Learning how to make a gfx on mobile ibispaint is actually a lot easier than people think, and you definitely don't need a high-end PC to get professional-looking results. Most people assume that high-quality graphics are strictly for Blender users, but if you've got a phone and a little bit of patience, you can create something that looks just as clean. Whether you're making a profile picture for Discord or a thumbnail for YouTube, IbisPaint X is probably the most powerful tool you can have in your pocket.
Getting your character ready
Before you even open IbisPaint, you need a high-quality "render" or screenshot of your character. Since we're doing this entirely on mobile, you won't be using Roblox Studio. Instead, hop into a game like "Catalog Avatar Creator" or a dedicated green screen room in Roblox. These games are lifesavers because they let you pose your character's limbs, change the field of view, and even adjust the lighting right there in the app.
When you're posing, try to avoid the standard "standing still" look. Tilt the head, move the arms, and maybe give the legs a slight stride. Once you have a pose you like, find a spot with a solid green or neon pink background. This makes the background removal process way smoother later on. Pro tip: Turn your graphics settings all the way up before taking the screenshot. It might make your phone a little laggy for a second, but the crispness of the lines will be worth it.
Setting up your canvas
Now, open up IbisPaint X. You'll want to start a new project by hitting that little plus sign. For a standard GFX, I usually suggest a square canvas like 1000x1000 or 2048x2048 if you want it to stay sharp when you zoom in. If it's for a YouTube thumbnail, go with 1280x720.
Once your canvas is open, import that screenshot you just took. You'll notice it probably has that green background still. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the green area and then hit the "Remove Area" button. If there's some green "fuzz" left around the edges of your character, don't sweat it too much. You can use a soft eraser to clean it up, or better yet, we can hide it later with some clever outer-glow effects.
The secret to mobile GFX: Layering
If you want to know how to make a gfx on mobile ibispaint that actually looks high-quality, you have to embrace layers. Never do everything on one layer. Keep your character on its own layer, your background on another, and your lighting on several others.
The first thing I always do is "Alpha Lock" the character layer. This is a game-changer. When you Alpha Lock a layer, you can draw all over it, but the "paint" will only stay inside the lines of your character. This is how you're going to add shadows and highlights without making a giant mess.
Shading like a pro
Real GFXs have depth. To get that, create a new layer above your character and set the blending mode to Multiply. Pick a dark, desaturated purple or blue color (avoid using straight black, as it looks muddy). Take a soft airbrush and lightly go over the areas where shadows would naturally fall—under the chin, behind the arms, and at the bottom of the legs.
Once you've got the shadows down, create another layer and set this one to Add or Overlay. This is for your highlights. Pick a bright color that matches the "vibe" of your GFX—maybe a bright orange for a sunset feel or a light blue for a snowy theme. Lightly brush the edges of the character where the light would be hitting them. This "rim lighting" is what really makes the character pop out from the background.
Adding a background that fits
You can find cool backgrounds on Pinterest or Google, but honestly, making your own inside IbisPaint is pretty fun. You can import a picture of a room or a landscape and then use the Gaussian Blur filter on it. Blurring the background is a classic trick. It creates "depth of field," which basically tells the viewer's eyes to focus on the character rather than the trees in the distance.
If you want a more "abstract" look, try using the gradient tool. A simple two-tone gradient with some "Anime Background" brushes can look surprisingly professional. You can also find "overlays" online—things like dust particles, light leaks, or sparkles. Drop those on top of everything and set the layer mode to Screen. It's an instant mood-lifter for your artwork.
Fine-tuning the details
One thing that separates beginners from pros is the face and hair. On mobile, the default Roblox face can look a bit flat. You can actually draw over it! Use a small, hard brush to trace the eyes and mouth on a new layer. You can add a little white dot in the eyes for a "sparkle" effect, which makes the character feel way more alive.
If your character has hair, use the Splat brush or a very thin Dip Pen (Hard) to add some stray hairs. It sounds like a small detail, but it breaks up those perfect digital lines and makes the whole thing look more like a 3D render and less like a screenshot.
Using FX filters
IbisPaint has a massive library of built-in filters that most people ignore. Before you finish, go to the "FX" menu. I highly recommend playing with the Drop Shadow tool to give your character some separation from the background.
Another great one is the Auto Paint or HDR filter, but use them sparingly. If you crank them up to 100%, it'll look grainy and weird. Keep it subtle. You can also use the Color Balance filter to make sure the colors of your character match the colors of your background. If your character is in a dark forest but looks bright neon yellow, it's going to look "pasted on." Shifting the colors toward a darker green or blue will help blend everything together.
Final touches and saving
When you think you're done, take a step back—literally. Hold your phone at arm's length and look at the GFX. Does it look balanced? Is the character too small? You can use the transform tool to resize things if needed.
One last trick I love is adding a "Vignette." Create a new layer at the very top, fill it with a dark color, and use a giant soft eraser to delete the middle. This darkens the corners of the image and forces the viewer to look right at your character.
When you're ready to save, don't just take a screenshot. Go to the "Back to My Gallery" arrow and select "Save as Transparent PNG" or "Save as PNG." This ensures you keep all that high-quality detail you just worked so hard on.
Why IbisPaint is actually great
The more you practice how to make a gfx on mobile ibispaint, the more you'll realize it's actually quite a flexible piece of software. It has a lot of the same features as Photoshop, just packed into a mobile interface. You don't need a $2,000 PC to be creative. Most of the top-tier GFX artists you see on TikTok or Twitter started exactly like this—messing around on their phones until they figured out what worked.
It takes a bit of trial and error, especially with the lighting layers, but that's part of the fun. Don't be afraid to delete a layer and start over if the shadows look a bit wonky. The more you mess around with the brushes and blending modes, the faster you'll get. Pretty soon, you'll be making GFXs in twenty minutes that used to take you two hours.
Just keep experimenting with different poses and lighting styles, and you'll see your work improve every single time you hit that "save" button.