Introduction

Today I’ll be explaining several methods to improve your efficiency while working in Clip Studio Paint. You can watch the video version of this tutorial above.

Command Bar

The command bar allows you to execute a menu function by clicking the icons on it. If the command bar isn’t visible on your screen, navigate to “Window”, then click on “command bar”. To modify the command bar, right click on it and open the command bar settings. Here you can select the function that you want to add. The command bar is highly customizable. I can then press “shift+tab” twice to hide the menu commands and program bar to increase my working area.

Workspace Organization

You can customize your workspace in Clip Studio to suit your needs. You can move around the windows and remove unnecessary ones. If you press “Tab,” you can hide every other window except for the canvas. You can also find and try out workspaces made by other artists on Clip Studio Assets.

Pop-up Palette

You can make use of the “pop up palettes” feature in Clip Studio. First, close all windows, turn off the command bar and opened files tab to clear up your workspace. Now, go into your shortcut settings. Select “Pop up Palette.” These are all the available palettes that can be assigned a shortcut. Pressing the shortcut will pop up the panel on the position of the cursor. You can adjust the size of the panel to your desire. If you want your palette to remain visible, you should instead create a shortcut for “Window -> [panel Name].” Now whenever I press the keyboard shortcut the panel will toggle its visibility. Most tablets allow you to set keystrokes to buttons on your stylus or drawing tablet.

History Palette

If you want to undo many actions, instead of pressing Ctrl+Z repeatedly, you can use the history palette. Find it by clicking on “Window,” “History”. The history window chronologically displays your previous actions on the canvas. The maximum number of operations that can be recorded can be changed by navigating to “File,” “preferences”, “Performance”, then “undo levels”. Hold space and drag vertically to scroll through your operation history. Clicking which record of operation to revert to will restore the canvas to the state immediately after the execution of the record.

Layer Navigation and Operation

For artists who work on smaller displays and use a high number of layers, click on this icon “show layers in 2 panes” to split your layer window into two sections. No more hassle!

 

If the scroll bar on the layer window is too small for you, hold “Space” and drag the layers to scroll through them.

 

Hold “Ctrl+Shift” and drag your cursor to highlight an area on the canvas. Clip Studio will highlight the layer it belongs to. This is great for finding leftover artifacts from your paintings.

 

Artistic Filter

If you need a quick background, try using Clip Studio’s Artistic Filter. Find it in “Filter -> Effect -> Artistic.” “Lines only” will only process the edges and contrast from the image to create linework. “Color only” will simplify, blur, and blend the colors of an image. Change the parameters to your desired effect. This is a good starting point for achieving a painterly texture, or for extracting lineart from a background image.

Quick Access Palette

The Quick Access palette can register frequently used tools, menu commands, auto actions and drawing colors. It can be found through “Window”, “Quick Access”. It’s great for those who have trouble remembering many shortcuts, and allows the use of shortcuts without a keyboard. The default set used in the quick access palette can be modified to your liking. Right click the quick access palette to find the quick access settings.

 

You can change the name of the quick access set, the list display method, the button display method, and the button list order.

Auto Actions

With auto actions, you can automate any list of actions performed within Clip Studio to speed up your workflow. Find the auto action palette by selecting “Window”, “Auto Action”. The Auto action palette allows you to record multiple operations and run them in one go. The registered operations can be run on another canvas. You can also download auto action sets from Clip Studio assets made by other Clip Studio users if you don’t want to make your own. Like the quick access feature, auto actions can be assigned to an auto action set.

 

(1) After creating an auto action set, click this button to create an auto action. You can rename the auto action, here let’s name it “Set draft layer”.

 

(2) Press the red button here to start recording your actions. I’ll first set the current layer to a draft layer, then change the layer color to blue. Then I’ll reduce the opacity of the current layer, before finally creating a new raster layer above the current layer. Then I press the Red button again to stop recording. The auto action has now been registered, and I can preview all the actions performed.

 

(3) I can also press the play button to perform the auto action. I can uncheck these boxes to remove the action from the list, so when I click on play the auto action will skip this action. Now I can register this auto action to the quick access palette or the command bar.

 

(4) Press the rubbish bin icon to delete the auto action.

Companion Mode

Recently, Clip Studio introduced Companion Mode support on all platforms. Companion mode is a feature on all smartphones that allows you to turn your phone into a handheld shortcut remote for Clip Studio Paint even without an active Clip Studio plan on your smartphone. To setup Companion Mode, first, make sure that Clip Studio Paint is installed on both your smartphone and computer or tablet device. If installed, make sure that the app is up to date on both devices. Once installation is complete, connect both devices to the Internet using the same router or access point. Launch CSP on your computer or tablet. Tap “connect to smartphone” in the Command Bar to generate a QR code. If this is the first time you use this feature a confirmation message might appear on your device’s OS or security software, make sure you grant permission to use Companion Mode. Launch Clip Studio on your smartphone. Tap on “get started”. Make sure your canvas is not open on your smartphone. Once the manage works screen appears, tap Companion mode. When the confirmation message appears, click scan QR code. Scan the QR code displayed on your computer or tablet with your smartphone camera. Tap the Start Companion Mode link when it appears in the camera app.

 

The Quick Access palette will appear when you first switch to Companion Mode, which has the same functionality as the quick access palette on your computer or tablet. Each button performs the action on your connected computer or tablet. Other than quick access, you can tap the buttons below to switch modes. You might need to swipe to see all the buttons. There’s quick access, color wheel, gesture pad, sub view, color mixing, and webtoon preview, mode switch, and settings.

 

General Timesavers

If you find yourself venturing into your sub tools’ details palette often to change its settings, you can instead toggle their visibility on the tool property palette by clicking on the eye icon next to the corresponding setting.

 

 

If you’re constantly using the lasso tool and paint bucket to fill your drawings, you can instead use the “Lasso Fill” tool to shorten your process into a single step. You can find it under “direct draw”.

I hope you all managed to learn something new from this article!