To make webtoon panels in Procreate, create a tall, narrow canvas, build each panel as its own shape layer (with a shape brush, QuickShape, or a rectangular selection), then clip your artwork to that layer so nothing spills past the frame. Procreate has no native comic panel tool, so panel construction is a layer workflow. Add gutters, borders, and lettering on separate layers, then export PNG or JPEG slices for the vertical scroll, or a layered PSD if the panels are headed into motion.

What Procreate Does and Doesn't Do for Panels

Procreate is a strong drawing app, but panel layout isn't built in. Users have been asking for a panel tool, layer borders, and more flexible clipping masks for years, and Procreate's own feedback forum lists the comic panel request as "Considered." That means you assemble panels from parts Procreate does have: shape tools, selections, clipping masks, layer groups, and text.

The upside for motion artists is that this layer structure is the same one you want later. A panel built as a mask layer with art clipped inside it is easy to separate, re-time, and animate in After Effects.

Step 1: Set Up the Canvas

Webtoons are read as a continuous vertical scroll, so start with a tall, narrow canvas. A commonly used width is 800 px, with each episode split across several vertical segments you stitch or upload in order.

A few setup decisions save time later:

• Pick the width first. Everything else is relative to it. Changing width mid-episode forces rescaling and softens line work.
• Consider working larger than the delivery size. If the panels will be animated or pushed in with a virtual camera, a canvas at double the delivery width gives you room to scale. Maximum canvas size depends on your device, so check what it can handle before committing.
• Plan segment breaks. Decide roughly where each segment ends so you don't slice through a speech bubble or a face.
• Turn on a drawing guide. A grid guide works well for aligning panel edges and gutters.

Step 2: Build the Panel Frames

You have a few options, each with a trade-off.

Shape brushes

Panel and shape brush packs let you stamp a perfect rectangle in one tap instead of drawing one repeatedly. They aren't specific to webtoons, but they save a lot of effort. Some creators also use brushes made specifically as webtoon frames. Stamp each panel on its own layer.

QuickShape

Draw a rectangle and hold at the end of the stroke. Procreate snaps it to a clean shape, which you can then fill. This approach is fast.

Selection tool

Use the Rectangle or Freehand selection, then fill the selection on a fresh layer. This is the most precise option for panels that have to sit on exact pixel boundaries.

Avoid scaled-up PNG templates

Pre-made panel templates are tempting, but raster templates get soft or pixelated when scaled to your canvas. If you use one, match its resolution to your canvas, or rebuild it with shapes.

Whichever route you choose, put each panel on its own layer and name it (P01, P02, and so on). It feels tedious now and pays off when you need to find a panel in a 60-layer file.

Step 3: Clip Artwork to Each Panel

This is the core technique for contained panels.

1. Create a panel layer filled with any solid color. This is your mask base.
2. Add a new layer directly above it and choose Clipping Mask.
3. Draw your sketch, ink, color, or shading on layers clipped to that base. Everything you draw is confined to the panel shape.
4. Stack as many clipped layers as you need (line art, flats, shadows, effects) on the same base.
5. Group the panel layer and its clipped layers together, then name the group.

Characters that break the frame are a common webtoon device. For these, keep the breaking element on a separate, unclipped layer above the group so it can overlap the border and gutter.

Clipped layers also keep revisions safe. You can redraw a background without touching the line art, because each element is isolated in the stack.

Step 4: Add Gutters, Borders, and Lettering

Gutters

In vertical webtoons, the white (or colored) space between panels does real work, because it controls pacing. Bigger gaps slow the read, and tight gaps speed it up. Keep your gutter spacing deliberate and consistent, and drive it from your grid guide so it doesn't drift.

Borders

Procreate has no layer border option, so build borders manually. One reliable method: duplicate the panel layer, fill the duplicate black, scale it slightly larger, and place it beneath the original. The exposed edge reads as an outline. Many webtoons skip borders altogether and rely on gutters, so you may not need this.

Speech bubbles and text

Procreate's text tool handles dialogue, and you can draw bubbles with QuickShape ellipses or a round brush. Put bubbles and lettering in their own group above the artwork. That way a translation, a typo fix, or a reflow doesn't touch the painting, and you can toggle the whole group off for a clean art export.

Step 5: Review and Export for the Scroll

Before exporting, scroll through the whole episode at phone size. Many webtoon readers are on phones, and a panel that looks great at full zoom may be unreadable at that size.

Check:

• Text legibility at small sizes
• Consistent character proportions and colors from panel to panel
• Gutter rhythm: no accidental gaps or crowding
• Segment breaks that don't cut through key moments

Then export. PNG preserves crisp line art and flat color. JPEG gives smaller files. Because Procreate works in discrete canvases, you'll likely need to stitch segments in another app, or slice a tall canvas into upload-ready pieces. Always keep the layered .procreate file as your master.

Taking Webtoon Panels Into Motion

If you're a motion designer or animator, a finished panel set can become more than a scroll. Motion comics, animated trailers, and social teasers all start from the same assets.

Export a layered PSD

From Procreate, export as PSD to preserve layers. Then bring it into After Effects with layers retained. Because you built each panel as a clipped group, the foreground, midground, and background elements are already separated for parallax and a virtual camera. Do the camera moves, timing, and sound design in After Effects, where you already work.

Prepare the art

• Resolution: An 800 px wide panel will look soft if you push into it. Work at a larger canvas, or upscale before compositing.
• Separate the elements: Keep characters, props, and effects on their own layers so you can move them independently.
• Fill the hidden areas: Anything a camera move or parallax shift could reveal behind a character needs to be painted in, not left empty.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Drawing without clipping masks. Strokes that spill outside the frame mean cleanup later.
• Merging layers too early. Flatten only a copy, never your working file.
• Inconsistent canvas widths. Mixed widths cause blurry rescaling at stitching time.
• Lettering baked into the art. Keep text on its own layers for edits and localization.
• Forgetting the phone view. Always preview at the size readers actually see.

Quick Workflow Recap

1. Create a tall canvas at your chosen width, with a grid guide.
2. Build each panel on its own named layer using a shape brush, QuickShape, or selection.
3. Clip sketch, ink, and color layers to each panel, and group them.
4. Add gutters, optional borders, bubbles, and lettering in separate groups.
5. Preview at phone size, then export PNG or JPEG for the scroll, and PSD for motion work.

Procreate won't lay out your panels for you, but a clean layer structure gives you reliable panels for the scroll, and the same structure gives you the separated assets you need when you move them into After Effects.

To make webtoon panels in Procreate, create a tall, narrow canvas, build each panel as its own shape layer (with a shape brush, QuickShape, or a rectangular selection), then clip your artwork to that layer so nothing spills past the frame. Procreate has no native comic panel tool, so panel construction is a layer workflow. Add gutters, borders, and lettering on separate layers, then export PNG or JPEG slices for the vertical scroll, or a layered PSD if the panels are headed into motion.

What Procreate Does and Doesn't Do for Panels

Procreate is a strong drawing app, but panel layout isn't built in. Users have been asking for a panel tool, layer borders, and more flexible clipping masks for years, and Procreate's own feedback forum lists the comic panel request as "Considered." That means you assemble panels from parts Procreate does have: shape tools, selections, clipping masks, layer groups, and text.

The upside for motion artists is that this layer structure is the same one you want later. A panel built as a mask layer with art clipped inside it is easy to separate, re-time, and animate in After Effects.

Step 1: Set Up the Canvas

Webtoons are read as a continuous vertical scroll, so start with a tall, narrow canvas. A commonly used width is 800 px, with each episode split across several vertical segments you stitch or upload in order.

A few setup decisions save time later:

• Pick the width first. Everything else is relative to it. Changing width mid-episode forces rescaling and softens line work.
• Consider working larger than the delivery size. If the panels will be animated or pushed in with a virtual camera, a canvas at double the delivery width gives you room to scale. Maximum canvas size depends on your device, so check what it can handle before committing.
• Plan segment breaks. Decide roughly where each segment ends so you don't slice through a speech bubble or a face.
• Turn on a drawing guide. A grid guide works well for aligning panel edges and gutters.

Step 2: Build the Panel Frames

You have a few options, each with a trade-off.

Shape brushes

Panel and shape brush packs let you stamp a perfect rectangle in one tap instead of drawing one repeatedly. They aren't specific to webtoons, but they save a lot of effort. Some creators also use brushes made specifically as webtoon frames. Stamp each panel on its own layer.

QuickShape

Draw a rectangle and hold at the end of the stroke. Procreate snaps it to a clean shape, which you can then fill. This approach is fast.

Selection tool

Use the Rectangle or Freehand selection, then fill the selection on a fresh layer. This is the most precise option for panels that have to sit on exact pixel boundaries.

Avoid scaled-up PNG templates

Pre-made panel templates are tempting, but raster templates get soft or pixelated when scaled to your canvas. If you use one, match its resolution to your canvas, or rebuild it with shapes.

Whichever route you choose, put each panel on its own layer and name it (P01, P02, and so on). It feels tedious now and pays off when you need to find a panel in a 60-layer file.

Step 3: Clip Artwork to Each Panel

This is the core technique for contained panels.

1. Create a panel layer filled with any solid color. This is your mask base.
2. Add a new layer directly above it and choose Clipping Mask.
3. Draw your sketch, ink, color, or shading on layers clipped to that base. Everything you draw is confined to the panel shape.
4. Stack as many clipped layers as you need (line art, flats, shadows, effects) on the same base.
5. Group the panel layer and its clipped layers together, then name the group.

Characters that break the frame are a common webtoon device. For these, keep the breaking element on a separate, unclipped layer above the group so it can overlap the border and gutter.

Clipped layers also keep revisions safe. You can redraw a background without touching the line art, because each element is isolated in the stack.

Step 4: Add Gutters, Borders, and Lettering

Gutters

In vertical webtoons, the white (or colored) space between panels does real work, because it controls pacing. Bigger gaps slow the read, and tight gaps speed it up. Keep your gutter spacing deliberate and consistent, and drive it from your grid guide so it doesn't drift.

Borders

Procreate has no layer border option, so build borders manually. One reliable method: duplicate the panel layer, fill the duplicate black, scale it slightly larger, and place it beneath the original. The exposed edge reads as an outline. Many webtoons skip borders altogether and rely on gutters, so you may not need this.

Speech bubbles and text

Procreate's text tool handles dialogue, and you can draw bubbles with QuickShape ellipses or a round brush. Put bubbles and lettering in their own group above the artwork. That way a translation, a typo fix, or a reflow doesn't touch the painting, and you can toggle the whole group off for a clean art export.

Step 5: Review and Export for the Scroll

Before exporting, scroll through the whole episode at phone size. Many webtoon readers are on phones, and a panel that looks great at full zoom may be unreadable at that size.

Check:

• Text legibility at small sizes
• Consistent character proportions and colors from panel to panel
• Gutter rhythm: no accidental gaps or crowding
• Segment breaks that don't cut through key moments

Then export. PNG preserves crisp line art and flat color. JPEG gives smaller files. Because Procreate works in discrete canvases, you'll likely need to stitch segments in another app, or slice a tall canvas into upload-ready pieces. Always keep the layered .procreate file as your master.

Taking Webtoon Panels Into Motion

If you're a motion designer or animator, a finished panel set can become more than a scroll. Motion comics, animated trailers, and social teasers all start from the same assets.

Export a layered PSD

From Procreate, export as PSD to preserve layers. Then bring it into After Effects with layers retained. Because you built each panel as a clipped group, the foreground, midground, and background elements are already separated for parallax and a virtual camera. Do the camera moves, timing, and sound design in After Effects, where you already work.

Prepare the art

• Resolution: An 800 px wide panel will look soft if you push into it. Work at a larger canvas, or upscale before compositing.
• Separate the elements: Keep characters, props, and effects on their own layers so you can move them independently.
• Fill the hidden areas: Anything a camera move or parallax shift could reveal behind a character needs to be painted in, not left empty.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Drawing without clipping masks. Strokes that spill outside the frame mean cleanup later.
• Merging layers too early. Flatten only a copy, never your working file.
• Inconsistent canvas widths. Mixed widths cause blurry rescaling at stitching time.
• Lettering baked into the art. Keep text on its own layers for edits and localization.
• Forgetting the phone view. Always preview at the size readers actually see.

Quick Workflow Recap

1. Create a tall canvas at your chosen width, with a grid guide.
2. Build each panel on its own named layer using a shape brush, QuickShape, or selection.
3. Clip sketch, ink, and color layers to each panel, and group them.
4. Add gutters, optional borders, bubbles, and lettering in separate groups.
5. Preview at phone size, then export PNG or JPEG for the scroll, and PSD for motion work.

Procreate won't lay out your panels for you, but a clean layer structure gives you reliable panels for the scroll, and the same structure gives you the separated assets you need when you move them into After Effects.