CSP TIPS FOR WEBTOON DRAWING

By hakei (@hakeism)
─

DISCLAIMER
This is in no way the most comprehensive or correct way - I just slapped together things I know
and settings that I use. If your device blows up following this document, I’m not liable.
Feel free to suggest additional shortcuts and tips. I can add them here.

1
BEFORE YOU START READING…
CREDITS
Many thanks to webtoon creators 두미두미 and 땍꾸 for their informative Youtube videos on
their settings and workflow.

ASSUMPTIONS
● This guide assumes you have a basic understanding of art and the basics of art programs.
● Some features mentioned may require Clip Studio EX.
● SketchUp won't be covered here.

SHORT FAQ - General

● Clip Studio Pro or EX?
○ Try the free trial versions first. If you're serious about making comics, especially for
print, use EX.
■ EX-only features: manage multiple pages in one project file, auto-extract
lineart from 3D, export multiple pages in one button, auto-crop images
■ Clip Studio goes on 40-50% sales around major holidays, including a
discounted price if you want to upgrade from Pro to EX during that time.
● Vertical scroll or traditional print format?
○ Vertical scroll format for Webtoon or Tapas, as it's mobile-friendly.
○ If you have ANY plans to print, draw in the traditional format.
■ It’s much easier to resize from print format to vertical scroll than vice versa.
● Make sure it’s mobile-friendly when you post it. If your comic is hard to
read on the phone, readers won’t look at your work.
● Many creators draw in print format then create a separate scroll
version for uploading by copy/pasting the panels.
● Webtoon backgrounds?
○ SketchUp and Clip Studio assets, or even Sims 4. Blender is great for 3D modeling.
○ Your own photos and free usage photos may also be used.
○ You can also use Perspective Rulers to help draw your own.
● Average number of panels for an episode?
○ Contracted professionals typically have 50+ panels per episode.
○ Indie creators can aim for 20-40 panels, depending on the genre.
■ Lighthearted slice of lifes do well with short episodes. For plot-heavy dramas,
you’ll need more.
■ Rule of thumb: each episode should give something for readers to react to or
important information to gather.

2
 ● Panelling?
○ Study Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.
○ Analyze successful webtoons/mangas.
■ For example: if studying how to begin the first episode, pull up the first
chapters of 5 top ranking webtoons/mangas of your genre, as well as other
genres
● Analyze what the first dialogue is, how the panel introducing the main
character is drawn, when the MC’s motivation was shown, etc.
● Drawing takes too long?
○ Prioritize storytelling over detailed art.
■ The average reader spends 1-2 seconds on a panel before moving on.
○ Focus on drawing the big outlines & important key stuff like
poses/angles/expressions.
■ Draw the details later when you have time.
■ I find anime are great at capturing the important bits: poses, dynamic angles,
expressions, what clothing wrinkles to emphasize, when to simplify, etc.
■ And superhero comics are great for anatomy and colors
○ Draw smart, not hard.
■ Take shortcuts when you can.
● Harsh reality is, many readers will not sympathize if you broke your
wrist drawing the world’s most beautiful comic — they just want the
next episode.

SHORT FAQ - Other

● Pay for online advertising?
○ Generally not recommended as there tend to be very little result compared to what
you pay (and can get pricey).
○ Studying social media marketing and applying them to your online presence can
take a while with many hurdles, but can lead to amazing results (and it’s free!).
● Slicing panels for uploading?
○ Webtoon and Tapas automatically slice images. Check their guidelines for accepted
sizes.
○ Clip Studio also has an Export Webtoon feature.
● Best time/day to upload?
○ There’s too many varying factors for one answer but consistency is key. Let your
readers know when to expect updates.
● Common font/size used?
○ Anime Ace
■ Use a font that is clear and legible, even at smaller sizes.

3
 ○ Size depends on the canvas and DPI settings. Try taking a screenshot of a comic
with a font size you like and pasting it onto your canvas to gauge a similar font size.
● How do I build a readership?
○ Treat Webtoon/Tapas or other platforms as hosting sites. Much like a streamer,
you’ll have to be active in your own social media promotions.
● HELP! My images look crunchy on the Webtoon app!
○ Export as PNG instead of JPEG.
● HELP! My files are too big for Webtoon!
○ I found Croppy to be the best image compressor that doesn’t change your colors or
significantly decrease the quality.

BRUSH/3D/OTHER ASSET RESOURCES

● Clip Studio Assets store: brushes, 3D models, poses, effects, screentones, etc.
● Acon3D: SketchUp backgrounds, brushes, 3D models, has its own Abler free software
● Creative Market: brushes, 3D, photos, mockup templates, etc.
● 3D Warehouse: for building SketchUp assets
● CGTrader, TurboSquid: various 3D assets, not all are suitable for CSP
● Toon make: SketchUp backgrounds, some are already on Acon
● SnapToon: I think SnapToon is its own software for BGs. Some models already on Acon

FONT RESOURCES
● Blambot: free and licensed fonts for dialogue and sound effects
● Google fonts: tons of free licensed fonts
● Creative Market: sometimes has free font promotions

VIDEO GUIDES
● Webtoon’s Creator Resources page
● Using and editing SketchUp for webtoon backgrounds
● Using this doc’s template in action (this one will help with the Basic Workflow section)
● Improving comic readability
● Using the vector layer for lineart
● Drawing for traditional print-format comics

TIP
Avoid doing lineart on a white background to reduce eye strain— I like to
use this asset.

4
 Table of Contents
BEFORE YOU START READING… 2
CANVAS SET UP 7
A. TEMPLATE 7
B. TEMPLATE TRANSLATED 8
C. SMARTPHONE SCREEN GUIDES 9
D. FRAME FOLDER 11
E. WORD BALLOON STYLE 12
BASIC WORKFLOW (Quick ver.) 15
BASIC WORKFLOW (Expanded ver.) 17
A. STORYBOARD/SKETCH LAYER 17
B. VECTOR LINEART LAYER 18
C. FLAT BASE COLORS 20
D. SHADOWS/RENDERING 22
E. BACKGROUND 24
DRAW SMART, NOT HARD 27
A. USE 3D ASSETS 27
B. SAVE FREQUENTLY USED HEADS/POSES/ITEMS 31
C. ANGLES AND POSES 32
D. USE RULERS 33
E. COMBINE MODELS AND BACKGROUNDS 35
F. BACKGROUND 3D MANIPULATION 39
G. CHANGE MOOD WITH GRADIENT MAPS 40
WEBTOON COLORING STYLES 42
SHADING COLOR 42
SIMPLIFIED STYLE 43
MATCHING CHARACTER COLORS TO ENVIRONMENT 44
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 46
SELECTION WAND 46
BRUSH 46
COLOR 46
CANVAS 46
LAYER 46
CSP ORGANIZING TIPS 47
TOP BAR 47
AUTO ACTION 47
BRUSHES 48
UPDATE LOG 49

5
1. GETTING STARTED

6
CANVAS SET UP

A. TEMPLATE
I use a modified DumiDumi’s webtoon template:
● UPDATED link: https://assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/detail?id=1824107
○ DumiDumi fixed the Shadow layer setting

You can save your own modified template by going to Edit > Register Material > Template.
It’s recommended to start at least a 1500px/1600px width canvas, and then size it down
for posting.

7
 B. TEMPLATE TRANSLATED
The left is the translated layers in the base
DumiDumi template.

Here’s what my customized template looks like.

You can download an episode file of mine here (Google Drive).

8
 TIP
Important layers can be assigned colors for easy visual
recognition.

C. SMARTPHONE SCREEN GUIDES

The template comes with guidelines for a single
smartphone screen.
● Aim for one or two panels per phone screen.
● Hide the guidelines before exporting the page (or
mark it as a Draft layer).

Note: the guide seems to be based on an older smartphone

screen ratio

9
 You can also use CSP’s webtoon
previewer (View > On screen area
(webtoon) and change the Height to
your phone size

Clip Studio also has

Companion Mode
where you can sync a
canvas to your phone
to preview it.

It rarely works for me

though :’)

10
D. FRAME FOLDER
Create frames on a single frame layer - be sure to select “Add to selected folder”

11
 (optional) Cut Frame Border for even spacing
between two panels

To easily change the space between

frames, go to Edit > Change Canvas
Height > Extend or Crop.

E. WORD BALLOON STYLE

Two styles — don’t forget to leave some white
space around the text for padding.
● In general: keep within 3-4 words per line and one
sentence per balloon.
● Blambot has free lettering resources.

12
If you have a balloon that you use frequently or have
created your own, you can save it as a Material.
(create an empty text balloon, then drag it to your
Materials folder)

Clip Studio assets also have some great hand-drawn

balloons like this one.

13
2. LET’S WORK

You can download an episode file of mine here (Google Drive).

14
BASIC WORKFLOW (Quick ver.)

Simplify your layers to avoid clutter. Especially if you’re working with other people.

15
16
BASIC WORKFLOW (Expanded ver.)

A. STORYBOARD/SKETCH LAYER
Toggle the Draft button so the sketch layer won’t show up when using Fill Bucket,
exporting the image, etc.

Tools may need to be adjusted so that they

ignore Draft layers when paint bucketing.

(I also find it useful to have the paintbucket ignore Text

layers).

17
B. VECTOR LINEART LAYER

Use vector layers for all lineart.

You can adjust the lineart’s thickness, size,

brush shapes, etc. without killing the quality.
More vector options can be seen at the Combine
Models and Backgrounds section.

This set of tools can help you manipulate vector lines.

18
 Use the Vector Eraser for
quick erasing.

One single eraser stroke can

delete an entire line.

TIP
Anti-aliasing: weak or strong?
Generally:
Turn it OFF for printed black/white comics, for crisp lines
on paper.
Turn it ON for digital/color comics so the lines are
smoother and easier on the eyes.

(But as with many things when it comes to art, personal

preference should be #1.)

19
C. FLAT BASE COLORS

Set your main lineart layer as the Reference

Layer.

That means the bucket will use the lines of the

Reference layer as a guide on where to fill and
where not to.

Use a custom color bucket with these

settings to fill in quickly.

You can also use this famous asset:

close and fill tool without gaps (the ice
cream man).

<< an important setting.

20
Paint all the base
colors on one layer.

21
 TIP
Tiny gaps in the
base colors can
usually be
“disguised” if you
put grey behind
it.

D. SHADOWS/RENDERING

Use a custom Selection Wand to

select by color. It’ll select all of the
same colors on the same layer.

This means you can do shading

for that selected color quickly (ex:
lay down all the shadows for
browns; or change shadow color
for all the reds)

22
 << an important setting

Use a Multiply layer for shading.

Screen/Overlay/Hard Light layers

for environmental lights, a separate
layer for airbrush effects, etc.

23
Use the Lasso Fill tool to quickly draw/fill an area.
Figure > Direct Draw
(or shortcut key 'U')

Lasso Fill is very useful for cell-shading.

TIP
Obtain display color: grab colors of what you see on the
screen, including any applied effects.
Pick up color from layer: allows you to grab color of a layer
without its effect. Very useful when you want to grab a color
without turning on/off effects.

24
E. BACKGROUND

If you’re drawing
backgrounds, similar
principles as above
apply.

Using Layer Masks

help prevent images
from overflowing to
other panels.

TIP

Layer Masks: “Erases” without actually

erasing the image. Basically hiding
parts.

25
3. USE THOSE ASSETS

26
DRAW SMART, NOT HARD

A. 3D MODELS
Clip Studio Assets store has TONS of assets of all kinds, both free and paid.

Clip Studio Ver 2.0 includes heads that you can

customize.

27
 Clip Studio V2 includes a Hand
Scanner that you can apply to
hand models. (I’m using this
asset.)

But sometimes tracing a photo

of your own hand or feet is
faster and more accurate.

TIP

28
You can also manipulate CSP’s base
models to change height, arm length,
shoulder width, etc.

29
All models have shadows that can
be used as a reference.
● Clip Studio v2 has a Shading
Assist feature — it’s wonky but can
be used as a reference/starting
point.

30
CSP also has a simple Rendering
engine and a Physics engine (not all
models are compatible with the
physics).
● click on the wrench icon >
Preferences
● I don’t know where this would
be used but I thought it was
cool.

You can upload a 2D image to a base Primitive Shape to

move it around in a 3D space.

31
B. SAVE FREQUENTLY USED HEADS/POSES/ITEMS
¾ view to the side is a frequent one. You can draw in advance all the head angles.

32
C. ANGLES AND POSES

Clip studio’s store is full of free and

paid poses so you don’t have to go
through the trouble.

There is also a feature called Pose

Scanner (pic above in the Use 3D
Assets section) where you can upload
pose photos and the model will
change to the pic.

Dynamic angles can be made by toying with

Perspective, Roll, and Manga Perspective.

33
 TIP: Turn OFF the Joint Angle Limit for easier posing.
It’ll allow you to turn limbs in unnatural poses/angles.

D. USE RULERS
Load a 3D object and use the Perspective Rulers that come with it to draw with it.
● If you use Marquee tools while the ruler is toggled on, it’ll automatically change to
fit with the perspective.
● To turn off/on the Ruler, you can right click and click Show Ruler.

34
 If these icons are turned on, your Brush/Pens will snap to
the rulers, making any lines you draw aligned to the
perspective.

You can also display the

ceiling/wall grids, and change the
grid cell size.

35
E. COMBINE MODELS AND BACKGROUNDS
You can add CSP models directly to
CSP backgrounds.
● If needed, both the sizes of
dolls and background models can
be adjusted.

Right click on the 3D Layer, and

select Convert to Lines and Tones.

36
I typically use this setting:

(Check the Preview box

before committing.)
(I sometimes turn on Extract
Texture and Tone Work,
depending on what sort of
work I’m doing.)

After extraction some lines may look

wonky, so I like to use Vector Tools to help
smooth or clean some lines.

37
 And if things still look
jagged for your liking,
Rasterize the layer and
then apply a Smooth
filter.

TIP:
You can even change
the line’s brush. While
on the Operation tool,
select the Vector Layer,

And then click on the

arrow next to Brush

38
Shape to pull down your brush selections.
Brush options can be added selecting your desired brush, click on the wrench icon on the side,
then go to Brush Shape > Add to Presets.

39
F. BACKGROUND 3D MANIPULATION

● Clip Studio V2 has a Fog option for 3D

background assets so you can apply
perspective effects.

And while changing the camera angle if the

buildings start to look too slanted, there’s
also a Straighten Vertical Perspective option.

(What I did on the left:

1. Base
2. Enable Fog, added sky
3. Extract Line and Tone, applied shadow)

40
If the model has parts you’re allowed to
manipulate, you can double click on an
object and the object will be
automatically selected in the list.

If there’s a no-arrow-sign on the list like

the screenshot, you can usually disable it
by double clicking on the icon.

G. CHANGE MOOD WITH GRADIENT MAPS

Gradient Maps can be used to

change colors or the atmosphere.

(TIP: try setting a gradient map to

Multiply, Overlay, or Hard Light. All
have different effects.)

Auto actions like this one can

change the mood via one click.
Very handy especially if you use it
along with SketchUp.
(You’ll have to label layers
beforehand so the auto action can
work properly).

41
4. NO STYLE, NO LIFE

42
WEBTOON COLORING STYLES
My twitter thread with these images: https://twitter.com/hakeism/status/1512530506251862022

SHADING COLOR

43
SIMPLIFIED STYLE

44
MATCHING CHARACTER COLORS TO ENVIRONMENT
Basically, take colors from the background and play around with the Multiply and Overlay layers.
Gradient Maps can also be used.

45
5. MORE CSP TIPS

46
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

SELECTION WAND
● Add to current selection: [shift] +
select layer/color
● Subtract from current selection:
[alt] + select layer/color

BRUSH
● Change size: [ctrl] + [alt] + drag
brush to size

COLOR
● Switch between foreground and
background color: [x]
● Switch between foreground and
transparent color: [c]

CANVAS
● Change size: [ctrl] + [alt| + [C]
● Zoom in/out: [ctrl] + mouse wheel
● Move: Space bar

LAYER
● Hide all other layers except the
selected: [alt] + select layer
○ Re-show all layers: [alt] +
same layer
● Find what layer something is on:
(while using the Move Layer tool)
[ctrl] + [shift] + click on thing
● Select all the pixels of a layer:
(while on the Wand tool) [ctrl] +
click the layer in the Layer window

47
QUALITY OF LIFE/TOOL ORGANIZATION
NOTE! Once you make changes, you have to manually backup your workspace settings via Cloud or
whatever. Otherwise the next time you open CSP, Clip may revert back to your last saved settings.

TOP BAR
● Add shortcut buttons to frequently used Menus/ Filters/Auto actions
○ Right click on the header bar > Command Bar Settings
○ Icons can be rearranged via click + drag
○ Customize icons by right click > Icon Settings

AUTO ACTION
● A bit faster/easier to use if you change it to Button Mode
○ Click on the hamburger menu/ the three lines for Options
● Go to Edit Set, insert empty new sets with —----- as their names

48
 BRUSHES
● Click + Drag brush icons to create their own
catalogs.

To make a catalog header (such as

the “Tree” or “Sky”), first make a
custom icon via a small square
canvas, and save it as a JPG/PNG.

Then follow the steps in the pic.>

49
 6. UPDATE LOG

UPDATE LOG
10/26/2021: Added more info
12/7/2021: Added video section
6/5/2023: Updated Clip Studio V2.0 info and more detailed screenshots. Also more links. Added CSP
Organizing tips section. Added information on 3D. Added Table of Contents.
6/13/2023: Added select all pixels in the keyboard shortcuts.
6/18/2023: Added color gap mending tip and in FAQ the bit about paying for advertising.
6/27/2023: added tip about moving two 3Ds together.

50