FlipKit helps you create flipbooks on an iPad using just your finger or Apple Pencil

Flipkit Banner Art
Flipkit Banner Art (Image credit: Matthias Buchetics)

What you need to know

  • FlipKit lets you create stunning flipbook animations on your iPad.
  • You can use an Apple pencil to create art that is then animated over multiple scenes.
  • Don't have an Apple Pencil? Use your finger instead!

I couldn't draw even if my life depended on it — but that doesn't stop me from trying. So it's no surprise that my interest was piqued when I was told about an iPad app that lets you create digital flipbooks. And now I'm telling you about it, too.

FlipKit is that app and you can download it from the App Store right now. Once you do you'll be able to use an Apple Pencil or your finger to draw, paint, and more right onto a digital flipbook. You create animations the way you would on paper — by advancing the drawing on a new page and repeating the process.

Here's how developer Matthias Buchetics describes his app:

Whether you are a beginner or a professional, FlipKit provides you all the tools needed to start animating. The intuitive user interface is also perfect to introduce kids to the world of moving pictures.Advanced artists can use separate foreground and background layers, a variety of drawing tools, and animation controls. FlipKit supports input devices like the Apple Pencil, but simple finger drawings are also possible. Import photos from your library or use the camera to give your animations the right background. Similarly, you can use photos to create a stop-motion animation which can be refined by your drawings.

Other features include:

  • Draw with tools like pencils, brushes, pens, erasers, ...
  • Copy and duplicate parts of your drawings with the lasso tool
  • Use onion-skin frames to visualize the previous frames
  • Swipe over the filmstrip to flip through your animation like a real physical flipbook
  • Separate foreground and background layers
  • Various examples for beginners and pros
  • Import photos as background or for stop-motion animations
  • Control your animation settings (background color, frames per second, looping, ...)
  • Place the filmstrip on the left or right side (for right- or left-handed use)
  • Support for Apple Pencil
  • Export your animations as video or GIF
  • Share your creations with your friends and on social media
  • Supports iCloud Drive, giving you access to your animations from all your devices
  • Stunning Dark Mode support

While an Apple Pencil is obviously the way to go here, using your finger does work just fine. All animations can be exported as videos and GIFs for easy sharing and archiving, and iCloud Drive support means you can easily back your work up to Apple's servers and sync between devices as well.

Whether you're a seasoned artist or someone that just likes to create for fun, give FlipKit a try. You can download it from the App Store now — it's free with an in-app purchase unlocking some functionality. This could turn out to be the best iPad app you download this month!

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.