To add a background in Procreate, open the Layers panel and tap the Background color layer at the bottom of the stack to change the canvas color. For a drawn or imported background, create a new layer, drag it below your artwork, and fill or paint it. If your line art sits on a solid white fill, set that layer's blend mode to Multiply so the white drops out and the background shows through.

How Procreate Handles Backgrounds

Every Procreate canvas has a built-in Background color layer, white by default, pinned at the bottom of the Layers panel. It isn't a normal layer. You can change its color, hide it, or leave it as a flat backdrop.

Most background problems come from confusing this layer with a regular one. If you filled a layer with white and drew on it, recoloring the Background color layer changes nothing visible. Filling that layer with a new color covers your drawing. Knowing which situation you're in tells you which fix to use.

Method 1: Change the Background Color

This is the fastest option and works well for flat color or a temporary backdrop.

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Background color.
3. Pick a color in the color picker. The canvas updates live.

Your artwork is untouched, because the background sits beneath every layer. If you want transparency later, uncheck the Background color layer to hide it. The dark grid of the interface shows through, and you can export with transparency.

One caution: if you hide the Background color and paint against the dark grid behind the canvas, it's easy to misjudge how opaque your painting is. Leave the white background on while you work, then hide it only when you export.

Method 2: Add a New Layer Beneath Your Artwork

Use this when the background needs painted detail, textures, or several elements.

1. Tap the + in the Layers panel to create a layer.
2. Drag it below your drawing layers. New layers appear above the currently selected one, so you'll usually need to move it.
3. Fill or paint on the new layer.

Name and group background layers as you go, such as "BG_sky," "BG_midground," and "BG_texture." You'll thank yourself if you export a layered file for compositing.

If You Drew on a White-Filled Layer

This is the most common trap. Your line art has a solid white fill, so any layer beneath it is hidden. Two fixes:

• Multiply blend mode: Tap the N on your drawing layer and choose Multiply. White becomes transparent in effect, and your lines and darker colors stay. Then put a colored layer underneath.
• Separate the lines: If the layer has a white fill plus art, select and delete the white area, or redraw lines on a fresh transparent layer.

Multiply is non-destructive, so it's the better first try. It also means darker colors in your background will blend with your line art rather than sit cleanly behind it. If you need exact color fidelity, separate the lines instead.

Method 3: Paint a Gradient Background

Gradients suit skies, canyon scenes, lettering backdrops, and any illustration where the background should support the subject without competing with it.

1. Create a new layer below your artwork.
2. Pick three tones of one hue: dark, medium, and light.
3. With the free Soft Airbrush, paint the darkest color across the top, the medium tone through the middle, and the lightest at the bottom.
4. Open Adjustments (the magic wand icon) and choose Gaussian Blur. Slide your finger across the canvas to set the blur amount until the bands merge smoothly.

Keep the blur on that layer only. If you apply it on a layer containing your subject, you'll soften the subject too. Choose Layer as the blur target, not Pencil.

A few things that make gradients look more intentional:

• Keep background contrast lower than your subject. Muted, slightly desaturated values push the background back.
• Warm-to-cool shifts, like peach at the horizon to deep blue overhead, add depth without extra detail.
• Add a subtle texture layer (grain or paper) above the gradient with low opacity to avoid banding on export.

Method 4: Use a Photo or Imported Image

If you already have a background plate, such as a photograph, a render, or a texture, you can bring it in directly.

1. Tap the Actions (wrench) icon.
2. Choose Add, then Insert a photo or Insert a file.
3. Position and scale the image with the Transform tool.
4. Drag the new layer below your artwork.

Check the resolution before you commit. A background that looks fine on an iPad can fall apart when scaled up in a video timeline. Set your canvas size at the start to match your delivery resolution, or higher if you plan to crop or push in on the shot.

Method 5: Build a Vignette or Framed Background

A framed background keeps the viewer's eye on the subject, and it's quick. Paint a loose shape of foliage, clouds, or texture around the edges of the canvas on a layer beneath your character, leaving the center relatively clean. Use a textured brush for the frame and a softer brush for atmosphere behind the subject. You can also use a clipping mask: put a texture or color layer above a base shape and clip it, so your painting stays inside the shape's bounds.

Locking a Background in Procreate Animation

If you're animating in Animation Assist, Procreate has a dedicated Background toggle so a static backdrop persists across all frames.

1. Open Actions → Canvas → Animation Assist to show the Timeline.
2. Move the frame holding your background to the leftmost position.
3. Tap that frame, then tap it again to open Frame Options.
4. Turn on Background.

Only the leftmost frame can be the Background, and only one is allowed at a time. Once set, it sits underneath every other frame, and layers you create afterward can't be dragged below it. The mirror feature, Foreground, works on the rightmost frame for elements that should always overlap the action, like a window frame or foliage.

Using the Background toggle is better than copying a background into every frame. A change to the backdrop only has to be made once, and your frame count stays focused on the animated elements.

Exporting Backgrounds for a Motion Pipeline

If Procreate is one stage in a larger pipeline, export decisions matter more than the painting itself.

• Transparent versus flat: Hide the Background color layer before exporting a PNG if you want the artwork on its own alpha. Leave it visible for a flat plate.
• Layered files: Export as PSD to keep your background, midground, and subject on separate layers. In After Effects, import as Composition – Retain Layer Sizes to get individual layers you can offset for parallax.
• Color profile: Check the canvas color profile before you start. A mismatch between Procreate's profile and your After Effects project color settings is a common cause of washed-out or shifted backgrounds.
• Resolution: Match your canvas size to your composition. If you need a parallax move, paint the background larger than the frame.
• Animated output: Procreate can export animated sequences, but for a compositing workflow, export frames as PNG sequences when you need alpha and no compression artifacts.

For a quick parallax, export the sky, midground, and foreground as separate PNGs. In After Effects, convert them to 3D layers, add a camera, and stagger Z-depth and position keyframes. A hand-painted background gets a lot more production value this way than a static still.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Painting on the wrong layer: Check which layer is selected before you fill. Filling the active drawing layer is the most common reason a drawing disappears.
• Flattening too early: Keep the background on its own layer so you can swap, blur, or recolor it later.
• Over-detailed backgrounds: Detail pulls attention. If the subject isn't reading, simplify or lower the background contrast.
• Wrong canvas size: Starting small and scaling up softens your work. Decide on resolution first.
• Forgetting to unhide the Background color: If your export has an unexpected white or transparent backdrop, check the Background color checkbox.
• Judging dark work on a dark interface: If a dark painting loses detail on light backgrounds, switch to the Light interface under Actions → Prefs to check how it reads in different contexts.

Quick Reference

Once you understand that the Background color layer is separate from your painted layers, backgrounds in Procreate become straightforward. Choose the method that matches how much control you need, keep layers organized, and export with your downstream compositing in mind.

To add a background in Procreate, open the Layers panel and tap the Background color layer at the bottom of the stack to change the canvas color. For a drawn or imported background, create a new layer, drag it below your artwork, and fill or paint it. If your line art sits on a solid white fill, set that layer's blend mode to Multiply so the white drops out and the background shows through.

How Procreate Handles Backgrounds

Every Procreate canvas has a built-in Background color layer, white by default, pinned at the bottom of the Layers panel. It isn't a normal layer. You can change its color, hide it, or leave it as a flat backdrop.

Most background problems come from confusing this layer with a regular one. If you filled a layer with white and drew on it, recoloring the Background color layer changes nothing visible. Filling that layer with a new color covers your drawing. Knowing which situation you're in tells you which fix to use.

Method 1: Change the Background Color

This is the fastest option and works well for flat color or a temporary backdrop.

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Scroll to the bottom and tap Background color.
3. Pick a color in the color picker. The canvas updates live.

Your artwork is untouched, because the background sits beneath every layer. If you want transparency later, uncheck the Background color layer to hide it. The dark grid of the interface shows through, and you can export with transparency.

One caution: if you hide the Background color and paint against the dark grid behind the canvas, it's easy to misjudge how opaque your painting is. Leave the white background on while you work, then hide it only when you export.

Method 2: Add a New Layer Beneath Your Artwork

Use this when the background needs painted detail, textures, or several elements.

1. Tap the + in the Layers panel to create a layer.
2. Drag it below your drawing layers. New layers appear above the currently selected one, so you'll usually need to move it.
3. Fill or paint on the new layer.

Name and group background layers as you go, such as "BG_sky," "BG_midground," and "BG_texture." You'll thank yourself if you export a layered file for compositing.

If You Drew on a White-Filled Layer

This is the most common trap. Your line art has a solid white fill, so any layer beneath it is hidden. Two fixes:

• Multiply blend mode: Tap the N on your drawing layer and choose Multiply. White becomes transparent in effect, and your lines and darker colors stay. Then put a colored layer underneath.
• Separate the lines: If the layer has a white fill plus art, select and delete the white area, or redraw lines on a fresh transparent layer.

Multiply is non-destructive, so it's the better first try. It also means darker colors in your background will blend with your line art rather than sit cleanly behind it. If you need exact color fidelity, separate the lines instead.

Method 3: Paint a Gradient Background

Gradients suit skies, canyon scenes, lettering backdrops, and any illustration where the background should support the subject without competing with it.

1. Create a new layer below your artwork.
2. Pick three tones of one hue: dark, medium, and light.
3. With the free Soft Airbrush, paint the darkest color across the top, the medium tone through the middle, and the lightest at the bottom.
4. Open Adjustments (the magic wand icon) and choose Gaussian Blur. Slide your finger across the canvas to set the blur amount until the bands merge smoothly.

Keep the blur on that layer only. If you apply it on a layer containing your subject, you'll soften the subject too. Choose Layer as the blur target, not Pencil.

A few things that make gradients look more intentional:

• Keep background contrast lower than your subject. Muted, slightly desaturated values push the background back.
• Warm-to-cool shifts, like peach at the horizon to deep blue overhead, add depth without extra detail.
• Add a subtle texture layer (grain or paper) above the gradient with low opacity to avoid banding on export.

Method 4: Use a Photo or Imported Image

If you already have a background plate, such as a photograph, a render, or a texture, you can bring it in directly.

1. Tap the Actions (wrench) icon.
2. Choose Add, then Insert a photo or Insert a file.
3. Position and scale the image with the Transform tool.
4. Drag the new layer below your artwork.

Check the resolution before you commit. A background that looks fine on an iPad can fall apart when scaled up in a video timeline. Set your canvas size at the start to match your delivery resolution, or higher if you plan to crop or push in on the shot.

Method 5: Build a Vignette or Framed Background

A framed background keeps the viewer's eye on the subject, and it's quick. Paint a loose shape of foliage, clouds, or texture around the edges of the canvas on a layer beneath your character, leaving the center relatively clean. Use a textured brush for the frame and a softer brush for atmosphere behind the subject. You can also use a clipping mask: put a texture or color layer above a base shape and clip it, so your painting stays inside the shape's bounds.

Locking a Background in Procreate Animation

If you're animating in Animation Assist, Procreate has a dedicated Background toggle so a static backdrop persists across all frames.

1. Open Actions → Canvas → Animation Assist to show the Timeline.
2. Move the frame holding your background to the leftmost position.
3. Tap that frame, then tap it again to open Frame Options.
4. Turn on Background.

Only the leftmost frame can be the Background, and only one is allowed at a time. Once set, it sits underneath every other frame, and layers you create afterward can't be dragged below it. The mirror feature, Foreground, works on the rightmost frame for elements that should always overlap the action, like a window frame or foliage.

Using the Background toggle is better than copying a background into every frame. A change to the backdrop only has to be made once, and your frame count stays focused on the animated elements.

Exporting Backgrounds for a Motion Pipeline

If Procreate is one stage in a larger pipeline, export decisions matter more than the painting itself.

• Transparent versus flat: Hide the Background color layer before exporting a PNG if you want the artwork on its own alpha. Leave it visible for a flat plate.
• Layered files: Export as PSD to keep your background, midground, and subject on separate layers. In After Effects, import as Composition – Retain Layer Sizes to get individual layers you can offset for parallax.
• Color profile: Check the canvas color profile before you start. A mismatch between Procreate's profile and your After Effects project color settings is a common cause of washed-out or shifted backgrounds.
• Resolution: Match your canvas size to your composition. If you need a parallax move, paint the background larger than the frame.
• Animated output: Procreate can export animated sequences, but for a compositing workflow, export frames as PNG sequences when you need alpha and no compression artifacts.

For a quick parallax, export the sky, midground, and foreground as separate PNGs. In After Effects, convert them to 3D layers, add a camera, and stagger Z-depth and position keyframes. A hand-painted background gets a lot more production value this way than a static still.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Painting on the wrong layer: Check which layer is selected before you fill. Filling the active drawing layer is the most common reason a drawing disappears.
• Flattening too early: Keep the background on its own layer so you can swap, blur, or recolor it later.
• Over-detailed backgrounds: Detail pulls attention. If the subject isn't reading, simplify or lower the background contrast.
• Wrong canvas size: Starting small and scaling up softens your work. Decide on resolution first.
• Forgetting to unhide the Background color: If your export has an unexpected white or transparent backdrop, check the Background color checkbox.
• Judging dark work on a dark interface: If a dark painting loses detail on light backgrounds, switch to the Light interface under Actions → Prefs to check how it reads in different contexts.

Quick Reference

Once you understand that the Background color layer is separate from your painted layers, backgrounds in Procreate become straightforward. Choose the method that matches how much control you need, keep layers organized, and export with your downstream compositing in mind.