To make a transparent background file in Procreate, turn off the Background color layer in the Layers panel, then export through Actions > Share > PNG. PNG keeps the alpha channel, while JPEG flattens transparency into a solid fill. The grey checkerboard you see on the canvas is how Procreate shows transparent pixels, not part of the artwork.

That covers the export. The rest of this guide covers the cases that trip people up: white pixels that were never transparent, PNGs that arrive as JPEGs, and alpha handling once the file lands in After Effects, Nuke, or a 3D app.

Step-by-step: export a transparent PNG from Procreate

1. Open the Layers panel. Tap the two overlapping squares in the top right.
2. Turn off the Background color layer. It sits at the bottom of the stack and is white by default. Untick it. The layer isn't deleted, only hidden, so you can switch it back on at any time.
3. Check your artwork layers. Any layer you want to stay transparent must contain no white fill. A layer you painted a white rectangle on will export that white.
4. Open Actions (the wrench icon) > Share. Choose PNG.
5. Save it somewhere safe. Use Save Image, Save to Files, or a cloud folder. Avoid email and messaging apps for the first test.

Procreate's PNG export carries the alpha channel without extra compression loss, so you don't need to flatten anything or work around it. You only need the background layer hidden.

Export just one element

If you need a single asset (a character, a prop, a texture) rather than the whole canvas:

• Hide every layer you don't want in the export, including the Background color layer.
• Export as PNG.

Procreate exports whatever is visible, so layer visibility works as your selection. For a repeatable pipeline, group each element and toggle groups on and off. Export each one with the same canvas size so the files line up when you stack them in a compositor.

Which format to pick

• PNG: the default for flat transparent stills. Good for stills, cutouts, and texture elements.
• JPEG: never for transparency. There's no alpha channel.

Troubleshooting: when the file isn't actually transparent

You still see grey squares after importing a PNG

That's expected. The checkerboard is Procreate's transparency indicator. If you import a transparent PNG and see the grid, the image is transparent. If you also see a white background, the Background color layer is turned on. Open Layers and untick it.

If transparent areas look solid white right after import, the PNG may never have had real transparency. Many apps add a background when they flatten a file for sharing, and thumbnails in Photos look identical for a transparent PNG and a white-backed one. Test by opening the file in your compositor over a colored background.

The PNG turned into a JPEG

This is a sharing problem, not a Procreate export problem. Common causes:

• The destination app converts it. Some email clients can convert the image. Save to Files or a cloud drive first, then attach from there.
• iPad storage optimization. If Optimise iPad Storage is enabled in Photos settings, low storage can swap originals for lower-quality versions. If your export lands in the camera roll and comes back as JPEG, check that setting or use Files instead.
• Wrong format selected. Re-open the Share menu and confirm PNG is what you tapped.

A quick sanity test: AirDrop or Save to Files, then drop the file onto a colored layer in After Effects. If you see the color through the artwork, the alpha survived.

The "transparent" area is actually white pixels

This is the most common issue for illustrators. You scanned or drew on a white canvas, filled a layer with white, or imported a flat JPEG. Those pixels are white, not empty, and Procreate has no one-tap "make this color transparent" command. Your options:

• Redraw on a clean layer. Draw on layers with no fill and let the Background color layer handle the visible white. This is the cleanest approach for new work.
• Select and delete. Select the white area, then clear it. This works well for flat art with hard edges and less well for soft brushes and smudges.
• Multiply blend mode. Setting a line-art layer to Multiply makes white drop out visually over whatever sits underneath. This is a blend, not true transparency, so the white is still in the file. It's a good approach inside Procreate.
• Copy-and-mask technique. Copy the layer, then add a layer mask, which takes the copied image as its content, and invert it. White becomes transparent and dark lines remain opaque. It works best on high-contrast black-and-white art and can leave grey fringing on soft shading.

If the artwork has soft gradients, paint effects, or colored shading on white, expect to clean up edges by hand or rebuild the layer. Lifting white from the pixels never fully recovers partial transparency.

Bringing the file into your motion pipeline

Exporting a clean PNG is half the job. A few checks save time once it's in your compositor.

After Effects and Premiere Pro

• Alpha interpretation. If you see dark or light fringes around edges, check how your software interprets the alpha, comparing Straight and Premultiplied. Pick whichever removes the halo.
• Color profile. If colors shift in your project, check the document's color profile in Procreate and assign or convert in your compositor to match your project's working space.
• Canvas size. Match your comp resolution, or work at a size you can scale down. Plan resolution before you start painting, not after.

Nuke, Cinema 4D, and Blender

• Nuke: Check how the file's alpha is interpreted and confirm the colorspace on the Read node. If edges look wrong after a merge, alpha interpretation is usually the cause.
• Cinema 4D and Blender: Plug the PNG into a material's alpha or opacity input. Illustrated cutouts work well as planes, decals, or billboards.

Animation frames

For frame-by-frame work, export each frame as a PNG with the Background layer hidden, and number them consistently so your compositor can import them as an image sequence. Test a few frames on a colored background before exporting a long sequence.

Quick checklist

• Background color layer is off.
• No white fill sits on layers meant to be transparent.
• Export format is PNG.
• The file moved via Files, AirDrop, or cloud storage, not an app that recompresses.
• The file was tested over a colored background in your compositor.
• Alpha interpretation (straight or premultiplied) and color profile are set correctly.

Once those are in place, a transparent file from Procreate behaves like any other alpha asset in your pipeline.

To make a transparent background file in Procreate, turn off the Background color layer in the Layers panel, then export through Actions > Share > PNG. PNG keeps the alpha channel, while JPEG flattens transparency into a solid fill. The grey checkerboard you see on the canvas is how Procreate shows transparent pixels, not part of the artwork.

That covers the export. The rest of this guide covers the cases that trip people up: white pixels that were never transparent, PNGs that arrive as JPEGs, and alpha handling once the file lands in After Effects, Nuke, or a 3D app.

Step-by-step: export a transparent PNG from Procreate

1. Open the Layers panel. Tap the two overlapping squares in the top right.
2. Turn off the Background color layer. It sits at the bottom of the stack and is white by default. Untick it. The layer isn't deleted, only hidden, so you can switch it back on at any time.
3. Check your artwork layers. Any layer you want to stay transparent must contain no white fill. A layer you painted a white rectangle on will export that white.
4. Open Actions (the wrench icon) > Share. Choose PNG.
5. Save it somewhere safe. Use Save Image, Save to Files, or a cloud folder. Avoid email and messaging apps for the first test.

Procreate's PNG export carries the alpha channel without extra compression loss, so you don't need to flatten anything or work around it. You only need the background layer hidden.

Export just one element

If you need a single asset (a character, a prop, a texture) rather than the whole canvas:

• Hide every layer you don't want in the export, including the Background color layer.
• Export as PNG.

Procreate exports whatever is visible, so layer visibility works as your selection. For a repeatable pipeline, group each element and toggle groups on and off. Export each one with the same canvas size so the files line up when you stack them in a compositor.

Which format to pick

• PNG: the default for flat transparent stills. Good for stills, cutouts, and texture elements.
• JPEG: never for transparency. There's no alpha channel.

Troubleshooting: when the file isn't actually transparent

You still see grey squares after importing a PNG

That's expected. The checkerboard is Procreate's transparency indicator. If you import a transparent PNG and see the grid, the image is transparent. If you also see a white background, the Background color layer is turned on. Open Layers and untick it.

If transparent areas look solid white right after import, the PNG may never have had real transparency. Many apps add a background when they flatten a file for sharing, and thumbnails in Photos look identical for a transparent PNG and a white-backed one. Test by opening the file in your compositor over a colored background.

The PNG turned into a JPEG

This is a sharing problem, not a Procreate export problem. Common causes:

• The destination app converts it. Some email clients can convert the image. Save to Files or a cloud drive first, then attach from there.
• iPad storage optimization. If Optimise iPad Storage is enabled in Photos settings, low storage can swap originals for lower-quality versions. If your export lands in the camera roll and comes back as JPEG, check that setting or use Files instead.
• Wrong format selected. Re-open the Share menu and confirm PNG is what you tapped.

A quick sanity test: AirDrop or Save to Files, then drop the file onto a colored layer in After Effects. If you see the color through the artwork, the alpha survived.

The "transparent" area is actually white pixels

This is the most common issue for illustrators. You scanned or drew on a white canvas, filled a layer with white, or imported a flat JPEG. Those pixels are white, not empty, and Procreate has no one-tap "make this color transparent" command. Your options:

• Redraw on a clean layer. Draw on layers with no fill and let the Background color layer handle the visible white. This is the cleanest approach for new work.
• Select and delete. Select the white area, then clear it. This works well for flat art with hard edges and less well for soft brushes and smudges.
• Multiply blend mode. Setting a line-art layer to Multiply makes white drop out visually over whatever sits underneath. This is a blend, not true transparency, so the white is still in the file. It's a good approach inside Procreate.
• Copy-and-mask technique. Copy the layer, then add a layer mask, which takes the copied image as its content, and invert it. White becomes transparent and dark lines remain opaque. It works best on high-contrast black-and-white art and can leave grey fringing on soft shading.

If the artwork has soft gradients, paint effects, or colored shading on white, expect to clean up edges by hand or rebuild the layer. Lifting white from the pixels never fully recovers partial transparency.

Bringing the file into your motion pipeline

Exporting a clean PNG is half the job. A few checks save time once it's in your compositor.

After Effects and Premiere Pro

• Alpha interpretation. If you see dark or light fringes around edges, check how your software interprets the alpha, comparing Straight and Premultiplied. Pick whichever removes the halo.
• Color profile. If colors shift in your project, check the document's color profile in Procreate and assign or convert in your compositor to match your project's working space.
• Canvas size. Match your comp resolution, or work at a size you can scale down. Plan resolution before you start painting, not after.

Nuke, Cinema 4D, and Blender

• Nuke: Check how the file's alpha is interpreted and confirm the colorspace on the Read node. If edges look wrong after a merge, alpha interpretation is usually the cause.
• Cinema 4D and Blender: Plug the PNG into a material's alpha or opacity input. Illustrated cutouts work well as planes, decals, or billboards.

Animation frames

For frame-by-frame work, export each frame as a PNG with the Background layer hidden, and number them consistently so your compositor can import them as an image sequence. Test a few frames on a colored background before exporting a long sequence.

Quick checklist

• Background color layer is off.
• No white fill sits on layers meant to be transparent.
• Export format is PNG.
• The file moved via Files, AirDrop, or cloud storage, not an app that recompresses.
• The file was tested over a colored background in your compositor.
• Alpha interpretation (straight or premultiplied) and color profile are set correctly.

Once those are in place, a transparent file from Procreate behaves like any other alpha asset in your pipeline.