To change the background color in Procreate, open the Layers panel, tap the Background color layer at the bottom of the stack, and pick a new color in the panel that opens. If the new color covers your drawing, you filled a regular layer with white instead of using the background layer, so add a layer beneath your art or set the drawing layer to Multiply. To export without any background, untick the Background color layer before saving a PNG or PSD.

Change the canvas background color

Every new Procreate canvas has a built-in background layer. It's white by default, and it sits at the bottom of the layer stack.

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the stack and tap Background color.
3. Choose a new color in the panel that opens.
4. Close the panel.

The change doesn't touch any of your painted layers. This is the cleanest way to recolor a canvas, because nothing is baked into your artwork. You can try ten different colors in a minute and revert at any time.

If you're matching a color from a After Effects comp or a style guide, always check a test export in your destination app before committing to a palette.

Why the new color doesn't look right

Most "it didn't work" cases come down to a handful of causes.

Your art is semi-transparent

If you painted with low opacity, soft brushes, or reduced layer opacity, the background shows through those pixels. Change the background to black and those areas shift in tone, because the old color was quietly contributing to the look. Try swapping the background to a bright red or green and you'll see exactly which areas are translucent.

To lock the look in, create a new layer beneath your artwork, fill the shape of your subject with the original tone, and make it fully opaque. Then you can change the background freely without anything shifting.

You painted on a white-filled layer

This is the most common problem. If you filled a regular layer with white, then drew on it, changing the background color does nothing visible, because your white layer covers it. Or you may have tried to recolor that layer and ended up covering the drawing.

There are three fixes:

• Add a layer below. Add a new layer in the Layers panel, drag it beneath your drawing, and fill it with the color you want.
• Use Multiply. Set your line art layer's blend mode to Multiply. White pixels drop out, and the colored layer beneath shows through. Dark linework stays intact.
• Delete the white fill. If the white was a separate layer, hide or remove it.

Multiply is the best option for sketches and inked line art, since it keeps any paper texture while letting you color behind it.

Alpha Lock is on

If a layer is alpha-locked, you can only paint on pixels that already exist. If you're trying to recolor part of a layer and nothing happens outside existing strokes, turn Alpha Lock off for that layer.

The layer is hidden or out of order

Check that the background layer has its checkbox ticked, and that the layer you want to sit "behind" is actually below your artwork in the stack. New layers go above whichever layer is selected, so drag them into position.

Change the interface color behind the canvas

Sometimes people searching this mean the gray or dark area surrounding the canvas, not the canvas itself. You can switch the interface between dark and light:

1. Tap the Actions icon (wrench).
2. Open the Prefs tab.
3. Toggle Light interface.

This matters more than it sounds. A dark painting looks fine against a dark interface and then loses detail when posted on a white page. Flip to the light interface occasionally during a dark piece to check that it holds up on both. You can also temporarily set the canvas background to a light color to preview.

Export with a transparent background

If you want your art on its own, with no color behind it, hide the background layer before exporting:

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Untick the checkbox on Background color.
3. Export your file as a PNG or PSD.

PNG keeps transparency in a single flattened file. PSD keeps your layers, which is the better choice if the artwork is going to be animated or composited. JPEG doesn't support transparency, so it will always flatten onto a solid color.

A few practical notes for pipeline use:

• Check for stray pixels. Faint marks from soft brushes or an accidentally filled layer can leave a haze behind your subject. Toggle layers off one at a time to find it.
• Name your layers. If you're sending a PSD into After Effects, layers named "Layer 14" become a headache. Rename them in Procreate first.
• Mind the color profile. If your colors shift after export, verify the profile your canvas was created with and the one your After Effects project interprets files as.
• Export at a size you can use. Decide your delivery resolution before you begin painting.

Using Procreate artwork in a motion pipeline

For motion designers, Procreate is typically the starting point for illustrations, textures, character designs, or style frames that move on to After Effects, Premiere Pro, Blender, Cinema 4D, or Nuke. The background question matters because it determines how clean your cutouts are.

A few habits make the handoff easier:

• Keep the subject on its own layers and leave the Background color layer as the only thing you change for previews.
• Export a transparent PSD or PNG for compositing, plus a flattened version with a background if you need a reference.
• Paint edges with care. Anti-aliased edges against a white background can leave a light fringe when you place them over a dark one. Testing with a dark background color in Procreate before you export will expose these halos early.
• Avoid baking in the background color. If you've used a layer fill instead of the background color, you'll need to remove it later.

Quick troubleshooting checklist

If your Procreate background still won't change as expected, run through this list:

• Is the Background color layer ticked on?
• Is there a white-filled layer covering it? Hide layers one at a time to find out.
• Is your artwork semi-transparent, causing color to shift?
• Is a layer set to Multiply, Screen, or another blend mode that changes how it interacts with the color beneath?
• Is Alpha Lock stopping a recolor?
• Are you exporting to JPEG when you need PNG or PSD?
• Are you looking at the dark interface and judging contrast from that?

Summary

Changing the background in Procreate is simple once you know that the canvas has its own dedicated layer. Use Layers > Background color for flat changes, add a regular layer beneath your art for more complex backgrounds, and use Multiply when your drawing has a white fill. Toggle the background off for transparent exports, and use PSD when the work needs to move into a compositing app with its layers intact.

To change the background color in Procreate, open the Layers panel, tap the Background color layer at the bottom of the stack, and pick a new color in the panel that opens. If the new color covers your drawing, you filled a regular layer with white instead of using the background layer, so add a layer beneath your art or set the drawing layer to Multiply. To export without any background, untick the Background color layer before saving a PNG or PSD.

Change the canvas background color

Every new Procreate canvas has a built-in background layer. It's white by default, and it sits at the bottom of the layer stack.

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the stack and tap Background color.
3. Choose a new color in the panel that opens.
4. Close the panel.

The change doesn't touch any of your painted layers. This is the cleanest way to recolor a canvas, because nothing is baked into your artwork. You can try ten different colors in a minute and revert at any time.

If you're matching a color from a After Effects comp or a style guide, always check a test export in your destination app before committing to a palette.

Why the new color doesn't look right

Most "it didn't work" cases come down to a handful of causes.

Your art is semi-transparent

If you painted with low opacity, soft brushes, or reduced layer opacity, the background shows through those pixels. Change the background to black and those areas shift in tone, because the old color was quietly contributing to the look. Try swapping the background to a bright red or green and you'll see exactly which areas are translucent.

To lock the look in, create a new layer beneath your artwork, fill the shape of your subject with the original tone, and make it fully opaque. Then you can change the background freely without anything shifting.

You painted on a white-filled layer

This is the most common problem. If you filled a regular layer with white, then drew on it, changing the background color does nothing visible, because your white layer covers it. Or you may have tried to recolor that layer and ended up covering the drawing.

There are three fixes:

• Add a layer below. Add a new layer in the Layers panel, drag it beneath your drawing, and fill it with the color you want.
• Use Multiply. Set your line art layer's blend mode to Multiply. White pixels drop out, and the colored layer beneath shows through. Dark linework stays intact.
• Delete the white fill. If the white was a separate layer, hide or remove it.

Multiply is the best option for sketches and inked line art, since it keeps any paper texture while letting you color behind it.

Alpha Lock is on

If a layer is alpha-locked, you can only paint on pixels that already exist. If you're trying to recolor part of a layer and nothing happens outside existing strokes, turn Alpha Lock off for that layer.

The layer is hidden or out of order

Check that the background layer has its checkbox ticked, and that the layer you want to sit "behind" is actually below your artwork in the stack. New layers go above whichever layer is selected, so drag them into position.

Change the interface color behind the canvas

Sometimes people searching this mean the gray or dark area surrounding the canvas, not the canvas itself. You can switch the interface between dark and light:

1. Tap the Actions icon (wrench).
2. Open the Prefs tab.
3. Toggle Light interface.

This matters more than it sounds. A dark painting looks fine against a dark interface and then loses detail when posted on a white page. Flip to the light interface occasionally during a dark piece to check that it holds up on both. You can also temporarily set the canvas background to a light color to preview.

Export with a transparent background

If you want your art on its own, with no color behind it, hide the background layer before exporting:

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Untick the checkbox on Background color.
3. Export your file as a PNG or PSD.

PNG keeps transparency in a single flattened file. PSD keeps your layers, which is the better choice if the artwork is going to be animated or composited. JPEG doesn't support transparency, so it will always flatten onto a solid color.

A few practical notes for pipeline use:

• Check for stray pixels. Faint marks from soft brushes or an accidentally filled layer can leave a haze behind your subject. Toggle layers off one at a time to find it.
• Name your layers. If you're sending a PSD into After Effects, layers named "Layer 14" become a headache. Rename them in Procreate first.
• Mind the color profile. If your colors shift after export, verify the profile your canvas was created with and the one your After Effects project interprets files as.
• Export at a size you can use. Decide your delivery resolution before you begin painting.

Using Procreate artwork in a motion pipeline

For motion designers, Procreate is typically the starting point for illustrations, textures, character designs, or style frames that move on to After Effects, Premiere Pro, Blender, Cinema 4D, or Nuke. The background question matters because it determines how clean your cutouts are.

A few habits make the handoff easier:

• Keep the subject on its own layers and leave the Background color layer as the only thing you change for previews.
• Export a transparent PSD or PNG for compositing, plus a flattened version with a background if you need a reference.
• Paint edges with care. Anti-aliased edges against a white background can leave a light fringe when you place them over a dark one. Testing with a dark background color in Procreate before you export will expose these halos early.
• Avoid baking in the background color. If you've used a layer fill instead of the background color, you'll need to remove it later.

Quick troubleshooting checklist

If your Procreate background still won't change as expected, run through this list:

• Is the Background color layer ticked on?
• Is there a white-filled layer covering it? Hide layers one at a time to find out.
• Is your artwork semi-transparent, causing color to shift?
• Is a layer set to Multiply, Screen, or another blend mode that changes how it interacts with the color beneath?
• Is Alpha Lock stopping a recolor?
• Are you exporting to JPEG when you need PNG or PSD?
• Are you looking at the dark interface and judging contrast from that?

Summary

Changing the background in Procreate is simple once you know that the canvas has its own dedicated layer. Use Layers > Background color for flat changes, add a regular layer beneath your art for more complex backgrounds, and use Multiply when your drawing has a white fill. Toggle the background off for transparent exports, and use PSD when the work needs to move into a compositing app with its layers intact.