Once you’ve installed Clip Studio Paint on your computer, it’s time to launch and start drawing!

You can adjust it to your preference by trying out the main tools, palettes, and pen pressure adjustments introduced here.

Start Clip Studio Paint

After you install the Clip Studio Paint app on your computer, the Clip Studio icon will appear on your desktop. Double click to launch it.

Clip Studio is the portal application for Clip Studio Paint, from which you can launch Clip Studio Paint and manage your artworks.

The home screen shows recommended materials (Assets) and suggested tutorials (Drawing Tips).

 

Maintenance information, special offers, and other news will also be posted here, so be sure to check it out.

Click the Draw button in the upper left to launch Clip Studio Paint.

Default screen for Clip Studio Paint

When Clip Studio Paint is launched, the following screen (workspace) will be displayed.

 

Clip Studio Paint has many functions and features, which may feel overwhelming at first, but there is no need to jump into every feature at once.

We recommend gradually exploring each tool with beginner tutorials for the type of art you want to make.

(1) Tool palette

Select basic tool groups for drawing and rendering, such as pens, brushes, and fill.

 

(2) Tool Group palette

Select tools from various tool groups. Each tool has a different drawing style and behavior, so they can be used for different purposes.

 

(3) Color Wheel palette

Drag the outer circle (hue circle) to select a general color, and choose the drawing color from the color space in the center.

 

(4) Color Set palette

This color set palette includes sets of standard colors to choose from. Simply tap to select a color.

 

(5) Tool Sliders palette

Use the sliders to adjust the brush size and opacity of your drawing tool.

 

(6) Navigator palette

Move the display position of the canvas, as well as zoom in and out, rotate, or flip the canvas.

 

(7) Layer palette

Adjust the layer functions for your project.

 

(8) Material palette

Tap the material icon to open the Material palette.

This palette manages all your materials for creating illustrations, comics, and animations.

Some materials can simply be used by dragging and dropping them onto the canvas.

Materials downloaded from Assets are stored in the Download folder within the Material palette.

 

(9) Canvas window

This is the area to draw, paint, and edit your image. Your drawing will be here.

 

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Note

You can adjust the color of the user interface from light gray to dark gray. Try setting it to your preferred brightness.

You can change it in the upper File menu (the Clip Studio Paint logo menu on macOS) > Preferences > Interface.

Changing palette positions

You can adjust the layout of palettes on the screen as you like.

Drag the top part of any palette and move it toward the canvas to make it float independently.

 

You can place palettes in a floating position or move them into a palette dock (light blue frame) for organization.

To reset the screen layout to the default state, select the Window menu > Workspace > Reset to Default.

 

Note

To reset the workspace to the default layout prior to Ver. 5.0, select the Window menu > Workspace > Ver. 4.2 layout.

 

You can also register your customized workspace.

Please refer to the user guide for more information on how to register it.

 

Palette dock

The palette dock can be opened and closed with the arrows at the top. If you wish to use a larger canvas, you can keep it closed.

 

Clicking ≪ will close the dock.

Clicking < will display the palettes in compact form as icons.

Find or add hidden palettes

Some palettes in Clip Studio Paint are not included in the default layout, or are hidden behind other palettes in tabs.

 

If you can’t see the palette you want to use, you can select it from the Window menu.

Palettes with a check on the left side are displayed on the screen.

Tap a palette name in the list to add a checkmark and display the window on the screen.

Adjusting brush settings

After launching Clip Studio Paint, start drawing with tools in the Pen or Pencil tool groups.

 

(1) Select either the Pen or Pencil from the tools on the left side of the screen.

(2) Select your preferred tool from the Tool Group palette.

(3) Draw lines freely on the canvas.

 

How was the drawing experience?

If you feel something is off while drawing, such as needing to use more pressure than usual, or you’re creating lines without applying pressure, try adjusting the Pen Pressure Settings.

 

If you feel comfortable with how the brush strokes feel, then there’s no need for further adjustment.

If the coordinates seem misaligned or if pen pressure is not detected when drawing, please refer to the following FAQ.

 

Pen pressure settings

Select File menu (the Clip Studio Paint logo menu on macOS) > Pen Pressure Settings to display the Adjust pen pressure dialog box.

Adjust the settings according to the instructions provided in the dialog.

Please refer to this video for information on adjusting pen pressure.

 

That covers the basic operations of the app.

Now you can start drawing alongside the following tutorials.

 

Beginner tutorial for creating digital illustrations

Try drawing a simple illustration with a traditional art feel in Clip Studio Paint.

Learn the basic functions, such as layers and brushes, through the process of drawing an illustration from sketching, finishing touches, and saving.

 

Learn about digital painting in this beginner tutorial

This tutorial introduces useful features exclusive to digital drawing, such as customizing brushes, distorting images, selection areas, layer blending modes, and layer masks.

 

 

Basic animation features and moving illustrations

This animation tutorial is for people creating their first animation.

Learn how to use basic animation features such as cels and the timeline.

 

This tutorial provides a detailed explanation of how to create eye-catching animated illustrations for social media by animating the eyes and background.

Recommended links

If you would like to learn more about creating works in Clip Studio Paint, check out the videos and tutorials below.

 

Try using materials (video)

 

Setting up Clip Studio Paint for illustration

 

Setting up Clip Studio Paint for creating comics

 

Find out what features are available

 

How to use the cloud service for sharing your artwork and settings

 

Assign keyboard shortcuts

 

List of keyboard shortcuts

 

New features of Clip Studio Paint