Sketchbook 6 is loaded with new features and provides increased flexibility for you to work the way you want to.
What's New
For people who want to take their creativity even further, the Premium Bundle unlocks advanced features for brush creation, color management, layer management and new export options.
The Premium Bundle is available as an in-app purchase. To get it, go to the canvas menu 
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Sketchbook Pro 9.0 brings a large number of new features and updates.
Those who have used Sketchbook for a while will be happy to find some of their feature requests included in this version. We have approached both new and updated workflows with the muscle memory and preferences of existing users in mind.
Below you can find a list of new and updated features in v9, with links to the updated help documents throughout this site.
New features for custom color management
- Create custom color palettes and sets of palettes. Any palette can have up to 60 color swatches, there can be up to 12 palettes in a set, and a maximum of 50 color sets in the Color Library.
- Your custom color swatches from the previous version of Sketchbook Pro will migrate to the new Color Library and can be found a set called "My Colors"
- Pick colors or extract entire palettes from reference images. Define how colors are extracted from the image to a new color palette.
- Color harmony bar: complementary, split complementary, analogous, triadic, or tetradic
- Gradient bar: color gradient presets and custom-defined gradients
- Visualize color harmony in the color wheel
- HSV sliders
- HEX value input
- Randomize color: select from HSV, gradient, or active color palette
New masking and blend modes
- Clipping Masks
- Versatile layer masking using a layer's alpha channel (transparency)
- Isolate mask effects by grouping layers and applying 'Normal' blend mode to the group
Brush Library updates
- Randomize brush set changes brushes after each stroke. This is particularly useful for creating realistic natural textures such as hair, fur or grass
- Additional pre-loaded brush sets
Tool updates
- Draw Outline applies a stroke to the active selection path
- Lasso Fill dynamically fills the area defined by the lasso
- Free Symmetry tool in the symmetry sub-toolbar. Rotate your line of symmetry to any angle.
- The Text Editor now uses the Color Editor for color selection
- There is a new option in the Predictive Stroke sub-menu to enable/disable snapping. Disabling snapping will allow the creation of straight lines that don't snap to 0 / 45 / 90 angles. Snapping is on by default, because in previous versions it could not be disabled.
User interface updates
- Higher contrast graphics for improved readability
- Updated icons for this decade
- Auto Hide UI when drawing, with customizable timer for restoring the interface
- Menu bar > View changes:
- Brush crosshair, outline and stamp, and scroll bar view options have been moved here from Preferences, so that they can be more dynamically enabled/disabled
- Support for common hotkey combinations for zooming in and out has been added
- Lagoon view menu (position 1): view states for UI, fullscreen, and Lagoon now toggle to remove duplicate commands
- Layer menu: rename layer no longer supports custom thumbnail workflow. This was retired as part of updates to improve overall stability
- Changing color of the background layer now uses the Color Editor. Note that it is not possible to use the color picker when changing the background layer.
- Flipbook now uses the standard Layer Editor, and includes all Layer Editor features including blend modes, clipping masks, text layers and layer management tools
- Have up to 20 layers/groups in the foreground
- Have up to 20 layers/groups in the background
- The persistent background layer stack is now accessed through the timeline
- The midground concept is deprecated as you now have more than three layers available! Existing .skba files will move the midground layer to the foreground layer stack
- Work on larger canvas sizes
- You can now create Flipbooks up to 4K resolution
- Presets include 4K, 2K, and paper aspect ratios for A4 & Letter
- Ghosting (onion skinning)
- 7 preset tint colors to help identify next and previous keyframes
Preferences updates
- New Preferences options for creating backup files at each save (off by default)
- Choose whether new files will default to incremental file names (on by default) or use "Untitled"
- Option to verify TIF files after saving, for an extra check that a save completed successfully (off by default)
- Disable anti-aliasing with Pixel preview (off by default)
- Create or restore a backup of your Preferences
Android | iOS | macOS | Windows
Sketchbook (Android)
Latest release: 6.3, Oct 26, 2026
- New in the Premium Bundle!
- Select whether you want to see pan/zoom navigation in your time-lapse recording or a fixed canvas view.
- Option to change the speed of the final time-lapse - 4x (default), 8x, or 32x.
- Layer names visible in the Layer Editor
- Names are on by default
- Visibility of layer names can be disabled in Preferences
- Importing brushes now allows either .zip or .skbrushes
- Fixed issue where brushes created with a shape image would not properly apply the alpha channel
- Ensured that resetting brush properties appropriately also clears any imported data
- Fixed issue where Sketchbook PSD files would not correctly display their thumbnail icon
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Fixed issue where Steady Stroke lead line could be accidentally triggered with touch when drawing in Pen Mode
- Fixed issue where Sketchbook could crash on a Z-fold device by folding/unfolding while a popup window was open
- Fixed issue where ctrl+A in a text box could trigger a crash
- Fixed issue where Color Editor would not remain open when pinned
- When drawing with S Pen, cross hairs will now no longer be offset from the nib position.
- Added logic for Android devices to allow for higher video resolution with time-lapse recording than previous default, taking into consideration the large number of different screen aspect ratios across Android device manufacturers.
6.2.6, May 31, 2026
- Fixed issue where Draw Outline would not follow the selection lined correctly when zoomed out on the canvas
- Fixed issue where multiple touches during active Lasso Fill could generate artifacts
- Properly disabled creating a new layer while Lasso Fill is active to fix crash due to this bad behavior
- Addressed a bug where after erasing with a stylus, the fill tool would fill with transparency instead of the active color
- Fixed issue where importing a black and white image to Brush Shape did not properly use luminance to generate alpha
- Fixed issue that could result in exporting layers/groups as TIF or PSD that cannot be re-imported
- Addressed crashes associated with gradient fill and transform
- Fixed a bug with clipping masks where an exported PNG (and the Gallery preview PNG) would not correctly render the masked pixels
- Fixed issue where Edit Canvas tool would crop an existing canvas to 10K pixels even if it was an allowed MPX size
6.2.5, April 12, 2026
- New feature in the Premium Bundle: Draw Outline
- New feature in the Premium Bundle: Lasso Fill
- Copy, Cut, and Paste added to the selection sub-toolbar
- Added ability to reorder palettes in the Color Editor
- Color palettes now indicate the active swatch
- Fixed issue where the brush panel sliders would lose their position when switching to fullscreen mode on some devices
- Snapping is disabled for free symmetry, since it should always be 'free' by definition
- The Fill tool (solid fill and lasso fill) now works with Randomize Color instead of ignoring it
- Myriad of fixes to Scan Sketches, older code was not playing nicely with newer versions of Android
- Fix for issue where merging the first clipping mask above a base layer would composite all clips to the base layer
- Fixed issue where Glow Blend mode would modify the alpha of the composited image even where the glow layer was 100% transparent/no color
- Fixed issue where drawing underneath a Group that had blend modes applied could generate artifacts
- Import from Files > choosing a TIFF that already exists in Sketchbook's Gallery will now open that existing file instead of creating a duplicate.
- Fixed issue on ChromeOS/Chromebooks where Export and Share workflows would not show cloud drives as an option
- Fixed issue where TIFF files imported to a canvas using Add Image would appear upside-down
- Updated default state of the Hard Eraser in the Legacy set to be 100% hard
- Updated Automatic save prompt on first launch so it can be scrolled when enlarged due to screen zoom or large default font sizes
6.2.4, December 08, 2025
- Fix for issue where Sketchbook would not support split screen on some phone devices
6.2.3, November 19, 2025
- Improved quality of the fill tool for certain scenarios where fill wouldn't apply at 100%
- Fix for PDF export that would show the spinner indefinitely
- Fix for PDFs that did not retain the canvas DPI setting
- Fixed issue where Copy Merge would not respect selected area
- Fixed issue where merging layers below a clipping mask could produce incorrect mask results
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Fix for issue where some Android 15/16 devices would show the Color Editor in the minimized mode
- Fix for issue where toggling the brush panel on/off could close the app
6.2.2, August 17, 2025
- Support for customized stylus button actions
- Adjustment to top toolbar and window positions to allow for Android 15 app switcher without overlap
- Added a confirmation on app relaunch when preferences have been reset
- Updated to Android API level 35 as required
- Fix for issue on some devices where first file open after rebuilding the Gallery would trigger a crash.
- Fixed issue where some imported fonts would become cropped at the edges
Sketchbook (iOS)
Latest release: 6.3, Oct 26, 2026
- New in the Premium Bundle!
- Select whether you want to see pan/zoom navigation in your time-lapse recording or a fixed canvas view.
- Option to change the speed of the final time-lapse - 4x (default), 8x, or 32x.
- Layer names visible in the Layer Editor
- Names are on by default
- Visibility of layer names can be disabled in Preferences
- Importing brushes now allows either .zip or .skbrushes
- Fixed issue where brushes created with a shape image would not properly apply the alpha channel
- Ensured that resetting brush properties appropriately also clears any imported data
- Fixed issue where Sketchbook PSD files would not correctly display their thumbnail icon
- When using Apple Pencil, cross hairs will now no longer be offset from the nib position.
6.2.8, May 31, 2026
- Fixed issue where Draw Outline would not follow the selection lined correctly when zoomed out on the canvas
- Fixed issue where multiple touches during active Lasso Fill could generate artifacts
- Properly disabled creating a new layer while Lasso Fill is active to fix crash due to this bad behavior
- Fixed issue where importing a black and white image to Brush Shape did not properly use luminance to generate alpha
- Fixed issue that could result in exporting layers/groups as TIF or PSD that cannot be re-imported
- Fixed a bug with clipping masks where an exported PNG (and the Gallery preview PNG) would not correctly render the masked pixels
- Fixed issue where Edit Canvas tool would crop an existing canvas to 10K pixels even if it was an allowed MPX size
- Fixed issue where exported PDFs could be cropped
- Fixed issue where after a PDF export, subsequent JPG exports would also be PDF
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Fixed issue that could cause the sliders in the Color Editor to not appear
6.2.7, April 24, 2026
- Removed the storage check that was intended to solve for situations where there is not enough open space to allow a save, but unfortunately delivered too many false positives. Just keep an eye on your available storage, peeps.
6.2.6, April 14, 2026
- New feature in the Premium Bundle: Draw Outline
- New feature in the Premium Bundle: Lasso Fill
- Added ability to reorder palettes in the Color Editor
- Color palettes now indicate the active swatch
- Fixed bug in 6.2.5 where the brush information would not populate in the double puck
- Fixed issue where the "Open" button would appear when exporting a TIFF file from the Gallery
- The Fill tool (solid fill and lasso fill) now works with Randomize Color, instead of ignoring it
- Fixed issue where Glow Blend mode would modify the alpha of the composited image even where the glow layer was 100% transparent/no color
- Fixed issue where drawing underneath a Group that had blend modes applied could generate artifacts
- Fixed issue where Edit Canvas would crop to 10000 px on file orientations with a dimension greater than 10K on one side
- Addressed issue where the app would crash on save if device storage is full - you'll now get a warning message instead
- Updated default state of the Hard Eraser in the Legacy set to be 100% hard
6.2.5, April 12, 2026
- Release was halted due to bug with the double-puck.
6.2.4, Feb 10, 2026
- Copy, Cut, and Paste added to the selection sub-toolbar
- Color palettes now indicate the active swatch
- Snapping is disabled for free symmetry, since it should always be 'free' by definition
- Fix for issue where merging the first clipping mask above a base layer would composite all clips to the base layer
- Fix for issue where color palettes would not extract correctly from an image
- Fixed issue where the layer menu could appear without its background
- Exporting an album now shows a progress bar instead of a spinner
- Fixed stray pixel on the color wheel
- Improvements to scan camera UI
- Minor adjustment to darkness level of Layer menu pop-ups to improve visibility
- Spectral icon no longer appears on iOS versions below iOS26
- Added a way to export all Sketchbook TIFF files via the iOS Settings app
6.2.3, Oct 19, 2025
- Improved quality of the fill tool for certain scenarios where fill wouldn't apply at 100%
- Updates for iOS26 styling, window scaling, Photos browser, and icons
- Fixed issue where some iPad models would not automatically support Brush Stamp
- Fixed issue where Copy Merge would not respect selected area
- Fixed issue where merging layers below a clipping mask could produce incorrect mask results
- Updated some less than spectacular translations
- Fixed issue where Voice Control could automatically dismiss menus
- Updated minimum iOS version to 14
6.2.1, July 27, 2025
- Fixed bug where brush values entered with text would not save across app sessions
- Improved quality of the blur effect by adding option to do multiple passes of the blur function.
- Fixed issue where very low resolution PNGs imported with artifacts when using "New from Image" or "Import from Files"
- Fixed issue where exporting to PDF was not retaining the correct canvas resolution (DPI)
- Removed the Adjust pop-up from non-Premium Bundle layer menu
- Relocated the Layer editor pin for iPhone devices to avoid inadvertently toggling it on when creating a new layer
Sketchbook Pro (macOS)
Latest release: 9.4.13 June 21, 2026
- Fixed bug where Draw Outline would not follow the selection path correctly when the view is zoomed out
- Fixed bug where a new text layer would not generate on macOS Ventura with some keyboard layouts
- Fixed issue where the custom color window would not display images when using a secondary monitor with certain resolution settings
- Fixed issue in Flipbook where some canvas sizes would not properly render to MP4 or MOV
9.4 April 12, 2026
- New feature: Draw Outline
- New feature: Lasso Fill
- Layer Menu additions: Rotate CW, Flip Horizontally, Flip Vertically
- Color palettes now indicate the active swatch
- The Fill tool (solid fill and lasso fill) now works with Randomize Color instead of ignoring it
- Draw Styles also now work with Randomize Color
- Fixed issue where the color picker could be inaccurate if the background layer visibility was off
- Fixed issue where the Adjust Image preview wasn't properly displaying clipping masks
- Fixed issue saving Flipbook .skba files to iCloud
- Fixed issue where the Color Editor sliders could fail to appear
- Addressed edge case instances where menus would not reappear in the correct location when relaunching the app
- Under the hood QT UI code updates
9.3.21 Nov 11, 2025
- Fixed issue where Merge Below could behave improperly when clipping layers were adjacent.
- Fixed issue where Sketchbook Pro could crash on exiting the app
9.3.18 Sept 28, 2025
- Fixed issue with marker type brushes
9.3.16, Sept 15, 2025
- Removed angle snapping on Free Symmetry
- Fixed issue where randomize color did not correctly constrain lightness within the setting
- Fixed issue where transform would not nudge with the up arrow
- Color palette export window fixed to have correct "save" button
- Fixed typo in German 'pinselstempel'
Sketchbook Pro (Windows)
Latest release: 9.4.10, Sept 13, 2026
- Addressed issue where some other drawing apps would not be able to correctly open a PSD file including groups created in Sketchbook Pro
9.4.7, June 21, 2026
- Fixed bug where Draw Outline would not follow the selection path correctly when the view is zoomed out
9.4.4, April 12, 2026
- New feature: Draw Outline
- New feature: Lasso Fill
- Layer Menu additions: Rotate CW, Flip Horizontally, Flip Vertically
- Color palettes now indicate the active swatch
- The Fill tool (solid fill and lasso fill) now works with Randomize Color instead of ignoring it
- Draw Styles also now work with Randomize Color
- Fixed issue where the color picker could be inaccurate if the background layer visibility was off
- Fixed issue where the Adjust Image preview wasn't properly displaying clipping masks
- Fixed issue where the Color Editor sliders could fail to appear
- Addressed edge case instances where menus would not reappear in the correct location when relaunching the app
- Under the hood QT UI code updates
9.3.24, Nov 17, 2025
- Fixed issue where Merge Below could behave improperly when clipping layers were adjacent.
- Fixed issue where the zoom puck would briefly flash in the center of the screen before showing properly at the cursor location
9.3.21, Sept 28, 2025
- Fixed issue with marker type brushes
9.3.19, Sept 15, 2025
- Fixed issue where layer editor interactions (rename, move) while in transform state could generate an inaccessible layer
- Removed angle snapping on Free Symmetry
- Fixed issue where randomize color did not correctly constrain lightness within the setting
- Fixed issue where transform would not nudge with the up arrow
- Color palette export window fixed to have correct "save" button
- Fixed issue with color picker cursor not being correct graphic when Auto-hide UI enabled
- Fixed issue where app could launch in Chinese if the PC's country and language settings were not aligned
- Fixed issue with marker type brushes
- Fixed typo in German 'pinselstempel'
We started logging these release notes in July 2025 based on customer request.
Yes, there were releases prior to that date that are not reflected here.
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