Create your first storyboard

A storyboard in StoryTribe is a project: a set of shots, grouped into scenes, that you draw on a canvas and can turn into a script, a shot list or a video. This guide takes you from nothing to a shared first storyboard in about ten minutes.

Choose how to start

On Home, click + Create in the top bar. Create in the left sidebar does the same. The Create page opens with the heading What will you create today? and offers three ways in.

Have an idea but no script? Describe your story and Tribe AI writes the script and drafts your shots. See Start a project from an idea.

Have a script already? Import or paste it and every scene, shot and line comes through as written. See Start a project from a script.

Want to build every frame yourself? Start from a blank canvas. The next section walks that route.

Start from a blank canvas

1. The page opens on the AI start. For a blank project, click I'll create manually from blank canvas at the bottom.
2. If you belong to a workspace, use Create in to choose where the project lives: Personal or one of your workspaces. If you don't see this picker, skip this step.
3. Under Storyboard, pick a canvas size. 1280 × 720 px (16:9) is the standard widescreen choice; 4:3, 1:1, 3:4 and 9:16 sit beside it. The Social media presets (Instagram Post, Instagram Story, Instagram Reel, Facebook Post, Twitter / X Post, YouTube Thumbnail, Pinterest Pin) size the canvas for those platforms. Custom Size is available on paid plans.
4. That's it. The project is created the moment you pick a size and opens on the Canvas, named Untitled, with one shot.

Wherever you started, the project opens in the editor, and everything from here on applies to all three routes.

Name the project

1. Double-click your project title in the project editor or open Project settings from the project menu in the editor header.
2. Type a new project title and click Save changes.

Add your first shots

A shot is one canvas plus its script text and properties. Shots are grouped into scenes, and a new project starts with Scene 1 holding one shot. Read more on scenes and shots.

1. Click the Storyboard tab under the header. You see Scene 1 with a single shot card.
2. Click the New shot tile at the end of the board, or the + on the scene header (Add shot). Each new shot is blank and uses the project's canvas size.
3. Repeat until you have the shots you need. Shots are numbered in order: 1, 2, 3.
4. To break the story into scenes, click Add scene in the Storyboard toolbar. Once a project has two or more scenes, shot numbers read 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 and so on.
5. Drag a shot card to reorder it. Drag a scene by the grip on its header to move the whole scene.
6. Double-click a shot card to open it on the Canvas.

Build a shot on the Canvas

1. Use the toolbar on the left. Character adds a character you can customize, Text adds a text box, and Pen lets you draw.
2. Click the search field (Characters, props, templates, icons and images) and type what you need. Filter the results with All, Scenes, Characters or Elements. A scene template drops in a complete background you can build on; props and icons drop in as single objects.
3. Tribe AI generates an image from a prompt and uses AI credits. Elements holds the characters, locations and props you save for reuse.
4. The panel on the right has four tabs: Script (this shot's script), Canvas (jump between shots, with its own Add shot button), Layers and Comments.
5. There is no save button. The header shows Saving... while changes upload and Saved to cloud when they're done.

Add a line of script (optional)

1. Open the Script tab in the right panel for this shot, or the Script view under the header to see every shot in order.
2. Type the action for the shot. Use Turn into to change a block to Dialogue, Caption, Note or Lyric.

Share your storyboard

1. Click Share at the top right. The Share project dialog opens.
2. Copy link gives you a link to send. What someone can do with it depends on the access settings in the same dialog.
3. Under Or send it out, choose Download for a PDF, PowerPoint or PNG, or Publish to web to put the storyboard on a public page.

Troubleshooting

• New shot has disappeared and a dialog says "You've filled all 10 shots in this project." You've reached the free plan's shot limit. Delete a shot you don't need, or upgrade to Pro to remove the limit.
• "Unable to create storyboard. Please try again." The project didn't reach the server. Check your connection and pick the size again. If it keeps failing, contact support with the time it happened.