Getting Started on iPad and Android Tablets

If you are new to Sketchbook on your iPad or Android tablet, this short video is a great way to get familiar with the app.

The video demonstrates the basics you need to know to get started, so you can then confidently explore other features and find your own creative techniques.

For your reference, we’ve also captured the key tips in this post:

Navigating the canvas

To zoom or rotate the canvas, use 2-fingers to get the view and orientation you want.

The canvas will snap when you rotate near 90 degree angles.

Rotating the canvas is really useful for getting the right position for your hand. Some strokes are easier to achieve with the right orientation.

Pick and edit brushes

The Double Puck is a widget for making quick adjustments to your current brush.

The top bubble lets you drag left/right to adjust brush size. Dragging up/down changes the opacity.

Tapping on the color swatch opens up the Color Editor

You can also drag left/right to adjust the saturation of current color or up/down to change the luminance.

Brush Panel

The brush panel is where you select different brushes.

Tapping on brush or top icon open up the Brush window where you can adjust all of a brushes properties.

There is also the Brush Library tab to see all of the brush sets loaded in Sketchbook. You can pin any set to the panel

Sets can be customized by tap-hold on a brush to drag and drop it to another set.

Layers

Use the layer panel to create or adjust layer settings.

Every canvas has a background that appears at bottom of the layer stack. You can change color or turn off background when exporting transparent images.

Tap on a layer to see layer options and layer tools.

Saving your sketches

When you switch apps, Sketchbook temporary stores your work in progress, so it can be there when you return. But if your device shuts down or if there is an error, this unsaved work can be lost.

Save your sketches regularly to avoid loss of progress. You can properly save your sketches from the Main Menu in the toolbar. Use Save to Gallery.

To view your saved work, select Gallery.

Exporting and Sharing

Share and Export from the Gallery menu or Main Menu.

This is how you can save your artwork as different file formats to the file folders on your device or sharing to other apps.