Intro to Clip Studio Paint - A Guide for Beginners

Clip Studio Paint is a fantastic art program for any hobby artist, illustrator, or comic artist.  As somebody who has used pretty much every art program under the sun (I was exclusively a SAI user for around 5 years and then switched to Photoshop for a few years after that, but I also tried programs like FireAlpaca, Medibang Paint, Krita, Corel Painter, Paintstorm, etc. just for fun) I can comfortably say that Clip Studio Paint is the most artist-friendly program out there, despite its seemingly complicated exterior. It has so much customizability and so many useful features that, in terms of practicality, I find most other art programs are seriously lagging behind it. Instead of feeling like I'm fighting to get my art program to do what I want, I'm almost always pleasantly surprised to learn that Clip Studio Paint is one step ahead of me, and has an easy solution for whatever I want to do.

That being said, it's no secret that Clip Studio Paint looks really daunting at first. There's so many buttons and tabs that it can feel a little overwhelming, and not everything is labeled very clearly for beginners. And if you've become comfortable with another program, it can feel foreign to suddenly switch formats.

My goal with this guide is to make the program and its features more approachable, so the task of setting yourself up is less intimidating.

Table of Contents

• PRO vs. EX
• Before Getting Started
• Workspace & Shortcuts
• New File
• Palette Overview
• Materials - How to Acquire & Use
• Brushes From Online
• Custom Brush Settings
• 3D Models
• Rulers
• Useful Tools
• Final Notes

PRO vs. EX

There are two versions of Clip Studio Paint available for sale called PRO and EX. PRO has fewer features than EX and is a fraction of the cost. EX has all of the same features as PRO, but with a few additional features specifically for comic making.

This chart is from the Clip Studio Paint site. You can view the full page here.

Should you spend extra to get EX? It depends on your art. If you're a hobby artist or illustrator, PRO has everything you'll need already. If you're a comic or webtoon artist, you may find EX more useful for your purposes - it offers a few comic-specific features, like multi-page files and line extraction (turning a photo or 3D object into lineart). 

Since I do both illustration and comics, I opted to upgrade to EX. I waited for one of their quarterly sales so it was less expensive to upgrade, which I recommend if you're interested in an upgrade but not in a rush to get it.

Before Getting Started

Before you even open the program, you have to buy and install it. The installation will install two programs by default, Clip Studio and Clip Studio Paint. Clip Studio is the launcher/hub for all Clip Studio programs, as well as an access point to the Asset Store, any updates, news, or important information, and the cloud backup system. 

It will also show a list of the past few files you've worked on, so you can quickly reopen something to keep working on it.

Click on PAINT in the top left corner to launch Clip Studio Paint.

Workspace & Shortcuts

The first thing you'll see when you open Clip Studio Paint is the layout of the program. Right away it can be a little confusing - there's a lot of button stacks on the sides and it looks really barren. 

In truth, these big stacks of buttons are collapsible windows. To expand them, just click the single arrow at the top. Clicking the double arrow will fully collapse it, leaving just a little strip visible.

For some people, especially iPad or mobile users, having collapsible windows can be really handy for saving screen space. But it can also be confusing if you don't know which is which. Personally, I never collapse my windows and prefer to just keep everything open.

Thankfully, Clip Studio Paint has a totally customizable layout, meaning you can rearrange and attach your windows any way you like to make them comfortable to you.

This is how my personal Clip Studio Paint workspace is laid out:

My workspace is available to download from the Clip Studio Assets store here.

To access all the available windows (also called palettes), just go to the Window menu at the top and select the ones you want to bring up. From there, you can drag and place them wherever. By dragging to the corners of your screen, you can snap a window there (a red line will appear when it's able to snap). They can also be snapped above and below other windows. 

You can customize how light or dark the interface is by going to File > Preferences and going to the Interface tab. You can pick between light and dark, and there's a slider you can adjust to get it to the perfect shade.

But what if you came over to Clip Studio Paint from another program and have gotten comfortable with its layout? There are a lot of creators who have made downloadable workspace layouts that mimic other programs!

If you're coming from Paint Tool SAI, here are a few SAI-mimicing layouts you can try:

1 2 3 

If you're coming from Photoshop, here are a few Photoshop-mimicing layouts:

1 2 

There are also tons of custom workspace layouts uploaded regularly to the Asset store. If you want some inspiration or just want to try a new layout, consider downloading a few and giving them a try!

If you want to change your shortcuts to match another program's, just go to File > Shortcut Settings and a full list of all the CSP shortcuts will come up, which you can edit to be however you like. Some workspaces available for download have their own custom shortcut settings, which you can opt to either keep or not keep when you install a new layout.

To save your workspace layout, go to Window > Workspace > Register Workspace. This will let you name the workspace and will keep a saved copy of your layout in case you ever need to revert back to it. You can also register it as a material through this menu if you want to upload it to the Asset Store or keep a copy in your library.

Another notable area of your workspace is the Command Bar, which is a strip of buttons at the top of the program that you can customize. By right clicking on the bar and clicking Command Bar Settings, you can make a button for nearly any function you want.

I chose to color-coordinate mine to make it more easily visible on my eyes, but by default the buttons are in black and white. I have a thread on how to do this here. 

New File

Before you can start drawing, you have to make a new file. Clip Studio Paint organizes its different canvas settings by use - either for illustration or comics. If you have EX, you can also make multi-page documents here.

You can either pick a preset canvas size from the dropdown list or customize the size with the fill boxes. You can also adjust the unit of measurement by going to the Unit dropdown on the right side. The Basic Expression Color dropdown lets you choose the color expression of your canvas: color allows for full color, gray allows for any black and white values, and monochrome limits you to just black or white.

Palette Overview

There are a lot of different palettes available for use in Clip Studio Paint, but when you're just getting started there's only a few you need to actually draw.

The Layer palette allows you to make and edit layers.

Vector Layer - This is a type of layer unique to CSP that behaves like a vector. I have a whole guide on these, they're really helpful for lineart and one of my favorite CSP features!

Layer Color - This feature lets you non-destructively change the color of everything in your current layer (similar to if you put a Color layer filled with your chosen color over the selected layer). This can be used to quickly change a sketch color and can be toggled on and off.

Lock Transparent Pixels - The same as SAI's "Preserve Opacity" function, this prevents you from drawing outside of the selected layer's pixels.

Draft Layer - This is a type of layer unique to CSP that becomes invisible when you export your file into a different format. This is handy for writing yourself notes or for hiding your sketch without having to delete the layer.

Reference Layer - This is a type of layer unique to CSP that forces your tools to obey the lines on the layer; for example, setting your lineart layer to reference will force your brushes to only color within those lines. This is another one of my favorite functions of CSP and I have a thread on it here.

Change Palette Color - This lets you change the color of your layer in the layer palette for easier organization.

The Layer Property palette gives you additional settings to edit your selected layer.

Here you can adjust your expression color or add effects to your layer.

The Border effect option lets you add an outline around everything on your selected layer, which you can change the color and thickness of.

The Tone option lets you convert your layer into manga tone (a pattern of dots or small shapes - think pop art or comic books).

Layer Color is the same as the Layer Color function already present on the layer palette.

If you have EX, the Extract Line function will also be listed here, which allows you to turn 3D objects of photographs into lineart.

The Tool palette is where all of your tool subsets are located. A subset is a group of tools all categorized together (all your pencils would be in the Pencil subset, all your selection tools would be in the Selection subset, etc.). You can rearrange the size, shape, and order of this palette to suit your needs - I have mine shaped like a rectangle to save space, but the default shape is a vertical strip of tools. 

When you click on a subset in the Tool palette, it'll bring up the list of tools in that subset in the Sub Tool palette.

There are several ways you can display your list of tools - I have mine displayed as a list of strokes, but you can also have them show as tiles or just as names if you prefer. Each subset can have multiple sets within it if you want to get really organized with your tools. To make a new set, just drag a brush up to the top where the sets are listed and it'll create a new one for you, which you can rename or edit by right clicking.

From the left, the bottom buttons are Import sub tool from material, Create copy of currently selected sub tool, and Delete sub tool.

In CSP, there is no way to create a "blank" brush from scratch - rather, to make a new brush you have to duplicate a pre-existing one and then modify that. 

I have a guide on how the Clip Studio Paint brush engine works and how to make your own brushes available to read here.

To access the settings of your brush, you have to go to the Tool Property palette. 

The settings visible here will be different depending on which ones you have toggled and what tool you're using. The Lock button next to the brush stroke will "lock in" your current settings, so any adjustments made after locking will undo themselves when you select a different tool (note that this also applies to brush size, so if you want to keep a brush at one size by default be sure to lock it!). 

If you want to hide or show certain settings here, you can click the wrench at the bottom righthand corner to open up the Sub Tool Detail window, which gives a full list of all available tool settings. To make a setting become visible in the Tool Property window, just click the eyeball next to it and it'll become available.

The Quick Access palette is a fully customizable palette that works similarly to the Command Bar, but with even less limitations. Here, you can put a button to represent almost anything you want - a brush, a color swatch, a keyboard shortcut, an auto-action, canvas rotation, the list goes on. 

You can have multiple sets of Quick Access menus that are accessible either from the dropdown or from multiple overhead buttons, depending on your preference. You can also customize the way your buttons are displayed by size and shape, and can add in dividers to organize them however you like.

To add something to your Quick Access menu, just right click on an empty space and go to Quick Access Settings. From here, it functions the same as the Command Bar and you can add whatever you like.

Personally, I like to have different Quick Access menus for different projects of mine (one for general illustration and then one for each of my webcomics, since they use different tools). This helps me stay organized and not mix up my tools between projects.

The Color Set palette is a place to make and save color swatches. You can have as many swatch sets as you want that you can switch through via the dropdown menu. The colors can also be named and labeled by hex, so if you want to organize them for projects you can do that. Even the size of the swatch squares can be adjusted.

To add a swatch, make sure the color you want to add is set as your foreground/drawing color and click the Add color button (the drop shape) at the bottom command bar. If the command bar isn't visible, go to the dropdown menu and click Show Command Bar. You can edit or rename a color by right clicking on it.

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There are a lot of different windows that CSP offers, and it'd take an entire guide of its own to explain them all. I recommend opening them all one by one and fiddling around with their options to see if they'd be useful in your workspace! 

Materials - How to Acquire & Use

The Materials palette is a library of all your assets that you can access at any time and quickly grab stuff from when you need it. All of your materials (including default, downloaded, and ones made by you) are separated into categories based on type, and you can create custom folders and tags to help break it down even further.

One of the most notable features of Clip Studio Paint is its asset store, where you can download usermade brushes and materials. You can access the Asset Store via the Clip Studio or by going to the website. As long as you have a Clip Studio Paint account logged in, you can download materials and be able to use them.

To download, just click the Download button next to the asset title. The download should start in Clip Studio (the arrow button on the top right side should get a 1 badge next to it), and when it completes you'll be able to access the asset from the Downloads folder of your Materials palette.

Note: If you're searching the Asset store for something specific and are struggling to find it, consider going to Google Translate and searching up the word in Japanese - a lot of CSP's userbase is from Japan, so many of the assets listed are written in Japanese and don't have tags in other languages.

To load a brush into CSP, just drag it from the Materials palette into your brush list like so:

The method of using a material depends on what the material is. Some materials like gradients and auto actions need to be loaded directly into their respective palette via the Import from material button at the bottom of the palette, while others like 3D models or textures can be dragged and dropped right onto your canvas.

If you want to mark a material as a Favorite, just click the heart button at the bottom right of the Materials palette while it's selected. Then a copy of it will always be available to quickly access from the Favorites folder.

Brushes from Online

If you want to load in a brush from elsewhere online or want to export your own, Clip Studio Paint uses its own file format called .sut. If you have a .sut downloaded, you can load it in the same way you'd load a brush from your library by dragging and dropping it into your brush list, or you can click the dropdown window and import it that way.

To export a brush, right click on it and click Export sub tool to save it on your computer as a .sut file.

Sites like Gumroad and Deviantart are a good place to find .sut brushes if you can't find something you like in the Asset store. I also have my own custom set of brushes available on Patreon, and many other creators who use CSP primarily do too.

Custom Brush Settings

The CSP brush engine can be a little overwhelming at first glance - it's arguably the most tightly-controlled brush engine out there for getting a brush exactly how you want it. But that's a bit of a double-edged sword if you're not sure how to navigate it.

I find that a lot of people who are considering switching to CSP tend to hesitate at the thought that they may not be able to replicate a brush from their old program (the most common issue being blending - Photoshop brushes have no blending by default, while SAI brushes are very blendable, and the default CSP brushes fall somewhere in the middle), but more often than not they're just not looking at the right settings.  

I have a full guide available that breaks down the entire brush engine and explains how you can get some common effects, like SAI-style blending and ribbon patterns. If you're struggling to get the effect you want or just want a comprehensive guide explaining what everything does with examples, consider checking it out!

3D Models

One of the best features Clip Studio Paint has to offer is their 3D model system. You can use a huge library of 3D models pre-built into the program, download custom models from the Asset Store, or even load in your own models.

A few notable features of the 3D model system:

• 3D character models with adjustable proportions, poses, and body types
• 3D scenes, including common comic scenery like classrooms, parks, and living rooms
• 3D objects that can be rotated and positioned to work with characters/scenes
• Rulers that automatically match up with your 3D models for drawing perspective

You can access 3D models from the Materials palette, specifically the 3D folder. Just drag an item onto your canvas and it'll be ready to manipulate.

I have a full guide covering the entirety of Clip Studio Paint's 3D model system and how to operate it. Check it out if you're interested in learning more!

Rulers

One of the best Clip Studio Paint features that sets it apart from other programs is its wide array of rulers. Never again will you have to freehand a circle or figure out perspective from scratch!

To access the rulers, just go to the Rulers subset in your Tool palette. When you have a ruler selected, just drag on your canvas to put it wherever you want.

You can see a full list of the rulers explained with gifs in this thread.

One ruler type that requires some explanation is the Perspective Rulers. Like the name implies, you can use these to draw objects or scenes in 1, 2, or 3-point perspective. 

To access Perspective Rulers, go to Layer > Ruler/Frame > Create Perspective Ruler. From here, you'll have the option to choose which type of perspective you want to use, and then the ruler will be placed on your canvas.

For info on using Perspective Rulers to draw backgrounds (and just general info on drawing backgrounds) check this guide.

One really neat feature that Perspective Rulers offer is line tool snapping - any shapes you draw with the line tool will automatically fit into perspective, making it incredibly easy to sketch out your scene.

Useful Tools

CSP has a ridiculous number of useful tools and features that I could get into, but because this is just a guide for beginners I'm only going to highlight a few of my favorites.

The Fill Lasso tool is one way to quickly fill in your lineart. You can find it under your Lasso subset (or some people seem to find it under their Fill Bucket subset instead). To use it, just make a blank layer under your lineart layer and then draw a circle around it. All of the closed gaps will fill in with your drawing color.

If you use the Fill Lasso paired with Reference Layers, you can have only certain lineart get filled, making it really easy to isolate and fill specific things.

The Paint Unfilled Area tool works similarly, but instead it fills any white gaps left behind from coloring.

The Select Color Gamut option lets you make a selection based on whatever color you click on - this is really handy for painting and selecting a lot of small things at once if they're the same color. To use this, go to Select > Select Color Gamut and click on whatever color you'd like to base your selection on.

You can make additional windows to view your drawing at different scales by going to Window > Canvas > New Window .  This is good for having a zoomed-out view of your drawing on one side and a close-up on the other.

Colorize (Technology preview) is a cool and somewhat practical tool that lets you automatically color lines based on what's beneath them. Essentially, CSP uses AI to auto-color your lines. This ends up having a soft, watercolor-looking effect and can lead to some unique results, though it's unpredictable so it's mostly just for fun. It's also worth noting that CSP requires internet access (and access to their servers) to use this function, so if you aren't okay with a copy of your canvas being uploaded to their servers privately then you may want to avoid it.

To use, make a layer beneath your lineart layer and put dots of color wherever you want them to be. Then go to Edit > Colorize (technology preview) and select Use hint layer CSP will use this and your lineart to "guess" where to put color, resulting in something like this:

The results can be a little strange, but combined with other layers it can have some beautiful results!

To make yourself a limited color palette, the Intermediate Color window is a great tool. If you fill each of the four corner squares with a desired color, it'll create a gradient of swatches between them (either as a smooth gradient or broken up into individual boxes, depending on your settings).

Final Notes

The final advice I can leave you with is to approach Clip Studio Paint with a curious mind. I often find that, on occasions when I'm puzzled on how to do something, CSP usually already has a tool that can solve my problem and I just haven't discovered it yet. I've been using the program consistently for years and even now I still stumble upon useful features I didn't know about yet! That's one of the things I really like about it - it doesn't ever feel like I'm struggling to achieve something like I would with other programs, because Clip Studio Paint was made with artists in mind. 

I have a full masterlist of all my CSP tips and guides, so if you have additional questions or are ready to learn more about it I recommend checking it out! I also regularly post CSP guides and resources on my Patreon.

Thank you for reading and happy drawing!