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In Procreate for iPad, use the built-in Background Color layer for a flat color, or assign an illustrated frame as the Animation Background to keep it beneath every animated frame. For an illustrated background, the key is to put its frame at the far left of the Animation Assist timeline before choosing Background. Procreate Dreams uses a different Stage setting.

Choose the right kind of background

  • Flat color: Set the document’s built-in Background Color layer. It sits behind your artwork and is not an animation frame.
  • Fixed illustrated or textured scene: Assign a frame as Animation Background. Procreate keeps it beneath the other frames.
  • Moving or changing scene: Keep the background as ordinary animation content so it can change between frames. For a track-based project, Dreams offers separate tracks and keyframes.

These options are distinct: hiding Background Color does not hide painted artwork in an Animation Background frame.

Turn on Animation Assist

  1. Open the artwork in Procreate for iPad.
  2. Tap the wrench icon, then Canvas.
  3. Turn on Animation Assist.

Your existing layers appear as frames in the timeline. The bottom layer in the Layers panel becomes the leftmost frame; grouped layers are treated as one frame. See Procreate’s Animation Assist interface guide.

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Set a flat-color background

  1. Open the Layers panel.
  2. At the bottom, tap Background Color.
  3. Choose a color in the Color panel.
  4. Play the animation to check that the color appears behind the artwork.

This is usually the simplest choice for a plain color. To make the canvas transparent instead, turn off the visibility checkbox beside Background Color. Procreate documents this built-in layer and its transparency behavior in the Layers interface guide.

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Keep an illustrated background beneath every frame

  1. Create or select the layer containing the background artwork.
  2. Move it to the bottom of the Layers panel. In Animation Assist, confirm its frame is at the far left of the timeline.
  3. Tap the leftmost frame, then tap it again to open Frame Options.
  4. Turn on Background.

The frame is locked at the bottom of the layer stack and remains underneath the other animation frames. Only the leftmost frame can be assigned this role, and only one Animation Background can be active at a time. Regular animation content overlaps it. The Frame Options guide explains the control; its cited handbook page is for version 5.3 and is marked as an older handbook, so do not treat that page as the current app-version number.

Change or remove an Animation Background

To replace it, move the intended replacement frame to the far left, open its Frame Options, and enable Background. To remove the assignment, select the current background frame, open Frame Options, and turn off Background. The frame can then be handled as ordinary animation content.

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Fix common problems

There is no Background option

  • Check that you are in Procreate for iPad, not Procreate Dreams.
  • Confirm Animation Assist is on: wrench → Canvas → Animation Assist.
  • Move the intended frame to the far left of the timeline.
  • Tap the frame again to open Frame Options.

The background covers the animation

Check its order and assignment. A normal opaque layer above the animated content can cover it; move the intended background frame to the bottom/leftmost position and assign it through Frame Options. Confirm it is locked at the bottom of the Layers panel.

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The background appears in only one frame or disappears during playback

If it is painted artwork, it may be an ordinary frame rather than an assigned Animation Background. Assign it as described above. For a flat color, check that Background Color is visible. Also inspect whether the background artwork fills the intended canvas area and whether layer visibility has changed.

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Transparency is still showing a background

Check both possible sources: the built-in Background Color layer and painted or imported background artwork. Hiding Background Color will not remove an opaque Animation Background frame. Hide or remove that artwork as well if you need transparency. Confirm the behavior for the specific export format you plan to use; do not assume every format preserves transparency in the same way.

The background makes onion-skin previews hard to read

An opaque scene can make nearby frames harder to judge visually. As a workflow aid, temporarily reduce or disable onion skinning while checking motion, use a simpler or lighter background during rough animation, and rely on playback to judge the result. This is practical guidance, not a documented background-specific restriction.

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When the background needs to move

Do not lock a scene as Animation Background if it needs to scroll, change color, shift for parallax, or move with a camera-pan effect. A locked background is for a stationary scene. Keep changing background elements in ordinary frames or grouped frames so their content can vary over time. Duplicating a static background into every frame can work, but it makes revisions and consistency harder; reserve that approach for backgrounds that genuinely change frame by frame.

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For more elaborate track-based motion, Procreate Dreams’ timeline supports separate content tracks and timeline modes, and its keyframes can animate movement and scale.

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Procreate Dreams uses a different background control

In Dreams, set a project-level color through Movie Settings → Stage → Background color. The Stage settings also include a Transparent background toggle. These controls are separate from content placed on tracks. For an illustrated scene that needs its own timing or movement, add it as Drawing or other content on a track; a Drawing added from the Create menu fills from its current timeline position to the end of the movie. See the official Movie Settings guide and timeline guide. Backstage visibility affects the editing view of content outside the Stage, not the Stage background setting.

Before exporting

  • Decide whether the final animation should have a visible background or transparency.
  • For a flat color, check the Background Color layer’s visibility.
  • For painted or imported scenery, check whether an Animation Background frame is present and visible.
  • If transparency is required, account for both the color layer and any background artwork.
  • Check the selected export format’s transparency behavior rather than assuming it matches every other format.

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