This article introduces the basics on using the smartphone version of Clip Studio Paint.

The smartphone version can be used for free for up to 30 hours every month.

For the basics of using Studio Mode, see this article here.

 

Selecting a pen or brush and drawing

To select a brush to paint with, tap the brush tool icon at the bottom of the screen, then tap Brush.

Each drawing tool has brushes categorized by type. To switch between brush types, tap the center icon with two brushes on it to open the brush list. On the left side of the brush list you will find brush categories. You can select each category to see its brush list.

Note: In Simple Mode, the center icon and its role change depending on the tool selected. For example, when Liquify is selected, it will display items to adjust how it distorts.

 

Drawing smooth lines

If you can't draw smooth, clean lines due to shaky hands or other reasons, you can turn on Stabilization and Starting and ending settings.

To apply these to a brush, tap the ... icon in the upper right corner of the Sub Tool palette to open Change all stabilization/starting and ending settings.

 

Undo, redo, and making corrections with the eraser

You can use the following touch gestures on the canvas to undo and redo something.

Undo: Two-finger tap

Redo: Three-finger tap

You can erase by hand by tapping the icon in the lower-left corner of the screen to switch between the brush and the eraser.

You can also Undo and Redo by tapping the arrow icons along the top center of the canvas.

 

Changing brush size and opacity

You can use the sliders along the bottom of the screen to change the size and opacity of the pen or brush.

 

Changing the drawing color

To change the color of the pen or brush, tap the color circle icon at the bottom of the screen. From here, you can select a color from the color wheel, color sets, or color sliders.

 

Note: To adjust colors in the color wheel, select a color from the outer hue ring and then further refine its saturation and brightness from the center square color space. To obtain vivid, clean colors, select from the upper end of the color space.

 

Using the colors on the canvas

You can long press the screen with one finger to select a color painted onto the canvas. The color displayed in the upper half of the circle becomes the drawing color.

Note: If you do not want to switch to the eyedropper with a long press, go to Preferences and turn off Eyedrop with long press.

 

Using layers

Each layer acts as a transparent film. By adding and stacking transparent layers, you can overlay as many layers over your drawing as you want. Separating layers for each part of the image or for each step in your drawing process, such as lineart and coloring, is helpful when you want to make adjustments later on.

You can tap the icon in the lower right corner of the screen to open the Layer palette and interact with the layers. Swiping left on the Layer palette displays detailed information such as layer name and blending mode.

To add a layer, tap the + icon. If you long press the + icon, you can add images saved on your smartphone.

At the bottom of the Layers palette, there is a Paper layer that is painted white, which serves as the base color for the canvas. The base color of the Paper layer can be changed, but you cannot draw on this layer.

Tapping a thumbnail displays a menu for detailed layer settings such as Show/Hide layer and Opacity.

You can reorder layers by long pressing and dragging the layer thumbnails.

 

Using materials and brushes

Materials make it easy to add complex shapes and patterns to illustrations, such as on accessories and clothing patterns.

To use a material, first tap the icon in the upper right corner of the screen to show the Material palette. Here, materials are categorized by type such as color patterns, manga materials, image materials, and 3D materials.

Tap the thumbnail of the material you want to use, and it will be pasted onto the canvas. You can then adjust the material's position, size, and angle with the blue handles of the bounding box. Then tap OK in the upper right corner of the screen.

 

Try adding recommended materials!

From Ver. 2.2 and later, you can add recommended materials from within the app and use them immediately without opening the browser when in Simple Mode.

 

There are useful materials that are easy for even beginners to use, so if you are wondering what materials to download from Clip Studio Assets, try out using these recommended materials first.

Show Recommended Materials

A) Sub Tool palette (Brush/Eraser):

Select Add recommended brushes from the + button on the top right. This is how you add brush materials.

B) Color palette:

Tap the title of the color set, then select Add recommended sets from the + button at the top right of the color set selection screen. This is how you add color set materials.

C) Material palette:

Select Add recommended materials from the + button on the top right of Downloads. This is how you add image materials, pose materials, and body shape materials.

When a pop-up menu with a list of recommended materials appears, tap the material you are interested in to check it out. You can install the material within the app by tapping Download at the bottom.

If you are not logged in to Clip Studio then the login screen will appear.

 

Downloaded materials will be added to the Material palette in Downloads or Downloads in the brush list.

 

How to search for materials besides the recommended ones

Clip Studio Assets offers more than 150,000 materials such as brushes, patterns, and 3D models uploaded by the Clip Studio community. Go to Clip Studio Assets from the Recommended Materials list, scroll down and tap the button.

From here you can download popular materials and anything else you like! Please be aware there are some paid materials.

 

Using 3D drawing figures

You can use 3D drawing figures as reference for poses and compositions. They can be found in the Material palette under 3D. To paste a drawing figure onto the canvas, tap its thumbnail.

You can adjust the pose and body shape from the Object settings tab. You can also change its pose and body shape with materials by using Apply pose material and Use body shape material.

 

From the Camera details tab, you can adjust the camera. You can preset its angle from Apply angle preset and adjust the perspective with the slider.

 

Tapping the icons on the launcher to the left allows you to intuitively adjust the camera and light source with touch gestures.

After you have made all your adjustments, tap OK in the upper right corner.

You can download and use pose and body shape materials from Clip Studio Assets.

 

Saving and exporting your work

In the smartphone version of Clip Studio Paint, data is automatically saved each time you return to the home screen using the back button (<) located in the upper left corner of the screen. Furthermore, data is also autosaved at fixed intervals when you draw on the canvas.

However, the auto-save data cannot be shared as is. To share your work on social media, you need to export it into a sharable file format.

Tap ... in the upper right corner of the canvas and select Export image to save and share the image.

From here on, the saving procedure changes depending on whether you are using an Android or an iPhone.

 

●Android

Tap ... in the upper right corner of the canvas and select Export image to open a window to select Share or Save to device at the bottom of the screen. Selecting either option will display a preview screen.

Select your desired file format (PNG, JPG, PSD) and tap either the Share or Save button to finish exporting the image.

If you tapped the Share button then a pop up window will be displayed. Select a social media platform to share your work.

 

●iPhone

Tap ... in the upper right corner of the canvas and select Export image to open an image preview screen.

 

Select your desired file format (PNG, JPG, PSD) and press the Share button to open the sharing destination selection screen. Select a social media platform to share your work.

You can save the image to your smartphone with Save Image.

 

How can I use all of Clip Studio Paint's features?

You can use all the same functions available on the computer and tablet versions of Clip Studio Paint by switching the interface to Studio Mode.

To learn how to use Studio Mode, see the following article.