Feedback on ShotGlide’s drawing workflow, script visibility, and export options
Hello,
I recently purchased ShotGlide’s Lifetime Unlock for KRW 49,000. ShotGlide is very close to the kind of storyboard app I have wanted on iPad, particularly because it combines drawing with shot organization. However, the current drawing workflow feels incomplete and unintuitive relative to the price.
These are the improvements I would consider necessary for using the app regularly.
Separate Drawing Mode from Layout/Edit Mode
Board View currently treats the workspace as a grid of separate drag-and-drop canvases rather than as a unified drawing surface. Because of this, I cannot freely zoom and pan across the entire board while drawing, and drawings cannot continue naturally from one frame to another.
Frame selection and drag-and-drop are also triggered unintentionally while drawing. Since shortcuts and other actions apply only to the currently selected frame, it is easy to lose track of which frame is active and accidentally perform an action on the wrong frame.
I would like a toggle between two clearly separated modes:
Layout/Edit Mode: the current frame selection, drag-and-drop, reordering, adding, deleting, and linking functions
Drawing Mode: disables frame selection and drag-and-drop, allowing the entire board to behave as a continuous drawing workspace that can be freely zoomed and panned
The existing Focus Mode does not solve this issue because it isolates only one frame. What I need is a mode where I can rapidly draw across multiple storyboard frames without constantly interacting with their layout controls.
During the early storyboard stage, quickly getting ideas onto the page is more important than rearranging or editing individual shots. Those operations are usually done afterward, so drawing and layout editing should not compete for the same gestures and interactions.
Show Assigned Script Text While Drawing
Script View allows text or screenplay passages to be assigned to individual shots, but the assigned text cannot be seen in Board View or Focus Mode.
This makes the script assignment feature disconnected from the actual drawing process. I have to memorize the text or repeatedly switch between Script View and the drawing views.
Please add an option to display the assigned text while drawing, such as a collapsible panel, an area beside or below the frame, or an optional overlay. Editing the text directly from the drawing view would be helpful, but simply being able to read it there is the essential requirement.
More Export Formats and Layout Options
The current export options are too limited for continuing the work in other art applications. I also use storyboards for comics, so I would especially like:
PNG export
Transparent-background export
Layered PSD export
Each shot or frame preserved as a separate layer in the PSD
User-defined rows and columns for storyboard sheet layouts
More control over the arrangement and scope of exported frames
A transparent layered PSD would make it possible to continue refining the storyboard in applications such as Clip Studio Paint or Photoshop instead of flattening the entire board into a finished output format.
For my workflow, these are not merely advanced convenience features. Separating rapid drawing from layout editing, displaying assigned text while drawing, and providing editable export formats are the minimum requirements for using ShotGlide as a practical storyboard tool.
I think the core concept of ShotGlide is very promising, and I hope its drawing workflow and interoperability can become as strong as its shot organization features.
Thank you for reading.
Log in to comment and vote
Comments4
tekkonkinkreet
Sep 7
Strong yes for image export. JPEG and PNG (w or w/o alpha).
ShotGlide
Sep 3
Hello,
Many thanks for your detailed feedback, the kind words about the concept, and glad to hear it's close to what you've always wanted.
On the core workflow:
In regard to your comment of ShotGlide treating the workspace as a grid of separate drag-and-drop canvases rather than as a unified drawing surface: that's exactly the reason behind the app, so I worry ShotGlide may never become exactly what you have in mind. Each frame inside ShotGlide is a separate shot so it can be reordered, renumbered, linked, timed and exported on its own. A unified canvas with free zoom and pan across the board would remove exactly that structure, so it isn't something ShotGlide will move toward. The drawing tools are deliberately light on top of the shot engine, and Focus Mode is the way to draw big. For free-form sketching across a page, a dedicated drawing app is the right tool, and ShotGlide is built to work alongside one rather than replace it.
Accidental frame selection and drags should never happen while drawing
We built many safeguards against it. Two things are intentional, in case they explain what you're seeing: the pencil landing on the shot-number strip at the top of a tile starts a drag immediately, and drawing on a frame makes it the active frame for shortcuts. Anything outside those two cases is a bug. If you can reproduce it, please open Sidebar > Settings > Logs, tap Copy and email the result to support@shotglide.com so we can see what is happening on your device.
Show Assigned Script Text While Drawing
This could definitely be a good addition. There isn't a natural space for it today, so this would need a new panel designed around the drawing area. Indeed, a collapsible panel in Focus Mode would be a good starting point. We'll look into it.
On exports:
A PNG export and a transparent background export would both be good additions. Anyone else who would use them, please vote or comment here as it helps us decide what to build next.
Layered PSD with one frame per layer:
This comes back to layers, which are outside ShotGlide's scope. Each shot is a single flattened panel by design, with no layer system underneath it, so there is nothing to write into a PSD as separate layers. The existing thread explains the reasoning: https://shotglide.featurebase.app/p/layers-when-drawing
Custom rows and columns:
The page layouts are fixed presets, each one tested so drawings stay pixel-perfect across Board View, Page View and PDF. Opening them to any grid would risk that reliability, so we grow a verified set rather than a free input.
If any of the above is a dealbreaker and you don't see yourself using the app in the future, please let us know and we'll refund your Lifetime Unlock. We offer a 7-day free trial so users can fully evaluate whether ShotGlide fits their workflow before purchasing.
Thanks again for taking the time to share such detailed feedback. We hope future updates keep bringing ShotGlide closer to the workflow you're looking for.
Nina Bakker
Sep 3
I completely agree with point 2!
Being able to see the assigned script text while drawing would make a huge difference to my workflow, especially in Focus Mode. Right now, having to switch back and forth to check what is supposed to happen in a shot interrupts the drawing process.
I would especially love an optional collapsible/resizable notes or script panel in Focus Mode, next to or underneath the canvas. That way, the text can stay visible while drawing when needed, but the panel can simply be collapsed when you want the distraction-free Focus Mode experience.
Being able to edit the text directly from that panel would be a great bonus, but just being able to keep it visible while drawing would already be incredibly useful.
ShotGlide
Sep 3
Thanks for your feedback! A collapsible panel in Focus Mode could be a good place for it. Keeping it on screen while drawing touches the most sensitive part of the app, so it needs careful work, but it's a solid direction.