How to Use Procreate: A Beginner’s Guide to Brushes, Layers & Animation
Key Takeaways
- Master the five-finger tap to undo and three-finger swipe to redo—saves hours of frustration.
- Layers are your safety net: keep line art, color, and shading on separate layers for easy editing.
- Use QuickShape (draw and hold) to make perfect circles, squares, and lines in under a second.
- Animation Assist is built right into Procreate—no separate app needed for frame-by-frame motion.
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Getting Started: What You Need
First things first: Procreate costs $12.99 (one-time purchase, no subscription) and runs on any iPad that supports iPadOS 15 or later. The iPad Pro with Apple Pencil (2018 or newer) gives you the best pressure sensitivity, but even a basic iPad with a third-party stylus works fine for learning. I’ve seen beginners create stunning work on a $300 iPad 9th gen.
If you don’t have an Apple Pencil, try the Logitech Crayon—it’s $70 and offers tilt support. But honestly, the pressure sensitivity of the Apple Pencil 2 is worth the $129 if you plan to draw regularly.
The Procreate Interface: Your Canvas
When you open Procreate, you see a gallery of canvases. Tap the + button to create a new canvas. The default “Screen Size” (2732×2048 pixels at 264 DPI) is perfect for most digital art. If you’re making something for Instagram or Twitter, use the “Social Media” preset (1080×1080 pixels) to avoid resizing later.
Inside the canvas, the top toolbar has your brush, smudge, and eraser tools. The Brush Library is the icon that looks like a paintbrush. Don’t get overwhelmed—there are over 200 built-in brushes, but you only need 5 to start:
- Technical Pen (inking and line art) – smooth, no texture
- Narinder Pencil (sketching) – feels like real graphite
- Soft Brush (airbrushing gradients) – blend colors like a pro
- Tarraco Brush (texture and shading) – adds grit
- Monoline (clean lines for graphic design) – consistent width
Brushes: Customize, Don’t Just Use Defaults
Default brushes are fine, but customizing them makes your art unique. Tap a brush twice to open the Brush Studio. Here’s a quick tweak that changed my workflow: increase the Streamline slider to 80% for smoother lines—it stabilizes your strokes, especially if you have shaky hands.
For a wet paint effect, go to Render and lower the “Volume” to 40%. This makes the brush more transparent when you lift the pencil. I use this for watercolor-style washes.
Pro tip: Download free brush packs from sites like Brusheezy or Gumroad. The “Free Procreate Brush Starter Pack” by Bardot Brush (search on her site) gives you 12 versatile brushes that mimic real media. Import them by tapping the + in the Brush Library and selecting “Import.”
Layers: Your Best Friend
Layers work like sheets of transparent paper stacked on top of each other. Tap the Layers icon (two overlapping squares) to open the panel. Here are the rules I teach every beginner:
- Layer 1 (bottom): Rough sketch in light blue or gray. Keep opacity low (20-30%) so you can see over it.
- Layer 2: Final line art with the Technical Pen. Use black or dark brown.
- Layer 3: Base colors. Use the ColorDrop feature—drag the color circle from the top right onto a closed area to fill it instantly.
- Layer 4+: Shadows and highlights. Set these layers to Multiply for shadows (darker blend) and Add for highlights (brighter blend).
A common mistake: putting everything on one layer. If you mess up a line, you can’t erase without affecting the whole drawing. Always separate line art and color.
Layer limit? Procreate allows up to 250 layers depending on canvas size. A 2732×2048 canvas at 300 DPI gives you about 50 layers. If you need more, reduce DPI to 150—you lose some print quality but gain layers.
Animation: Frame-by-Frame Made Simple
Procreate’s Animation Assist turns any drawing into a flipbook. Open the Actions menu (wrench icon), tap Canvas, and toggle Animation Assist on. A timeline appears at the bottom.
- Each layer becomes a frame. Layer 1 is frame 1, layer 2 is frame 2, etc.
- Draw your first pose on layer 1, then add a new layer for the next pose.
- Use Onion Skin (the slider in the timeline) to see previous frames as faint ghosts. I set it to 3 frames back and 1 frame forward—good balance for smooth motion.
Example: Create a bouncing ball animation in 12 frames. Draw the ball at the top of the bounce on layer 1, then slightly lower on layer 2, and so on until it hits the ground on layer 6. Then reverse the order for the bounce up. Set the playback speed to 12 frames per second (fps) for a natural look.
Export tip: Tap the wrench, then Share, and choose Animated GIF or Animated PNG. GIF is smaller but lower quality; PNG is larger but crisp. For Instagram Reels, export as an Animated PNG and convert to video.
Illustration Tips: Speed Up Your Workflow
Here are three shortcuts that save me hours:
1. QuickShape: Draw a rough circle, then hold your pencil down. It snaps to a perfect circle. Same for lines and squares. Works every time.
2. Selection Tool: Tap the “S” icon (or draw a circle around an area with the Selection tool) to isolate part of your drawing. Then move, scale, or color it without affecting the rest.
3. Alpha Lock: Tap a layer and choose Alpha Lock from the menu. Now you can only draw on existing pixels—perfect for shading within the lines without going outside.
Comparison: Procreate vs. Adobe Fresco (for beginners)
| Feature | Procreate | Adobe Fresco |
| --------- | ----------- | -------------- |
| Price | $12.99 one-time | Free (basic) or $54.99/month (full) |
| Brushes | 200+ built-in, custom packs | 100+ built-in, limited custom |
| Animation | Built-in Animation Assist | Requires separate app (Photoshop) |
| Learning curve | Simple, intuitive | Steeper due to Adobe ecosystem |
| Best for | Illustrators, hobbyists | Graphic designers, professionals |
My opinion? Start with Procreate. It’s cheaper, faster to learn, and the animation feature alone is worth the price. Fresco is great if you already use Adobe products, but for most beginners, Procreate wins.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring canvas size: Always set your canvas to at least 2000 pixels on the longest side. 72 DPI is fine for web, but 300 DPI if you plan to print.
- Using too many brushes: Stick to 3-5 until you’re comfortable. More brushes just slow you down.
- Skipping the manual: Procreate’s built-in handbook (tap the wrench, then Help) has step-by-step guides. I still reference it for advanced features like Clipping Masks.
FAQ
Q: Can I use Procreate without an Apple Pencil?
Yes. You can use a third-party stylus or even your finger. Many artists draw with their fingers for thumbnails. But for fine detail, an Apple Pencil is much better—pressure sensitivity makes a huge difference in line thickness.
Q: How do I save my work as a high-resolution file?
Tap the Actions menu, choose Share, then select PNG (lossless) or JPEG (smaller file). For printing, use PDF or TIFF. Procreate saves all files as .procreate files automatically in the gallery—you can always reopen and edit later.
Q: Why is my color fill going outside the lines?
Your line art probably has gaps. Use the Selection tool (S icon) with the Automatic mode to select the area, then tap Fill. Or zoom in and close any small gaps in the line art with the Technical Pen. The fill tool only works on fully enclosed shapes.