To add a background image in Procreate, open your canvas and tap Actions (wrench) → Add → Insert a photo, then choose the image. Procreate places it on a new layer, which you scale with the Transform tool and drag below your artwork in the Layers panel. Procreate has no dedicated "background image" slot, so the background is just a layer, and the default Background color layer sits underneath it.

Method 1: Insert a photo as a layer (best for most work)

This is the standard approach, and it keeps the background editable.

1. Open your artwork.
2. Tap Actions → Add → Insert a photo (or Insert a file if the image lives in Files).
3. Select the image. It arrives as a new layer above your currently active layer, with Transform active.
4. Scale and position it by dragging the corner nodes. Keep Uniform selected in the bottom toolbar to avoid stretching the image.
5. Tap the Transform tool (arrow) again or tap another tool to commit.
6. Open Layers, then drag the image layer below your character, linework, or foreground layers.

If your drawing layers are above the image, they stay untouched. You can adjust, blur, recolor, or swap the background without risking the foreground.

Fit the image to the canvas

If the image has a different aspect ratio than your canvas, you have two options:

• Scale to fill: enlarge the image until it covers the canvas and accept the crop.
• Change the canvas first: use Actions → Canvas → Crop & Resize to match the dimensions you need. Turning on Resample scales the whole artwork using bicubic interpolation, while leaving it off simply changes the canvas boundary and leaves your pixels alone.

Decide this before painting. Resampling a finished piece softens detail.

Method 2: Start a new canvas from the image

If the background is the foundation of the piece, such as a photo you're painting over, start from it:

1. In the Gallery, tap Photo (or Import for a file).
2. Choose your image. Procreate creates a new canvas at the image's pixel dimensions.
3. Add new layers above it for your artwork.

This avoids scaling entirely, since the canvas and image match 1:1. Be aware that very large images limit your layer count, because Procreate's maximum layers depend on canvas size and device memory.

Method 3: Drag and drop from another app

On iPad, you can open Procreate in Split View or Slide Over alongside Photos, Files, or Safari. Press and hold the image, drag it onto the canvas, and release. It lands as a new layer, just as with Insert a photo. This is the fastest route for pulling in references or textures from a browser or a shared folder.

Method 4: Use a reference image instead

Sometimes you want an image visible without it becoming part of the artwork, for example when tracing perspective lines or checking color.

• Open Actions → Canvas → Reference and turn on the Reference companion.
• Choose Image to import a picture, or Canvas to mirror your own work.

The reference floats in a window and never exports with your file. It's useful, but it won't give you a real background.

Method 5: Use a solid color or gradient background

You don't always need a picture. Procreate's bottom layer, labeled Background color, can be changed by tapping it and picking a new color. For a gradient, add a new layer above it, fill with a color, and use a Gaussian blur or a soft airbrush across the layer.

You can't place a photo in the Background color layer. If you want the photo to behave as a background, use an ordinary layer and hide the Background color layer.

Make the background sit properly behind your art

Dropping an image in is the easy part. These steps make it look intentional:

• Blur for depth: select the image layer, tap Adjustments → Gaussian Blur, and apply it to the layer. A modest blur separates a photographic background from crisp linework.
• Match color: use Adjustments → Hue, Saturation, Brightness or Color Balance on the background layer so its palette agrees with your subject.
• Reduce opacity: lower the layer opacity, or use a blend mode like Multiply or Soft Light, if the background is competing with the focal point.
• Add a clipping mask: create a layer above the image, tap it, and choose Clipping Mask to paint lighting or color washes that only affect the image beneath.
• Use Warp or Distort: inside Transform, switch from Uniform to Distort or Warp to fit the image to a specific perspective.
• Lock or group: group your background layers and use Alpha Lock or layer locking so you don't accidentally paint on them.

Remove an unwanted background first

Procreate's help documentation notes that it has no single dedicated tool for removing backgrounds from images. Instead, you isolate the subject using selections:

• Freehand, Ellipse, or Rectangle selection: trace around the part you want to keep, tap Invert, then scrub three fingers left and right to cut the area outside your selection.
• Automatic selection: tap the background areas of similar color, drag to adjust the threshold, and then delete or cut them.

This works well for clean, high-contrast shapes and gets tedious for hair, smoke, or soft edges. After cutting, refine the edges with an eraser, and check the result against a dark and a light background to catch halos.

Troubleshooting common issues

The imported PNG shows a checkerboard. That grey grid is Procreate's way of displaying transparency, not part of the image. If you see it, your transparent PNG imported correctly.

The transparent areas turn white. Often the source file was flattened with a white background during export or while passing through a share sheet. Re-export from the original app with transparency enabled, and check the file against a dark background before importing.

The image won't go behind my drawing. Check the Layers panel. Imported images go above the active layer, so drag the layer down, or select the lowest layer before inserting.

Your export has an unwanted solid color. The Background color layer is visible. Turn off its checkbox before exporting a PNG or a layered file if you want transparency.

The image looks soft after scaling. Enlarging a low-resolution image will always blur it. Start from a source at least as large as your canvas, or switch the Transform resampling method (Bilinear, Bicubic, or Nearest Neighbor) depending on whether you want smoothness or hard pixels.

Taking Procreate backgrounds into a motion pipeline

For motion designers and VFX artists, a Procreate background is rarely the final deliverable. It's typically a painted plate, matte painting, or style frame that ends up in After Effects, Nuke, Blender, or Cinema 4D. A few habits make the handoff smoother:

• Match your comp resolution: create the canvas at your composition size, or larger if you plan to push in or pan, so you aren't resampling later.
• Set the color profile: choose the color profile in canvas settings, such as sRGB or Display P3, and confirm it matches your project's working space.
• Export in layers: share as a layered PSD so you can separate background, midground, and foreground in After Effects for parallax. Use PNG for single plates with transparency.
• Keep the Background color layer off when exporting elements that need alpha.

Where Styleframe fits

Once you have a Procreate painting or background plate, Styleframe, an AI video and motion tool, can be used alongside your compositing workflow. You keep your existing compositing, color, and delivery pipeline.

Quick workflow summary

1. Decide your canvas size and color profile based on where the piece will end up.
2. Insert the image with Actions → Add → Insert a photo, or start a new canvas from it.
3. Scale it with Uniform transform, then drag the layer below your artwork.
4. Blur, color-match, or clip-mask it so it sits behind your subject.
5. Hide the Background color layer if you need transparency.
6. Export as PNG or layered PSD for After Effects, Nuke, or Styleframe.

Handled as an ordinary, editable layer, a background image in Procreate stays flexible from the first sketch through the final composite.

To add a background image in Procreate, open your canvas and tap Actions (wrench) → Add → Insert a photo, then choose the image. Procreate places it on a new layer, which you scale with the Transform tool and drag below your artwork in the Layers panel. Procreate has no dedicated "background image" slot, so the background is just a layer, and the default Background color layer sits underneath it.

Method 1: Insert a photo as a layer (best for most work)

This is the standard approach, and it keeps the background editable.

1. Open your artwork.
2. Tap Actions → Add → Insert a photo (or Insert a file if the image lives in Files).
3. Select the image. It arrives as a new layer above your currently active layer, with Transform active.
4. Scale and position it by dragging the corner nodes. Keep Uniform selected in the bottom toolbar to avoid stretching the image.
5. Tap the Transform tool (arrow) again or tap another tool to commit.
6. Open Layers, then drag the image layer below your character, linework, or foreground layers.

If your drawing layers are above the image, they stay untouched. You can adjust, blur, recolor, or swap the background without risking the foreground.

Fit the image to the canvas

If the image has a different aspect ratio than your canvas, you have two options:

• Scale to fill: enlarge the image until it covers the canvas and accept the crop.
• Change the canvas first: use Actions → Canvas → Crop & Resize to match the dimensions you need. Turning on Resample scales the whole artwork using bicubic interpolation, while leaving it off simply changes the canvas boundary and leaves your pixels alone.

Decide this before painting. Resampling a finished piece softens detail.

Method 2: Start a new canvas from the image

If the background is the foundation of the piece, such as a photo you're painting over, start from it:

1. In the Gallery, tap Photo (or Import for a file).
2. Choose your image. Procreate creates a new canvas at the image's pixel dimensions.
3. Add new layers above it for your artwork.

This avoids scaling entirely, since the canvas and image match 1:1. Be aware that very large images limit your layer count, because Procreate's maximum layers depend on canvas size and device memory.

Method 3: Drag and drop from another app

On iPad, you can open Procreate in Split View or Slide Over alongside Photos, Files, or Safari. Press and hold the image, drag it onto the canvas, and release. It lands as a new layer, just as with Insert a photo. This is the fastest route for pulling in references or textures from a browser or a shared folder.

Method 4: Use a reference image instead

Sometimes you want an image visible without it becoming part of the artwork, for example when tracing perspective lines or checking color.

• Open Actions → Canvas → Reference and turn on the Reference companion.
• Choose Image to import a picture, or Canvas to mirror your own work.

The reference floats in a window and never exports with your file. It's useful, but it won't give you a real background.

Method 5: Use a solid color or gradient background

You don't always need a picture. Procreate's bottom layer, labeled Background color, can be changed by tapping it and picking a new color. For a gradient, add a new layer above it, fill with a color, and use a Gaussian blur or a soft airbrush across the layer.

You can't place a photo in the Background color layer. If you want the photo to behave as a background, use an ordinary layer and hide the Background color layer.

Make the background sit properly behind your art

Dropping an image in is the easy part. These steps make it look intentional:

• Blur for depth: select the image layer, tap Adjustments → Gaussian Blur, and apply it to the layer. A modest blur separates a photographic background from crisp linework.
• Match color: use Adjustments → Hue, Saturation, Brightness or Color Balance on the background layer so its palette agrees with your subject.
• Reduce opacity: lower the layer opacity, or use a blend mode like Multiply or Soft Light, if the background is competing with the focal point.
• Add a clipping mask: create a layer above the image, tap it, and choose Clipping Mask to paint lighting or color washes that only affect the image beneath.
• Use Warp or Distort: inside Transform, switch from Uniform to Distort or Warp to fit the image to a specific perspective.
• Lock or group: group your background layers and use Alpha Lock or layer locking so you don't accidentally paint on them.

Remove an unwanted background first

Procreate's help documentation notes that it has no single dedicated tool for removing backgrounds from images. Instead, you isolate the subject using selections:

• Freehand, Ellipse, or Rectangle selection: trace around the part you want to keep, tap Invert, then scrub three fingers left and right to cut the area outside your selection.
• Automatic selection: tap the background areas of similar color, drag to adjust the threshold, and then delete or cut them.

This works well for clean, high-contrast shapes and gets tedious for hair, smoke, or soft edges. After cutting, refine the edges with an eraser, and check the result against a dark and a light background to catch halos.

Troubleshooting common issues

The imported PNG shows a checkerboard. That grey grid is Procreate's way of displaying transparency, not part of the image. If you see it, your transparent PNG imported correctly.

The transparent areas turn white. Often the source file was flattened with a white background during export or while passing through a share sheet. Re-export from the original app with transparency enabled, and check the file against a dark background before importing.

The image won't go behind my drawing. Check the Layers panel. Imported images go above the active layer, so drag the layer down, or select the lowest layer before inserting.

Your export has an unwanted solid color. The Background color layer is visible. Turn off its checkbox before exporting a PNG or a layered file if you want transparency.

The image looks soft after scaling. Enlarging a low-resolution image will always blur it. Start from a source at least as large as your canvas, or switch the Transform resampling method (Bilinear, Bicubic, or Nearest Neighbor) depending on whether you want smoothness or hard pixels.

Taking Procreate backgrounds into a motion pipeline

For motion designers and VFX artists, a Procreate background is rarely the final deliverable. It's typically a painted plate, matte painting, or style frame that ends up in After Effects, Nuke, Blender, or Cinema 4D. A few habits make the handoff smoother:

• Match your comp resolution: create the canvas at your composition size, or larger if you plan to push in or pan, so you aren't resampling later.
• Set the color profile: choose the color profile in canvas settings, such as sRGB or Display P3, and confirm it matches your project's working space.
• Export in layers: share as a layered PSD so you can separate background, midground, and foreground in After Effects for parallax. Use PNG for single plates with transparency.
• Keep the Background color layer off when exporting elements that need alpha.

Where Styleframe fits

Once you have a Procreate painting or background plate, Styleframe, an AI video and motion tool, can be used alongside your compositing workflow. You keep your existing compositing, color, and delivery pipeline.

Quick workflow summary

1. Decide your canvas size and color profile based on where the piece will end up.
2. Insert the image with Actions → Add → Insert a photo, or start a new canvas from it.
3. Scale it with Uniform transform, then drag the layer below your artwork.
4. Blur, color-match, or clip-mask it so it sits behind your subject.
5. Hide the Background color layer if you need transparency.
6. Export as PNG or layered PSD for After Effects, Nuke, or Styleframe.

Handled as an ordinary, editable layer, a background image in Procreate stays flexible from the first sketch through the final composite.