Hello! My name is Liz Staley and I’m a long-time user of Clip Studio Paint (I started using the program back when it was known as Manga Studio 4!). I was a beta-tester on the Manga Studio 5 program and for Clip Studio Paint, and I have written three books and several video courses about the program. Many of you probably know my name from those books, in fact. I write weekly posts on Graphixly.com and on CSP Tips, so be sure to come back every week to learn more Clip Studio Tips and Tricks from me!

The first time you open Clip Studio the interface can be a bit intimidating! However, instead of panicking and closing the program, never to open it again, let’s take a look at all the pieces of the interface and explore just the features you need to know to get started making your first digital sketch in just a few moments! Once you know a few basics then you can start playing with the other tools and looking up tutorials for specific features!

In this article we will cover the following topics:

Clip Studio App

Clip Studio Paint Interface

Let’s get started!

Clip Studio App

I will be going through all of these examples on the Desktop version of Clip Studio Paint v.5 so your own interface may look different if you are on a mobile device or Apple computer, but the general layouts should be the same. 

When you first open Clip Studio after installing, you will be greeted with what’s called the “Clip Studio App”. This is part of Clip Studio Paint but is not the area you will be drawing in. Consider this app to be an account and project manager as well as a resource for help and new tools! It’s like a one-stop-shop for anything Clip Studio Paint related that isn’t actually drawing. 

Below is a screenshot of the Clip Studio App as of April 2026. Below the screenshot I will detail the different icons and tell you what they’re used for.

1 - Shows the amount of Cloud storage you have (included with your free Clip Studio account) and how much you have used.

2 - Shows how much Gold and Clippy currency your account currently has. These are currencies used to download premium materials and assets located in the Assets store.

3 - Shows any assets that are currently downloading.

4 - Help icon

5 - Settings Icon

6 - Menu icon. This is where you will find shortcuts to official tutorials, the assets store, User support, Clip Studio showcase, and more. Software updates will also show up here when they are available. 

7 - Shortcut to open Clip Studio Paint.

8 - Home shortcut (return to the current screen when in Tips, Materials, Notifications, etc.)

9 - Projects Icon: Manage and open Clip Studio Paint projects

10 - Notices: See notices about comments on your own posted Tips, Materials, and get other account notifications.

11 - Account: See whether you are logged in to your account (will show your account icon if you are logged in) and also access your account settings.

12 - See recently opened projects and open them to start working quickly. You can add new files here by clicking “Open other files” in the top right, or see more projects by clicking on the > button at the end of the Project thumbnails.

13 - See any recommended materials available in the Assets store. These update often and are usually popular materials that you may be interested in. 

14 - See any recommended Tips posts. These are helpful tutorials posted by other Clip Studio Users. 

Clip Studio Paint Interface

Now that we’ve looked at the Clip Studio app interface, click on the “Draw” icon to open Clip Studio Paint. Once opened, you may be prompted to make a new file. Close out of this window just for now so we can get to know the interface before starting a drawing. 

Below is the default interface for Clip Studio Paint. (Note that some drawing tools in coming screenshots may not be in your program as they are ones that I have downloaded over time through CSP Assets).

1 - File Menu 

2 - Shortcuts bar

3 - Tool bar

4 - Foreground/Background and Transparent color swatches

5 - Tool Group, Tool Settings, and Brush Size palettes

6 - Color Wheel picker

7 - Color Swatches

8 - Brush size and brush opacity shortcut sliders

9 - Canvas area

10 - Navigator and Subview palettes

11 - Layers

12 - Materials Library

Now let’s click on one of the tools in the tool bar. Depending on which you select, the options in the tool settings window will change. For example, I clicked on the Pencil category and the pencil tools under that category are shown. 

In addition to showing the different types of tools in that category, the second tab in this palette window shows tool options that can be adjusted, such as the brush density. You can also adjust stabilization in these settings if you prefer to use it. 

Now let’s create a new file! Click File - New or use CTRL+N to open the New dialog window. For your first time opening Clip Studio Paint, I wouldn’t stress out about the options in this window. There’s a lot of settings because of the versatility of the program, but for the first time exploring it, just hit OK without changing anything, or click on the first icon in the “Project” section and choose “Square” from the Preset menu. Click OK to create the new canvas. 

Once you have a new file open, it will display in the canvas area. If you look in the Layer palette area, you will see now that two layers are there, one labeled Paper and one labeled “Layer 1”. The Paper layer is a background layer that cannot be drawn on, so make sure that the “Layer 1” is selected (it will be highlighted in blue when you are on that layer).

Select the pencil from the tool bar and then select one of the pencil tools from the Tool group palette. Now, start drawing! You’ll want to experiment with the different tools that come with CSP and get a feel for them to see which ones you like. You can make new layers by clicking “Layer - New Raster Layer” and refine your sketch on a new layer without changing your previous lines. Be sure to try out the ink, brush, and eraser tools as well to see what they’re like!

Conclusion

Remember that exploring new software is a fun adventure! Once you’ve done your first sketch, you can look for specific articles on inking, coloring, comic creation, or any other subject that you’re interested in learning about. Having a bit of experience with the software already will make those things easier to learn because you’ll be more familiar with where tools are located. 

For more information on CLIP Studio Paint, please visit https://www.clipstudio.net/en or https://graphixly.com