To add multiple pages in Procreate, open your artwork, tap the wrench (Actions), choose Canvas, and switch on Page Assist. Each existing layer becomes its own page in a timeline, and tapping New Page adds a blank page to the right of the one you're on. You can also import a PDF, which opens in Page Assist automatically in most cases. Page Assist treats pages as layers.

How Page Assist Works

Page Assist is Procreate's multi-page mode. You keep the same brushes, selection tools, and adjustments, but the document holds several canvases instead of one. The screen zooms out to show the whole artwork, and the page you've selected becomes your active canvas. Anything you draw lands on that page only.

Procreate builds this on top of its layer system. Layers and pages are two views of the same structure, which explains most of the behavior that surprises people the first time. Keep that in mind and the rest of the feature makes sense.

Step-by-Step: Turn On Page Assist

1. Open an artwork from the Gallery.
2. Tap the wrench icon in the top left to open the Actions menu.
3. Tap Canvas.
4. Switch on the Page Assist toggle.

The interface changes immediately. A timeline appears with a thumbnail for each page, and your canvas shows whichever page is selected. To go back to the standard interface, repeat the same steps and switch the toggle off.

What Happens to Your Existing Layers

If the artwork already has several layers when you switch Page Assist on, each layer becomes a page. A file with five layers gives you five pages. Check this before you flip the switch on a finished illustration. A layered piece will turn into a stack of fragments, each showing a single layer.

The Procreate community has also noted that a layer group can act as a single page. So if you want a page that holds several layers, group them first. It takes a few extra taps, but it keeps linework, color, and shading together on one page.

Add a New Page

Once Page Assist is on, adding a page is simple:

• Tap New Page to insert a blank page directly to the right of your current page in the timeline.

Because the new page lands beside the one you've selected, you can insert pages in the middle of a sequence by selecting the page before the insertion point first. Plan the order as you go, since the position of each new page depends on where you were working.

Some users have asked for a plain plus button, a distinct icon for multi-page documents, and pages that can contain their own layers. Procreate's team marked the idea as considered, but it isn't how the feature works today. For now, work within the layers-as-pages model.

Navigate the Timeline

The timeline is a row of thumbnails, one per page. Procreate describes it as the Layers panel turned sideways: the bottom layer is the far-left page, and pages read in order from left to right. You can move through it three ways:

• Tap a thumbnail to jump to that page.
• Drag the timeline back and forth for fine control.
• Flick it to scroll quickly through long documents.

The selected page is underlined in blue. If you accidentally draw on the wrong page, check the underline first.

The Layers panel also changes in Page Assist. It shows each page as a thumbnail, with the same bottom-to-top ordering mirroring the timeline's left-to-right order.

Import a PDF as Multiple Pages

If your pages already exist as a PDF, you can skip building them by hand. Importing a single PDF activates Page Assist automatically, so each PDF page becomes a Procreate page you can mark up or draw over. There are three ways to bring one in:

• AirDrop: Send the PDF from another Apple device. On the iPad, choose Procreate from the "Open with…" panel and the file lands in your Gallery.
• Import from Files: In the Gallery, tap Import in the top right, browse to the PDF, and tap it.
• Drag and drop: Press and hold a PDF in the Files app, then drag it into Procreate.

There are two caveats worth knowing:

• If you import several PDFs at once, they won't open automatically. They're saved to your Gallery, and you open each one yourself.
• The automatic open also doesn't happen if you already have a Procreate artwork open. Return to the Gallery before importing.

Export Pages Back to PDF

When you're finished, go to Actions > Share and choose PDF under Share Layers. This is useful for marked-up documents, notes, and book or comic pages, and it keeps the pages together in one file instead of a pile of separate images.

When Page Assist Isn't the Right Tool

Page Assist suits sketchbook-style work well. Two common needs fall outside what it does well.

Spreads and Print Layouts

If you need a two-page spread or something already set up for print, Page Assist is awkward. A more reliable approach, suggested by experienced users, is to make one canvas the size of all your pages combined, plus bleeds. Add a guide layer that shows where one page ends and the next begins, and paint with those edges in mind.

Webtoon-Style Slicing

Long vertical comics that get sliced into pages don't map neatly onto Page Assist either. The workable approach is to build the long canvas, then duplicate it and crop copies into sections. A few safety rules apply:

• Duplicate the artwork before you crop. Never crop your only working file.
• Cropping and resizing can sometimes fail to undo, and a crash can leave you with a cropped canvas and no history.
• Use a guide layer to mark crop boundaries so each slice is consistent.

Procreate's memory limitations can also make very large canvases challenging.

Multiple Canvases as Separate Files

If you only want a running sketchbook, you can also create separate artworks and stack them in a Gallery folder. It's clunkier for browsing, but each piece keeps its own full layer stack, which Page Assist can't offer.

Using Multi-Page Procreate Files in a Motion Workflow

Procreate on the iPad can work well for the stage before After Effects: storyboards, style frames, thumbnails, and look development. Page Assist suits that stage, because a board is a sequence of frames and a sequence of pages is a natural way to hold one. A few habits keep these files useful downstream:

• One beat per page. Treat each page as a single shot or key moment so the timeline reads as a storyboard.
• Group layers into pages deliberately. Because layers become pages, group linework and color for each frame before enabling Page Assist.
• Name and order pages early. Reordering is easy at the start and tedious once you're deep into a board.
• Export a PDF for review. A single PDF is a tidy way to send boards to a director or client.

Troubleshooting Common Page Assist Problems

My layers turned into pages. That's expected. Switch Page Assist off to return to the normal layer view, then group layers you want kept together and switch it back on.

A PDF didn't open in Page Assist. Check whether you imported more than one file, or had an artwork open. Return to the Gallery and import a single PDF.

I can't find the page I was working on. Look for the blue underline in the timeline, or drag the timeline to scan through the thumbnails.

I want pages that each contain layers. Group the layers on the page, and consider separate artworks if you need full independent layer stacks.

I need to exchange pages with someone. Export through Actions > Share > PDF.

Quick Recap

• Enable Page Assist through Actions > Canvas > Page Assist.
• Existing layers become pages, so group layers before you switch it on.
• Use New Page to add a blank page right of your current one.
• Navigate by tapping, dragging, or flicking the timeline.
• Import a single PDF to start in Page Assist automatically, and export back to PDF through Share.
• For spreads and sliced comics, work on one large canvas with guides and duplicate before cropping.

Learn the layer-to-page relationship and Page Assist becomes predictable. For boards and style frames that feed an animation or VFX pipeline, it's a fast way to hold a sequence on the iPad before the work moves into your compositing tools.

To add multiple pages in Procreate, open your artwork, tap the wrench (Actions), choose Canvas, and switch on Page Assist. Each existing layer becomes its own page in a timeline, and tapping New Page adds a blank page to the right of the one you're on. You can also import a PDF, which opens in Page Assist automatically in most cases. Page Assist treats pages as layers.

How Page Assist Works

Page Assist is Procreate's multi-page mode. You keep the same brushes, selection tools, and adjustments, but the document holds several canvases instead of one. The screen zooms out to show the whole artwork, and the page you've selected becomes your active canvas. Anything you draw lands on that page only.

Procreate builds this on top of its layer system. Layers and pages are two views of the same structure, which explains most of the behavior that surprises people the first time. Keep that in mind and the rest of the feature makes sense.

Step-by-Step: Turn On Page Assist

1. Open an artwork from the Gallery.
2. Tap the wrench icon in the top left to open the Actions menu.
3. Tap Canvas.
4. Switch on the Page Assist toggle.

The interface changes immediately. A timeline appears with a thumbnail for each page, and your canvas shows whichever page is selected. To go back to the standard interface, repeat the same steps and switch the toggle off.

What Happens to Your Existing Layers

If the artwork already has several layers when you switch Page Assist on, each layer becomes a page. A file with five layers gives you five pages. Check this before you flip the switch on a finished illustration. A layered piece will turn into a stack of fragments, each showing a single layer.

The Procreate community has also noted that a layer group can act as a single page. So if you want a page that holds several layers, group them first. It takes a few extra taps, but it keeps linework, color, and shading together on one page.

Add a New Page

Once Page Assist is on, adding a page is simple:

• Tap New Page to insert a blank page directly to the right of your current page in the timeline.

Because the new page lands beside the one you've selected, you can insert pages in the middle of a sequence by selecting the page before the insertion point first. Plan the order as you go, since the position of each new page depends on where you were working.

Some users have asked for a plain plus button, a distinct icon for multi-page documents, and pages that can contain their own layers. Procreate's team marked the idea as considered, but it isn't how the feature works today. For now, work within the layers-as-pages model.

Navigate the Timeline

The timeline is a row of thumbnails, one per page. Procreate describes it as the Layers panel turned sideways: the bottom layer is the far-left page, and pages read in order from left to right. You can move through it three ways:

• Tap a thumbnail to jump to that page.
• Drag the timeline back and forth for fine control.
• Flick it to scroll quickly through long documents.

The selected page is underlined in blue. If you accidentally draw on the wrong page, check the underline first.

The Layers panel also changes in Page Assist. It shows each page as a thumbnail, with the same bottom-to-top ordering mirroring the timeline's left-to-right order.

Import a PDF as Multiple Pages

If your pages already exist as a PDF, you can skip building them by hand. Importing a single PDF activates Page Assist automatically, so each PDF page becomes a Procreate page you can mark up or draw over. There are three ways to bring one in:

• AirDrop: Send the PDF from another Apple device. On the iPad, choose Procreate from the "Open with…" panel and the file lands in your Gallery.
• Import from Files: In the Gallery, tap Import in the top right, browse to the PDF, and tap it.
• Drag and drop: Press and hold a PDF in the Files app, then drag it into Procreate.

There are two caveats worth knowing:

• If you import several PDFs at once, they won't open automatically. They're saved to your Gallery, and you open each one yourself.
• The automatic open also doesn't happen if you already have a Procreate artwork open. Return to the Gallery before importing.

Export Pages Back to PDF

When you're finished, go to Actions > Share and choose PDF under Share Layers. This is useful for marked-up documents, notes, and book or comic pages, and it keeps the pages together in one file instead of a pile of separate images.

When Page Assist Isn't the Right Tool

Page Assist suits sketchbook-style work well. Two common needs fall outside what it does well.

Spreads and Print Layouts

If you need a two-page spread or something already set up for print, Page Assist is awkward. A more reliable approach, suggested by experienced users, is to make one canvas the size of all your pages combined, plus bleeds. Add a guide layer that shows where one page ends and the next begins, and paint with those edges in mind.

Webtoon-Style Slicing

Long vertical comics that get sliced into pages don't map neatly onto Page Assist either. The workable approach is to build the long canvas, then duplicate it and crop copies into sections. A few safety rules apply:

• Duplicate the artwork before you crop. Never crop your only working file.
• Cropping and resizing can sometimes fail to undo, and a crash can leave you with a cropped canvas and no history.
• Use a guide layer to mark crop boundaries so each slice is consistent.

Procreate's memory limitations can also make very large canvases challenging.

Multiple Canvases as Separate Files

If you only want a running sketchbook, you can also create separate artworks and stack them in a Gallery folder. It's clunkier for browsing, but each piece keeps its own full layer stack, which Page Assist can't offer.

Using Multi-Page Procreate Files in a Motion Workflow

Procreate on the iPad can work well for the stage before After Effects: storyboards, style frames, thumbnails, and look development. Page Assist suits that stage, because a board is a sequence of frames and a sequence of pages is a natural way to hold one. A few habits keep these files useful downstream:

• One beat per page. Treat each page as a single shot or key moment so the timeline reads as a storyboard.
• Group layers into pages deliberately. Because layers become pages, group linework and color for each frame before enabling Page Assist.
• Name and order pages early. Reordering is easy at the start and tedious once you're deep into a board.
• Export a PDF for review. A single PDF is a tidy way to send boards to a director or client.

Troubleshooting Common Page Assist Problems

My layers turned into pages. That's expected. Switch Page Assist off to return to the normal layer view, then group layers you want kept together and switch it back on.

A PDF didn't open in Page Assist. Check whether you imported more than one file, or had an artwork open. Return to the Gallery and import a single PDF.

I can't find the page I was working on. Look for the blue underline in the timeline, or drag the timeline to scan through the thumbnails.

I want pages that each contain layers. Group the layers on the page, and consider separate artworks if you need full independent layer stacks.

I need to exchange pages with someone. Export through Actions > Share > PDF.

Quick Recap

• Enable Page Assist through Actions > Canvas > Page Assist.
• Existing layers become pages, so group layers before you switch it on.
• Use New Page to add a blank page right of your current one.
• Navigate by tapping, dragging, or flicking the timeline.
• Import a single PDF to start in Page Assist automatically, and export back to PDF through Share.
• For spreads and sliced comics, work on one large canvas with guides and duplicate before cropping.

Learn the layer-to-page relationship and Page Assist becomes predictable. For boards and style frames that feed an animation or VFX pipeline, it's a fast way to hold a sequence on the iPad before the work moves into your compositing tools.