Procreate timelapse not enough? 6 ways to show how you made it

TL;DR: A Procreate timelapse is a good start, but it lives on your iPad and can be paused or trimmed. Pair it with a layered file, dated drafts, and a certificate link a client can check without taking your word.

Want the link option? See a sample certificate: drawdog.art/c/sample.

The main alternatives to a Procreate timelapse are a layered working file, saved versions and drafts, a screen recording, written notes, app version history, and a process certificate. None of them proves authorship on its own. The honest approach is to combine two or three, and to pick at least one that your client can check without just taking your word for it. Comparing only two options? See time lapse vs process certificate.

Full disclosure: this site belongs to DrawDog, which makes one of the options below. We have tried to describe each method by what it shows and what it can't, including ours.

What the Procreate timelapse actually gives you

Start with the baseline, because it is better than people think and weaker than people hope.

By default, Procreate records every action you make on the canvas as a frame of the video, except undo actions, and you don't have to switch anything on (Procreate Handbook). You can export it as "Full length" or "30 Seconds". The 30 second version shortens the video by removing frames with an algorithm that keeps the most important ones (Procreate Handbook). Export quality runs from 1080p up to full 4K (Procreate Help Center).

Two practical points follow from that:

• If you plan to use a timelapse as evidence, export the full length version, not the 30 second one. Keep the original file too.
• Procreate's pages describe a replay and a video to share. They don't describe it as proof of authorship, so don't present it as one.

The video is something you make and send. Your client sees what you give them and can't check it independently. For the longer version of that argument, see Procreate timelapse as proof: what it shows, what it can't.

The alternatives, side by side

Here is how the common options compare. The columns that matter most are the last two: what the method can't show, and whether a client can check it without trusting you.

Method	What it shows	What it can't show	Effort	Client can check it alone?
Procreate timelapse	Canvas actions in order	Anything outside the file, and a shortened export drops frames	Low, it records itself	No, it is a video you send
Screen recording	Your whole screen over real time	Why you did things, and it can be edited or staged	Medium, you must remember to start it	No
Layered working file	The structure of the work	Who built the layers, or when	Low, you already have it	No
Saved versions and drafts	Progress across stages	Anything between saves	Low to medium	No
App version history	Dated saves inside the app	Content outside the app	Low if turned on	Depends on the app
Written process notes	Your thinking and decisions	Anything on their own	Medium	No
Process certificate	Time, file growth, stroke count, app use	Work done by AI and redrawn by hand	Low once installed	Yes, by opening a link

Almost every row shares one weakness: you make the evidence and you send it, so the client has to trust you. That is not a reason to skip them. It is a reason to know what each one is for.

Method by method

Screen recording

A screen recording captures real time passing, which a short timelapse export doesn't. Guides on proving art isn't AI-generated recommend it, along with timelapses, as part of a set of habits (Officially Human Art).

Where it falls short is practical. You have to remember to start it every session, and a client can't tell whether a recording is complete. Setting up proof like this takes time and can get in the way of the drawing itself.

The layered working file

One guide calls showing your layers the easiest method: drafting lines, foreground and background in separate layers (Parka Blogs). It costs nothing because you already have it.

Be careful about how much weight you put on it. A layered file shows structure. It doesn't tell a client who built the layers or how long it took, and a file can be assembled after the fact. Treat it as supporting evidence, not as the single strongest proof.

Saved versions, sketches and drafts

Saving versions at key stages with clear names, and keeping early sketches, shows exploration, false starts and changes (Officially Human Art). Rough drafts often say more than the finished piece because they show decisions.

The limit is the gaps between saves. It also helps to send progress images to your client during the job, with the dates they were sent. That gives the client something they received at the time, not something you produced later.

App version history

If your app keeps dated versions, that is a record the app made, not you. Photoshop, for example, has a version history you can turn on. It only covers work done inside that app, and not every app offers it.

Timelapse in other apps

Procreate is not the only app that can record. One roundup says some apps, such as Krita, include timelapse recording (Illustration.app). Check how it works in your own app before you rely on it, since this page hasn't tested it. The same limit applies as with Procreate: it is a video you send.

Written process notes

Notes about what you were trying to solve and what changed are cheap and useful. They are also the easiest evidence to write after the fact, so date them and keep them as you go. On their own they carry little weight.

A process certificate

This is the option we make, so weigh it accordingly. DrawDog runs in the background on Mac and Windows while you work, and records process metadata: session time, file growth, stroke frequency and app usage. It never records file contents, file names, folder paths, keystrokes, screen contents or browser tabs. When the work is done you generate a certificate page. The certificate records time spent, stroke count, the share of session time involving AI tools, and a file fingerprint match. Your client opens a link to check it, with no account and nothing to install.

It supports Procreate, Photoshop, Figma and writing apps including Word, Pages, Scrivener, Ulysses and Obsidian. For Procreate there is a seal workflow that works entirely in Safari with nothing to install.

Certificates come in three graded levels: A (certified human-made), B (human-made with AI help) and C (recorded, not certified). The grading is a way to disclose honestly. It is not a pass or fail mark.

What it can't do matters just as much:

• It can't catch someone who makes work with AI and then reproduces it by hand. We say so on the site.
• It is not a legal document. The closest comparison is a notary, not a court exhibit.
• The free tier is three certificates per month with no credit card. If you deliver more than that, there are paid plans.

If you want the story behind it, read Why we built DrawDog, and what it can't do.

How to combine them

You don't need all seven. A sensible set for a freelancer might look like this:

1. Keep the layered file and save named versions at the end of each session.
2. Export the full length timelapse if your app offers one, and keep the original.
3. Send your client dated progress images during the job.
4. Add one record your client can open and verify themselves.

Say the client questions the work after delivery. The first three give you material to show. The fourth gives them something to check. That mix is stronger than any one item.

If a client has already asked, A client thinks your art is AI. Here's what to say. covers the first reply.

What nothing here can promise

No method on this list settles every case. A timelapse can be of a redraw. A layered file can be rebuilt. A recording can be staged. Evidence like this makes your claim easier to believe and easier to check. It doesn't end every dispute. Pick habits you will actually keep, because evidence you didn't record at the time can't be recreated later.

Try one on your next project

If you want a record your client can open themselves, DrawDog's free tier gives you three certificates a month with no credit card. Run it on one real project and see what the certificate shows before you decide anything. Download DrawDog

Try it on your next piece: 3 free certificates a month at drawdog.art/download.