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Samsung PENUP: 11 Tips and Tricks Every S Pen Owner Should Know

PENUP is more than a coloring app. These 11 tips cover its best drawing, learning, editing, saving, and sharing features for compatible Samsung Galaxy S Pen devices.

By ThatPainter Team 8 min read
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PENUP is much more than a coloring app. On compatible Samsung Galaxy devices, it combines a beginner-friendly drawing workspace with coloring pages, guided Live Drawing lessons, photo tracing, layers, time-lapse recording, and an optional art community.

This guide covers the most useful PENUP features for new and casual S Pen owners, including how to save work privately and troubleshoot common input problems. Menu names can vary slightly by device, One UI version, app version, and region.

Get PENUP ready

PENUP is preinstalled on many Galaxy devices. Search for PENUP in the app drawer first. If you cannot find it, install or update PENUP – Drawing-sharing SNS through the Galaxy Store or Samsung’s PENUP support page, or find the official listing on Google Play. Check that the publisher is Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

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PENUP is designed primarily for compatible Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets with S Pen support. Samsung also documents support on compatible Samsung Windows S Pen devices. Do not assume that every S Pen, Galaxy model, or third-party drawing app offers identical compatibility or pressure behavior.

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You can draw locally without automatically publishing your work. A draft, a copy saved to the device Gallery, and a post shared with the PENUP community are separate outcomes. Samsung’s U.S. FAQ says users must be at least 13; requirements can vary by region and policy. Sign-in options documented by Samsung include Samsung, Google, Facebook, and Twitter accounts.

11 PENUP tips and tricks

1. Start with Live Drawing

If you are unsure where to begin, use Live Drawing. Open PENUP, choose Live Drawing, select a lesson, and tap Learn to draw or the equivalent start control.

Live Drawing teaches by showing how an existing artwork is made while you trace or reproduce the strokes. It is not the same as recording your own artwork. Begin with simple line-art lessons, pause frequently, and use the S Pen for more controlled marks. Repeating one lesson with different brush sizes is useful practice for pressure and hand control. Samsung UK describes PENUP as having more than 2,000 Live Drawing videos, although the catalog changes.

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For the clearest results, do not try to match the entire demonstration in real time. Pause after each major stroke, inspect the shape, and then continue.

2. Use coloring pages as S Pen practice

Coloring pages are a low-pressure way to learn PENUP’s basic controls. Open a coloring design, tap Start drawing, choose a brush and color, and zoom in on small areas before filling them with the S Pen.

This practice helps you learn zooming, undo, brush placement, pressure, and edge control without having to design a composition from scratch. Samsung documents coloring pages and several brush families in its PENUP coloring instructions. You do not need to post the finished page for the exercise to be useful.

3. Match the brush to the job

Tap the brush controls at the top of the canvas and experiment with the available variants. Samsung documents these broad categories:

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4. Build a custom color palette

For repeatable colors, tap the current-color circle near the top-right of the canvas. Depending on the version, you can use the color wheel, swatches, sliders, recently used colors, or the eyedropper.

To manage a custom palette, open the palette controls and use the three-dot menu beside a palette. Samsung documents options such as Edit palette, Rename palette, Duplicate, and Delete.

Create separate palettes for a landscape, skin tones, metallic objects, or a single coloring project. A practical starter palette includes a dark outline color and several lighter and darker versions of the same hue. The eyedropper can sample a color already present in your artwork or reference image.

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5. Configure palm rejection and finger input

Open the artwork’s settings to look for controls including Finger drawing, Rotate canvas, Gestures, Show brush texture on pointer, Auto fix lines and shapes, Save in Gallery, Brushes remember color, and Palm rejection.

Keep Finger drawing off when only the S Pen should make marks. Turn it on when you deliberately want to draw with a finger. Enable Auto fix lines and shapes for diagrams, straight lines, and geometric forms. The brush-texture pointer can make it easier to judge where a stroke will land.

If your palm creates marks, recheck palm rejection, disable finger drawing, confirm that the S Pen tip is contacting the screen, and restart PENUP. Test the pen in Samsung Notes or another compatible app to determine whether the problem is PENUP or the hardware.

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6. Use layers instead of putting everything on one layer

Tap the Layers icon, usually shown as two overlapping squares. Samsung documents adding layers, adjusting opacity and effects, and adding a photo.

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A simple structure is:

  • Bottom layer: background color.
  • Middle layer: broad shapes and shading.
  • Top layer: outlines and details.
  • Separate layer: an imported photo or reference.

Layers let you change a background without damaging the drawing, reduce the opacity of a reference image, add shadows above a base color, and experiment more safely. PENUP’s layers are useful for casual creation, but they are not a substitute for the more extensive masking, blending, color-management, and file-interchange systems found in professional illustration software.

7. Trace a photo with Photo Drawing

Photo Drawing turns a Gallery image into a reference or tracing project. Open PENUP, tap Photo drawing, then choose Take picture or Select from Gallery. After selecting an image, you can adjust its position, size, opacity, and orientation. Samsung also documents Sketch filters for changing contrast and line color.

Tap Done and draw on top of the image. Use the Layers icon to view or manage the original photo separately. Lowering the photo’s opacity often makes your own lines easier to see.

Use your own photographs or images you have permission to use. Busy, dark, or low-contrast photographs can be difficult to trace; a simpler subject or clearer image usually produces a better result. Save as a draft if you do not want to share the finished tracing.

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8. Fix mistakes with selection and transform

When undo is not enough, use the selection tools documented by Samsung: Lasso, Rectangle, and Circle. After selecting an area, use Transform to move or adjust the selected content or layer.

This is useful for repositioning a small object, enlarging a detail, moving a misplaced mark, or changing one isolated area without repainting the entire image. Confirm that the correct layer is active before selecting or transforming anything. Selection behavior can depend on the active layer, and a change made on the wrong layer may appear to do nothing.

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9. Combine fill, smudge, eraser, and undo

The bottom toolbar can include Smudge brush, Eraser, Fill color, Undo, Redo, Layer, Selection, Transform, and More options.

A useful beginner workflow is:

  1. Block in large areas with Fill color.
  2. Use a brush to clean edges and add detail.
  3. Blend transitions lightly with Smudge brush.
  4. Use the Eraser for controlled cleanup.
  5. Use Undo when testing a new stroke.

Smudge is easy to overuse. Excessive blending can muddy colors and remove crisp edges, so save a draft or work on a separate layer before experimenting heavily.

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10. Record your own drawing as a time-lapse

To record your process, start a drawing, open More options, and tap Timelapse before you begin drawing. Complete the artwork, and PENUP saves the time-lapse to the device Gallery according to Samsung’s FAQ.

Remember the distinction: Live Drawing teaches or follows an existing lesson, while Timelapse records your own drawing process. PENUP does not necessarily let users create a new Live Drawing lesson from their artwork. If Timelapse is missing, check the app version, device build, and More options menu.

11. Save privately before sharing

For unfinished work, save a draft. If you want a local copy, enable Save in Gallery in the artwork settings where available. Save or export important images before uninstalling PENUP, deleting its data, changing accounts, or removing your account.

Only post after checking the final image and its privacy implications. Browsing, posting, account features, and downloading content can require an internet connection even when some drawing functions work offline. Review PENUP’s settings for permissions, notifications, blocked users, privacy information, connected apps, personal-data download, account removal, and support options.

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Saving to PENUP should not be treated as a complete backup strategy. For important work, keep a copy in the device Gallery or another storage location as well.

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Common PENUP problems

The S Pen does not draw

  1. Confirm that the device supports S Pen input.
  2. Test the pen in Samsung Notes or another S Pen-compatible app.
  3. Check Finger drawing and Palm rejection in PENUP artwork settings.
  4. Restart PENUP and try a blank canvas.
  5. Update PENUP through the Galaxy Store or Google Play.
  6. Check the S Pen tip and whether a screen protector affects contact.

If the pen fails in several apps, investigate the pen or device rather than assuming PENUP is responsible.

The save or post control is missing

Check that the app has the required permissions, the account is signed in when necessary, and the device has a network connection for community features. Save a draft first, then save a local Gallery copy where available. Do not uninstall the app or remove the account until important work has been exported.

The menus do not match

Samsung has used different labels and toolbar arrangements across devices and app versions. Look for the three-dot More options menu, the overlapping-squares Layers icon, the current-color circle, and the Live Drawing and Photo drawing sections. Artwork-specific settings may be separate from PENUP’s general app settings.

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Is PENUP enough for you?

Choose PENUP if you want guided lessons, coloring pages, casual sketches, photo tracing, basic layers, time-lapse, and an integrated art community with minimal setup.

Consider a more advanced app if you need sophisticated brush engines, professional color management, complex masking and blending, vector tools, advanced typography, animation, comics workflows, or extensive desktop file interchange. Clip Studio Paint for Galaxy is one possible upgrade path for illustration, comics, and animation, but check its current plans and the compatible-device list before relying on it. It may be unnecessary for simple coloring or S Pen practice.

Samsung’s PENUP SDK support ended on November 1, 2024, according to its developer notice. That affects third-party integration, not the basic PENUP drawing experience, but it is another reason not to assume older Apps for PENUP documentation reflects current developer support.

Before you finish your first project

  • Confirm the S Pen works in another app.
  • Update PENUP.
  • Configure palm rejection and finger input.
  • Use layers for references, shading, and details.
  • Save important work to the Gallery or another location.
  • Check that public posting is intentional.
  • Move to a more advanced art app only if PENUP’s limits affect your actual workflow.

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