If you want to learn how to use Procreate on iPad, you are in the right place. Procreate is a powerful digital art app designed for iPad, but its large collection of brushes, tools, gestures, layers, and settings can feel overwhelming when you first open it.

The good news? You don’t need to understand every feature before you start drawing. You can begin with a blank canvas, choose a brush, sketch a few lines, and gradually learn more advanced tools as your skills improve.

In this beginner-friendly guide, we’ll walk through how to use Procreate on iPad, from creating your first canvas and choosing brushes to working with layers, colors, selections, text, shapes, and exporting your finished artwork.

Table of Contents

What Is Procreate?

Procreate is a digital illustration and painting application made specifically for iPad. It gives artists a large collection of tools for creating:

Digital drawings
Paintings
Sketches
Illustrations
Character art
Concept art
Lettering
Animations
Comics
Logos and designs
Social media artwork

Think of Procreate as a digital art studio that fits inside your iPad.

Instead of carrying paintbrushes, pencils, paper, paints, and an eraser, you can access those tools directly from your screen.

What Do You Need to Use Procreate on iPad?

Before learning how to use Procreate, make sure your iPad is compatible with the app and has enough available storage.

You’ll generally want:

A compatible iPad
A compatible version of iPadOS
Procreate installed
Enough storage for your artwork
An Apple Pencil or another compatible stylus for drawing

You can use Procreate with your finger, but a stylus can provide much greater control.

Is Apple Pencil Necessary for Procreate?

No. You don’t absolutely need an Apple Pencil.

You can draw using your finger, but an Apple Pencil makes many tasks easier because you can control:

Pressure
Stroke thickness
Opacity
Precision
Shading
Fine details

For example, lightly pressing the Apple Pencil can create a softer stroke with some brushes, while applying more pressure can produce a thicker or darker mark.

It’s similar to pressing a real pencil harder against paper.

How to Use Procreate on iPad Step by Step

Let’s start from the beginning and build your first artwork.

Step 1: Open Procreate

Launch Procreate from your iPad’s Home Screen or App Library.

When Procreate opens, you’ll typically see the Gallery.

The Gallery is where your artwork is stored.

Think of it as your digital art folder.

Step 2: Create a New Canvas

To create your first drawing:

Open Procreate.
Go to the Gallery.
Tap the + button.
Choose a canvas size.
Select your desired dimensions.
Tap the option to create the canvas.

A new blank canvas will appear.

What Canvas Size Should Beginners Use?

For practice, you don’t need an enormous canvas.

A moderate canvas can provide a good balance between quality and performance.

For example, you might choose:

2000 × 2000 pixels for square artwork
2048 × 2732 pixels for larger portrait artwork
A custom size for a specific project

The larger the canvas and the higher the resolution, the more storage and memory your artwork may require.

Step 3: Understand the Procreate Interface

At first, Procreate’s interface may look complicated.

Don’t worry. You only need to understand a few major areas.

The main toolbar contains tools for:

Brushes
Smudging
Erasing
Layers
Colors
Selection
Transform
Adjustments
Actions

Once you understand these basic tools, the interface becomes much easier to navigate.

Step 4: Choose a Brush

Tap the Brush Library icon to see your available brushes.

You’ll find categories containing different brush styles.

Depending on the brush set installed in your version of Procreate, you may find brushes designed for:

Sketching
Inking
Painting
Calligraphy
Drawing
Texturing
Airbrushing
Artistic effects

For beginners, start with a simple drawing or sketching brush.

You don’t need to spend hours choosing the perfect brush.

Pick one and start experimenting.

Step 5: Draw Your First Lines

Place your Apple Pencil or finger on the canvas and draw.

Try making:

Straight lines
Curved lines
Circles
Squares
Waves
Short strokes
Long strokes

Don’t worry about creating beautiful artwork yet.

Your first goal is simply to become comfortable with the canvas.

Step 6: Adjust Brush Size

You can change the brush size using the brush-size control on the interface.

A larger brush is useful for:

Filling areas
Painting backgrounds
Broad strokes

A smaller brush works better for:

Outlines
Details
Fine textures
Small illustrations

Experiment with different sizes to understand how your chosen brush behaves.

Step 7: Adjust Brush Opacity

Opacity determines how transparent your brush stroke appears.

Lower opacity can be useful for:

Sketching
Shading
Building up colors
Soft effects

Higher opacity is useful for:

Strong outlines
Solid colors
Darker strokes
Final details

A useful beginner technique is to sketch lightly before creating your final lines.

How to Use Procreate Layers

Layers are one of the most important features to learn.

Imagine your artwork as a stack of transparent sheets.

One sheet might contain your sketch.

Another might contain your line art.

Another might contain colors.

Another might contain shadows.

Because each layer is separate, you can edit one part without destroying everything underneath it.

Step 8: Create a New Layer

Open the Layers panel.

Tap the + button to create a new layer.

You can then draw on the new layer.

For example:

Layer 1: Background
Layer 2: Sketch
Layer 3: Line art
Layer 4: Colors
Layer 5: Shadows

This organization can make complicated projects much easier to manage.

Step 9: Rename Your Layers

Instead of leaving dozens of layers named “Layer 1,” “Layer 2,” and “Layer 3,” rename them.

For example:

Background
Character Sketch
Character Outline
Hair
Skin
Clothing
Shadows
Highlights

To rename a layer, open the Layers panel and use the layer’s available options.

Clear names save time later.

Step 10: Move Layers Up and Down

Layer order matters.

A layer near the top can appear in front of layers underneath it.

For example:

Highlights
Character
Background

If you accidentally place the background above your character, it can hide the artwork.

Rearrange layers whenever necessary by moving them within the Layers panel.

How to Undo and Redo in Procreate

Made a terrible line?

Don’t panic.

Procreate makes undoing actions extremely easy.

Two-Finger Tap

Tap the canvas with two fingers to undo your most recent action.

Repeat the gesture to undo multiple actions.

Three-Finger Tap

Use the corresponding redo gesture when you need to restore an action you previously undid.

These gestures are among the most useful shortcuts to learn.

How to Erase in Procreate

Procreate has a dedicated eraser tool.

Tap the Eraser icon and choose your desired eraser brush.

You can adjust its:

Size
Opacity
Brush style

Interestingly, Procreate allows you to use different brush textures as erasers.

That means you can create soft, textured, or sharp erasing effects instead of simply removing pixels with one standard eraser.

How to Change Colors in Procreate

Color selection is another essential part of learning Procreate.

Tap the color indicator to open the color interface.

Depending on your preferred workflow, you can select colors using different controls.

You can choose colors based on:

Hue
Saturation
Brightness
Color values
Palettes

You can also create and save custom palettes for future projects.

How to Create a Color Palette

If you repeatedly use certain colors, save them.

For example, a character illustration might have:

Skin tone
Hair color
Shirt color
Pants color
Shoe color
Shadow color
Highlight color

Keeping these colors together makes your artwork more consistent.

How to Use ColorDrop in Procreate

ColorDrop is one of Procreate’s convenient coloring features.

Instead of manually painting inside an enclosed shape, you can drag a color into the area you want to fill.

A basic workflow is:

Create an enclosed shape.
Select your desired color.
Drag the color indicator toward the enclosed area.
Release it.
Procreate fills the area.

Why Isn’t ColorDrop Filling the Entire Area?

This often happens when your outline contains small gaps.

Imagine pouring water into a bucket with a hole.

The water escapes.

ColorDrop behaves similarly when a boundary isn’t completely enclosed.

Close gaps in your line art and try again.

How to Use the Selection Tool

The Selection tool allows you to isolate specific parts of your artwork.

You can use selections to:

Move objects
Copy areas
Recolor sections
Apply effects
Edit specific regions

For example, if you’ve drawn a character’s shirt and want to change its color, you can select the appropriate area rather than repainting the entire illustration.

How to Use the Transform Tool

The Transform tool lets you modify the position and size of selected artwork.

You can use it to:

Move an object
Resize artwork
Rotate an object
Flip artwork
Adjust positioning

This is extremely useful when something looks slightly out of place.

Instead of deleting it and drawing it again, select it and transform it.

How to Draw Perfect Shapes in Procreate

You don’t need a ruler to create clean shapes.

Procreate includes gesture-based shape assistance.

Try this:

Draw a shape.
Keep your Apple Pencil on the screen at the end of the stroke.
Wait briefly.
Procreate may automatically smooth the shape.

You can use this technique for shapes such as:

Lines
Circles
Squares
Triangles
Curves

This feature is particularly useful for beginners who struggle with perfectly straight lines.

How to Zoom and Rotate the Canvas

One of the advantages of drawing digitally is that you can move around your artwork easily.

Zoom In

Use a two-finger pinch gesture to zoom in.

Zoom Out

Move your fingers together to zoom out.

Rotate

Use a two-finger rotation gesture.

These gestures are incredibly useful when working on small details.

For example, you can zoom into an eye, rotate the canvas into a comfortable position, and draw the details without awkwardly moving your hand.

How to Use Procreate QuickMenu

Procreate includes customizable shortcuts that can speed up your workflow.

The QuickMenu can provide quick access to frequently used actions.

You can customize shortcuts based on your workflow.

For example, an artist might want quick access to:

Flip horizontal
Clear layer
Copy
Paste
New layer
Select
Transform

Once you become comfortable with Procreate, customizing shortcuts can save significant time.

How to Add Text in Procreate

Procreate isn’t primarily a desktop publishing application, but it includes text functionality.

To add text:

Open the Actions menu.
Find the option for adding text.
Create a text box.
Type your words.
Adjust the font and formatting.
Position the text on the canvas.

Text can be useful for:

Posters
Social media graphics
Quote artwork
Logos
Titles
Illustrations

You can modify various text properties depending on the available controls.

How to Import an Image Into Procreate

You can bring existing images into your artwork.

This is useful when you want to:

Trace a reference
Paint over a photo
Create a composite
Study an image
Add a photograph to an illustration

A typical process is:

Open the Actions menu.
Choose the option for adding/importing content.
Select an image.
Position it on the canvas.
Resize it if necessary.

For tracing practice, reduce the reference layer’s opacity and create a new layer above it.

How to Use Reference Images

Reference images can help beginners understand:

Anatomy
Lighting
Perspective
Clothing
Colors
Facial proportions
Objects
Environments

Using references doesn’t mean you need to copy every detail.

Instead, study the reference and use it to understand what you’re trying to draw.

For example, when drawing a hand, looking at a reference can help you understand finger positioning and proportions.

How to Use Alpha Lock

Alpha Lock is useful when you want to paint only on existing pixels of a layer.

For example, imagine you’ve already colored a character’s shirt.

You want to add shadows without accidentally painting outside the shirt.

Alpha Lock can help restrict your painting to the existing artwork on that layer.

This is especially useful for:

Shading
Highlights
Texture
Color changes

How to Use Clipping Masks

Clipping masks are another powerful way to control where you paint.

Instead of permanently painting over the original layer, you can create a separate layer that is clipped to the artwork underneath.

This is useful for non-destructive editing.

A simple illustration workflow could look like:

Line Art
Base Colors
Shadows — Clipping Mask
Highlights — Clipping Mask

That way, your shading remains separate from your base color.

How to Add Shadows in Procreate

Once you’re comfortable with basic coloring, try adding shadows.

Create a new layer above your base color.

Choose a darker version of the original color.

Then lightly paint areas where shadows would naturally appear.

Think about where your imaginary light source is.

If light comes from the upper-left side, shadows may appear more strongly on the lower-right portions of the object.

This simple concept can make flat artwork look much more dimensional.

How to Add Highlights

Highlights work in the opposite direction.

Choose a lighter color and add it to areas facing the light.

Common highlight locations include:

Hair
Eyes
Nose
Clothing
Metallic objects
Glossy surfaces

Don’t cover everything with highlights.

A few carefully placed highlights can often create a stronger effect than covering large areas.

How to Use Procreate for Digital Painting

Digital painting usually involves building up the artwork gradually.

A beginner-friendly workflow is:

Create a sketch.
Refine the sketch.
Create clean line art if desired.
Add base colors.
Add shadows.
Add highlights.
Add texture.
Make final adjustments.
Export the artwork.

You don’t have to follow this exact process for every project.

Some artists paint directly without line art, while others use highly detailed sketches.

How to Use Procreate for Hand Lettering

Procreate is also popular for lettering.

You can practice:

Brush lettering
Calligraphy
Handwritten fonts
Decorative typography

Start with a simple brush and practice consistent strokes.

Try creating:

Thin upstrokes
Thick downstrokes
Consistent spacing
Smooth curves

An Apple Pencil can make pressure-sensitive lettering much easier.

How to Animate in Procreate

Procreate also includes animation functionality.

You can create simple frame-by-frame animations.

A basic animation workflow involves:

Create your artwork.
Open the animation-related settings.
Enable the animation workspace.
Draw the first frame.
Create another frame.
Modify the artwork slightly.
Continue adding frames.
Preview the animation.

For example, you could animate:

A blinking eye
A bouncing ball
Moving clouds
A waving hand
Simple character movements

The more frames you create, the smoother the animation can appear.

How to Save Your Procreate Artwork

Procreate automatically maintains your work inside the app’s Gallery, but you should still export important projects.

Keeping backups is important because losing a finished illustration can be frustrating.

Consider maintaining copies in:

Cloud storage
External storage
Your computer
Another backup location

For especially important artwork, don’t rely on a single copy.

How to Export Artwork From Procreate

When your artwork is finished:

Open the Actions menu.
Select the sharing/export option.
Choose your desired file format.
Select where you want to save or send the file.

Different formats are useful for different purposes.

Format	Common use
PNG	Artwork with transparency
JPEG	Smaller image files
TIFF	High-quality image workflows
PSD	Working with layered Photoshop-compatible files
Procreate	Keeping your editable Procreate project

Choose the format based on what you plan to do with the artwork afterward.

How to Keep Your Procreate Files Organized

As you create more artwork, your Gallery can become crowded.

Create a simple organizational system.

You might create groups such as:

Personal Art
Client Work
Character Design
Sketches
Finished Artwork
Animation
Practice

You can also use descriptive artwork names.

Instead of:

Untitled Artwork 32

use:

Fantasy Character — Final

You’ll thank yourself later when you have hundreds of projects.

Beginner Procreate Mistakes to Avoid

Learning how to use Procreate is easier when you know what mistakes to avoid.

Using Too Many Layers

Layers are useful, but creating hundreds of unnecessary layers can make a project difficult to manage.

Choosing Huge Canvas Sizes

Extremely large canvases can reduce the number of available layers and consume more storage.

Using Too Many Brushes

You don’t need 500 brushes to make good artwork.

Master a few brushes first.

Forgetting to Save Backups

Important artwork should have backups.

Drawing Everything on One Layer

This can make editing difficult.

Separate major elements whenever appropriate.

Ignoring Gestures

Procreate’s gestures can dramatically speed up your workflow.

Learn the basics early.

Best Procreate Workflow for Beginners

If you’re completely new, try this simple workflow:

Stage 1: Sketch

Use a simple pencil-style brush.

Don’t worry about perfection.

Stage 2: Line Art

Create a new layer and make cleaner outlines.

Stage 3: Base Colors

Add your main colors beneath the line art.

Stage 4: Shadows

Create another layer and add darker areas.

Stage 5: Highlights

Add lighter areas to emphasize the light source.

Stage 6: Details

Add textures, small features, and finishing touches.

Stage 7: Export

Save a working copy and export a final version.

This workflow gives you a clear path from blank canvas to finished illustration.

Procreate Keyboard Shortcuts and Gestures

If you use an iPad keyboard, learning shortcuts can improve your productivity.

You can also use Procreate’s touch gestures for common actions.

Some useful habits include:

Two-finger tap for undo
Three-finger gesture options for redo
Pinch to zoom
Rotate with two fingers
Hold a stroke to create smoother shapes
Use layers instead of repeatedly repainting artwork

The more you use these shortcuts, the less you’ll need to search through menus.

How Long Does It Take to Learn Procreate?

There isn’t a fixed amount of time.

You can learn the basic interface in an afternoon, but becoming highly skilled at digital illustration takes much longer.

A realistic learning progression might look like:

First day: Learn the interface and basic brushes.

First week: Practice layers, colors, selections, and gestures.

First month: Create complete illustrations.

Several months: Develop stronger drawing, shading, and composition skills.

Remember that learning Procreate and learning art are two different skills.

You can master the software while still developing your drawing ability.

How to Practice Procreate as a Beginner

Don’t only watch tutorials.

Create something.

Try these exercises:

Exercise 1: Lines

Draw 20 straight lines.

Exercise 2: Circles

Draw circles of different sizes.

Exercise 3: Shading

Draw a sphere and add light and shadow.

Exercise 4: Color

Create a palette of five related colors.

Exercise 5: Simple Character

Draw a basic character using simple shapes.

Exercise 6: Object Study

Choose an everyday object and recreate it digitally.

These exercises help you learn the tools while developing artistic control.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use Procreate on any iPad?

No. Procreate requires a compatible iPad and supported iPadOS version. Compatibility depends on the specific iPad model and software version.

Can I use Procreate without Apple Pencil?

Yes. You can draw using your finger, although an Apple Pencil or compatible stylus can provide more control and pressure sensitivity.

Is Procreate easy for beginners?

Yes, the basic tools are relatively easy to learn, although advanced digital painting and illustration techniques require practice.

How do I undo something in Procreate?

A common method is to tap the canvas with two fingers to undo the most recent action.

Can I use Procreate for animation?

Yes. Procreate includes tools for creating frame-by-frame animations.

Can I import photos into Procreate?

Yes. You can import images and use them as references, elements in a composition, or starting points for various projects.

Can I create my own brushes in Procreate?

Yes. Procreate provides brush customization tools that allow artists to modify existing brushes and create custom brush designs.

Can I use Procreate for professional artwork?

Yes. Procreate provides a wide range of tools suitable for detailed digital illustration, painting, lettering, animation, and other creative workflows.

Key Takeaways

How to use Procreate on iPad starts with understanding the Gallery, canvas, brushes, colors, and layers.
An Apple Pencil isn’t mandatory, but it can make drawing significantly easier.
Layers help keep different parts of your artwork organized and editable.
Learn basic gestures such as two-finger undo and pinch-to-zoom.
Use ColorDrop to quickly fill enclosed areas.
Selection and Transform tools make editing and repositioning easier.
Alpha Lock and clipping masks are useful for controlled shading and coloring.
References can help you improve your drawing skills.
Export important projects and keep backups.
Start with simple drawings instead of trying to master every feature immediately.

Conclusion

Learning how to use Procreate on iPad doesn’t have to feel complicated. Although the app contains professional-level tools, you can start with just a few essentials: create a canvas, choose a brush, draw, work with layers, select colors, and experiment with gestures.

As you become comfortable, gradually introduce more advanced features such as ColorDrop, selections, Transform, Alpha Lock, clipping masks, custom brushes, text, animation, and professional export formats.

The most important thing is to practice instead of trying to memorize everything at once. Open a blank canvas, draw something simple, make mistakes, undo them, experiment with brushes, and keep going. With regular practice, the Procreate interface will become second nature, and your iPad can become a remarkably capable digital art studio.