Release paper is a silicone-coated sheet that covers the sticky canvas wherever you aren't placing drills. Peel back a small window, fill it, and cover the rest, and the glue stays clean and tacky to the last corner. For a typical 40 x 50 cm kit you'll want about 15 sheets of the common 15 x 10 cm size. Double-sided paper packs are cheap, and the ARTDOT 200-piece pack is the one we'd buy.
What release paper does
Every kit arrives with a plastic film over the glue. The problem is that you peel the film back in strips, and the glue you've exposed but not finished collects dust, lint, cat hair and oil from your forearm. Release paper fixes that. It's coated with silicone, the same non-stick treatment used on baking parchment and sticker backing, so it rests on the glue without bonding to it. The canvas stays covered, and you uncover only the patch you're working on.
It also helps three other ways: you can rest your hand on the canvas without leaving prints in the glue, you can work in the middle of a canvas instead of from one edge, and a half-finished painting can sit for weeks without the open sections going dull. If dull glue is already your problem, our guide to drills not sticking covers the fixes.
How to use release paper: the window method
- Lay the canvas flat. If it's curled, flatten it first; our canvas flattening guide has the quickest methods.
- Peel back the kit's plastic film, laying release paper sheets edge to edge over the glue as you go. Overlap them slightly so no glue shows in the seams.
- Lift one sheet to open a window. Fill it with drills.
- Move to the next sheet. Put the used sheet in a zip bag or back on any glue you aren't ready for.
- When you stop for the day, check every open edge is covered.
Plenty of painters work the window method with their kit's film alone, cutting it into a grid with a craft knife. That works, but cut film can't be moved around once it's gone; release paper can.
How many sheets you need
You only ever need enough sheets to cover the canvas once; they're reused as you go. We worked out the number of sheets needed to tile common kit sizes, rounding up for the edges:
| Canvas size | 10 x 10 cm sheets | 15 x 10 cm sheets | 15 x 15 cm sheets | 16 x 12 cm sheets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 x 30 cm (12 x 12 in) | 9 | 6 | 4 | 6 |
| 30 x 40 cm (12 x 16 in) | 12 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
| 40 x 50 cm (16 x 20 in) | 20 | 15 | 12 | 15 |
| 50 x 70 cm (20 x 28 in) | 35 | 25 | 20 | 24 |
| 60 x 80 cm (24 x 32 in) | 48 | 32 | 24 | 25 |
So a 200-sheet pack covers even a 60 x 80 cm canvas several times over, with spares to replace sheets that get dusty. Bigger sheets mean fewer seams; smaller sheets mean a smaller open window, which suits people who work slowly or have pets. Our diamond painting calculator works out the drill count and finish time for the same canvas sizes.
Release paper, film, parchment or wax paper?
| Material | Works? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Double-sided release paper | Yes | Silicone on both faces, so no wrong way up. The default choice. |
| Decorative release film | Yes, one side | Printed patterns; often coated on one side only. Check which side goes down. |
| Non-stick baking parchment | Usually | Cheap by the roll; quality varies. Test a corner before covering a whole canvas. |
| Wax paper | No | Hobby guides and wikiHow warn against it on open glue. |
| Plain printer paper | No | Bonds to the glue and tears. |
Release paper is sticking: causes and fixes
| Cause | Fix |
|---|---|
| Single-sided sheet laid coated-side up | Peel slowly; flip the rest of the pack the right way |
| Wax paper or uncoated paper | Peel at a low angle; lift torn scraps with tweezers |
| Cheap parchment that grabs | Swap to double-sided release paper |
| Sheet pressed hard on fresh glue for months | Peel slowly at a low angle; a barely damp baby wipe helps release stuck fibers, then let the glue air for a minute |
| Glue lifts off the canvas with the paper | Stop. Patch the bare spot with a canvas glue; see our diamond painting glue guide |
Don't soak the canvas trying to free a stuck sheet. Canvas glue doesn't like water, and a wet patch is harder to fix than a few paper fibers.
Release paper worth buying
ARTDOT 200-Piece Release Paper
The pack we'd pick for most kits. It's double-sided, so there's no wrong way up, and it comes with a craft knife for trimming sheets to fit edges plus a scraper for nudging drills straight. It has 4.7 stars from 2,693 ratings.
- Sheets200, 15 x 10 cm
- Coatingdouble-sided
- Extrascraft knife, tape, scraper
Why it stands out
- Double-sided
- Useful extras in the box
- Large rating base
Think twice if
- One sheet size only
Calsoling 300-Piece Release Paper, Two Sizes
The 15 x 15 cm squares mean fewer seams on large canvases (12 sheets cover a 40 x 50 cm kit), and the smaller sheets handle edges. 4.7 stars from 2,431 ratings, about 1,000 bought last month.
- Sheets150 at 15 x 15 cm + 150 at 15 x 10 cm
- Coatingsilicone, double-sided
Why it stands out
- Two sizes
- Most sheets per pack here
Think twice if
- Large sheets open a bigger window than slow painters may want
Diamond Art Club 200-Piece Release Paper
The best seller in our search, at about 2,000 bought last month with 4.8 stars from 552 ratings. Small 4-inch squares keep the open window small, which helps if pets or kids are around the table. Made by Diamond Art Club.
- Sheets200, 4 x 4 in (10 x 10 cm)
- Materialpaper
Why it stands out
- Small, tidy windows
- Highest rating here
Think twice if
- Needs the most sheets to cover a canvas
Boao 100-Piece Release Paper
A cheaper, smaller pack with the most ratings of any release paper we found: 4.7 stars from 3,532. A hundred sheets is still enough to cover a 50 x 70 cm canvas four times over.
- Sheets100, 15 x 10 cm
- Coatingsilicone, double-sided
Why it stands out
- Lowest-cost way to start
- Huge rating base
Think twice if
- No extras
ForeverYoung Reusable Release Film
Printed rainbow-gradient film rather than plain paper, sold as reusable. Thirty sheets is enough to tile a 30 x 40 cm canvas a couple of times. It's rated 4.8 from 289 ratings.
- Sheets30, 10 x 10 cm
- Patterns6 designs
- Typereusable film
Why it stands out
- Reusable film
- Easy to tell sheets apart
Think twice if
- Only 30 sheets
- Check which side goes down on printed film
What to do with leftover release paper
- Store a half-finished canvas rolled with release paper over all open glue, drills facing out.
- Slip a sheet between finished paintings when stacking them, so drills from one don't catch on the back of the next.
- Use a sheet as a non-stick mat when gluing small loose drills or coating coasters.
- Several listings (Calsoling, Boao, Patelai) also say their double-sided sheets work for baking and lining trays. Keep a separate stack if you try that.
Release paper is one of the small tools covered in our tools and accessories guide, and new painters will find more habits like it in our beginner tips.
Product details, ratings and sales from Amazon listings checked October 13, 2026. Sheet counts are our own tiling math for each canvas size. How we research · Affiliate disclosure