Flowpaper
How to turn a drawing into a video on iPhone or iPad
There are three simple ways to do it, and none needs editing skills. Which one suits you depends on what you want the video to show.
- Record the screen Everything on the screen, as you draw.
- Animate it in Pages A finished drawing, drawn again.
- Record the canvas Only the drawing, as you draw.
1. Record the screen while you draw
Every iPhone and iPad can record its own screen, in any app that allows it. These are Apple’s steps for iPhone and for iPad:
- Swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen to open Control Center (on an iPhone with a Home button, swipe up from the bottom). If the Screen Recording control isn’t there, add it to Control Center.
- Tap Screen Recording and wait for the 3-second countdown.
- Swipe up to close Control Center, then draw.
- To stop: on an iPhone with the Dynamic Island, tap the red circle, then tap the stop button. On other iPhones, tap the red timer at the top left, then tap Stop. On iPad, tap the red button at the top of the screen, then tap Stop.
The video is saved to Photos, under Collections, then Media Types, then Screen Recordings. If you want your voice on it, touch and hold the Screen Recording control and turn on Microphone before you start.
What you get: everything on the screen, in real time: the app’s buttons and menus, the status bar, and the moment you close Control Center. Some apps don’t allow their content to be recorded. To tidy it up, trim the start and end in Photos, and crop away the edges if the buttons sit at the top or bottom.
2. Animate a drawing in Pages or Keynote
Apple’s free Pages app can play a drawing back as if it were being drawn, and save that as a video. These are Apple’s steps for iPhone and for iPad:
- Open a document and add a drawing. On iPad, tap the page with Apple Pencil, or tap the Insert Media button and then Add Drawing. On iPhone, tap the Content Hub button, then More Options, then Add Drawing.
- Draw with the pen, pencil, crayon or fill tool, then tap Done.
- Tap the drawing to select it, tap the Format button, tap Drawing, then turn on Animate Drawing. The Duration slider sets how long it plays; tap Play to preview it.
- Tap the drawing, tap Share, then tap Share as Movie. Choose Save Video to keep it in Photos, or pick a way to send it.
What you get: only the drawing, replayed line by line at the length you chose, with no buttons in the picture. The drawing is made with Pages’ own tools, so it is best for simple sketches and handwriting.
Keynote can do much the same: give the drawing the Line Draw build, then export the presentation as a movie (Actions Menu, Export, Movie).
3. Use a drawing app that records its own canvas
Some drawing apps have a record button of their own, which films the drawing and nothing else. Flowpaper, the app this site is for, is one of them:
- Tap the record button at the top right of the canvas. A small “Recording” note appears for a moment.
- Draw. Animated drawings keep moving while they are recorded.
- Tap the record button again to stop. The share sheet opens: tap Save Video to keep it in Photos, or send it straight away. The app doesn’t keep a copy, so save it if you want it later.
What you get: the canvas only, frame by frame as it is drawn, in real time. The buttons, panels and the “Recording” note are not in the video. It is an MP4 file the size and shape of your screen, held the way you are holding it, with no sound. It records at 30 frames a second by default; the frame rate and quality can be changed in the Settings app, under Flowpaper.
It is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad.
Which one to choose
| Screen recording | Pages or Keynote | An app that records its canvas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it records | Everything on the screen, as you draw | A finished drawing, replayed line by line | The canvas, as you draw |
| Buttons in the video | Yes, and the status bar | No | No |
| Speed | Real time | The length you set | Real time |
| Editing needed | Usually a trim, sometimes a crop | None | None, or a trim |
| How to share | From Photos, where it is saved | Share as Movie (Pages) or Export, Movie (Keynote) | From the share sheet when you stop |
If you want people to see how you drew it, including the tools you used, record the screen. If you have a finished sketch and want it to draw itself, use Pages. If you want a clean video of the drawing alone, use an app that records its canvas.
Tips for a better video
- Keep the phone still. Lay it flat or use a stand, and choose portrait or landscape before you start. Turning it part way through can spoil the recording.
- Trim the start. The first second or two is often a hand reaching for the screen. In Photos, open the video, tap Edit, drag the start of the frame viewer, then tap Done.
- Keep it short. Ten to thirty seconds is plenty for most drawings. If you draw for longer, trim to the part where the picture comes together.
- Share it as a loop. Short-video feeds such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts play a clip again when it ends. Finish with the whole drawing on screen and hold it for a moment, so the end sits well before the start comes round again.
Steps checked against Apple’s guides for iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 in October 2026. Button names can differ slightly on older versions.