallery, use Import for files or Photo for your library, and the image becomes a new document at its native size. That's a quick way to build a canvas around an existing render, a still pulled from a video, or a screenshot from your composition.

Method 2: Duplicate an existing canvas

When you want a second version of a canvas, with the same dimensions, layers, and settings, don't build one from scratch.

1. In the Gallery, swipe left on the artwork thumbnail.
2. Tap Duplicate.

The copy appears next to the original. This works well for:

• Testing a color pass without risking the approved version.
• Branching a style frame into alternate lighting or palette options.
• Creating the "after" state of a storyboard panel.

Duplicating also gives you something no undo history does: a clear fork you can come back to.

Method 3: Use Page Assist for multiple pages in one document

If what you really want is several canvases inside one file, Page Assist is the closest thing Procreate offers. It treats the layers in a document as pages, so you can flip between them like a sketchbook or storyboard.

To use it, turn it on from the Canvas section of the Actions menu (the wrench icon). Each page then holds its own content, and you navigate between them without leaving the document.

Be aware of the limits before you commit to it:

• Opacity and blend modes can behave differently. Artwork can look different with Page Assist on compared with a normal canvas. Experienced users in the Procreate community recommend using it for the sketching phase only.
• Finish pages on their own canvases. Once a page needs final rendering, move it to a standalone canvas with Page Assist off, so what you see matches what you export.
• It still shares the document's layer budget. More pages doesn't mean more layers.

For storyboards and thumbnails, that trade-off is usually fine. For final frames that go into a composite, it isn't.

Method 4: Group canvases with Stacks

Stacks don't add a canvas to a document, but they solve the organizational problem that makes people want multiple canvases in the first place.

1. In the Gallery, drag one artwork thumbnail on top of another.
2. Procreate creates a Stack containing both.
3. Tap the Stack to open it, then rename it from its title.

Use one Stack per shot, scene, or client project. Inside it you can keep the sketch canvas, the final canvas, and a texture canvas side by side. It's not as fluid as scrolling across artboards, but it keeps everything one tap away.

Method 5: Treat one large canvas as a layout sheet

Illustrator and Affinity Designer have artboards, and people regularly ask for the same thing in Procreate, for example to present several ideas to a client in one scroll. Procreate doesn't offer it, and there's a structural reason it's hard: the layer limit depends on canvas size, so splitting one document into multiple artboards would split the available layers too.

The workaround is a single large canvas where you lay out several frames in a grid, like a contact sheet or a storyboard page. It's good for:

• Concept exploration where you want everything visible at once.
• Presentation boards.
• Comparing palettes across frames.

The cost is real. A big canvas has fewer layers, and each "board" competes for them. If you need deep layer stacks per frame, use separate canvases instead.

Moving content between canvases

Once you have more than one canvas, you'll need to move work between them.

• Copy All and Paste. Inside a canvas, swipe down with three fingers to open the copy and paste menu. Choose Copy All to copy the flattened canvas, then open another canvas and paste it in as a new layer.
• Drag and drop. Procreate supports iPad multitasking, so you can open Procreate and another app, such as Photos or Files, side by side and drag content across.
• Layer by layer. Copy individual layers instead of the whole canvas when you need to keep elements separate.

Exporting each canvas or layer for your pipeline

Getting work out cleanly matters as much as setting up canvases, especially if the destination is After Effects, Premiere Pro, or Nuke.

Export a single layer:

1. Open the Layers panel and hide every other layer by unchecking its box.
2. Open the Actions menu (wrench icon) and tap Share.
3. Pick a format and destination.

Export layers by drag and drop: Open Procreate and Photos or Files side by side, then drag layers out. They export as PNG, because layers usually carry transparency that JPEG would drop. You can drag one layer or a group of them at once, and hidden layers can be exported too. The Drag and Drop Export setting in your iPad's Procreate settings lets you choose a preferred image format, but layer exports still come out as PNG.

Export a whole canvas: Use Actions → Share and choose PNG, PSD, TIFF, or another format. PSD keeps layers, which is usually the right choice if the file continues into After Effects or Photoshop.

For consistency, name your canvases and layers before exporting. A numbered convention like sh010_keyA, sh010_keyB saves time when the files land in a composition.

From Procreate canvases to motion

A common reason motion artists end up with several Procreate canvases is that each one is a key moment: a start pose, an end pose, a style frame. That is the same structure keyframe-driven video tools expect.

Styleframe is an AI video and motion tool that can work from keyframes, so canvases you've exported from Procreate can serve as the frames that define a shot. A practical workflow looks like this:

1. Draw key frames on separate Procreate canvases at the same aspect ratio.
2. Export each as PNG.
3. Use them as keyframes in a keyframe-driven video tool to generate the motion between them.
4. Bring the result into After Effects or Nuke for compositing.

Treat it as an extension of your drawing workflow, not a replacement for it. Your Procreate canvases remain the source of the look; the tool helps carry that look into motion.

Troubleshooting common issues

The new canvas won't create or layers are limited. Large dimensions reduce the number of layers available. Lower the pixel size or DPI, or split the work across canvases.

Colors shift between canvases. Check the color profile in each canvas's settings. Use the same profile (and set it before painting) if the files will be matched in a composite.

Pages look different from the final export. If you used Page Assist, move the page to a normal canvas before finishing, since opacity and blend modes can render differently.

Exported layers have no background. That's expected. Layer exports are PNGs with transparency. Add a background layer or flatten the canvas if you need an opaque image.

You can't find an older canvas. Check inside Stacks. Dragging one thumbnail onto another makes it easy to bury files accidentally.

Summary

Procreate doesn't offer true artboards, so adding another canvas means choosing the method that matches your goal: create a new canvas from the Gallery, duplicate an existing one, use Page Assist for multi-page sketching, organize with Stacks, or lay out several frames on one large canvas. Decide on resolution and color profile up front, name your files consistently, and export layers or canvases in formats your motion pipeline can use. From there, those canvases can become keyframes that carry your drawn style into finished video.