Procreate is one of the most popular designing apps thanks to its minimalistic interface and simple operation. It doesn’t have cluttered icons which sometimes can be a little bit distracting. However, fewer icons don’t mean less functionality because many of its features are hidden and may need a little exploring to use them.

If you are new to this drawing app, here are some Procreate tips that you can use for better operations. This way, you will easily navigate through the app and create illustrations faster and better.

• Colour Palette

The first Procreate tips are about the colour palette. Procreate offers an intuitive colour palette that makes it easy to use. You can even sample a colour value by tapping the square outline icon on the left menu bar and then finding the colour you wish to sample. The colour you want will be available in the colour circle in the top menu.

This colour circle also contain several settings that you can adjust to fit your needs. You can also save the colour values or set the palette you create as a default so that this palette remains active even if you are working on other illustrations. 

It is also easy to change or delete a colour swatch or palette. Just hold on to the swatch square and click ‘Delete’ to delete a colour swatch, or swipe left and click ‘Delete’ if you want to delete the whole palette.

• Use Basic Gestures

Procreate has some function shortcuts using gestures. Mastering these gestures will help you operate this app more effectively. Below are some gestures that will be useful to master.

• Undo and redo an edit: tap two or three fingers on the canvas
• Clear a layer: swipe three fingers on the canvas
• View the work fullscreen: tap four fingers

You can also read the official handbook to learn more about basic and other more useful gestures. You may need some time to adjust with the hand gestures. However, when you get the hang of it, using Procreate will be easier and more time-saving.

• Alpha Lock

Procreate tips Alpha Lock is a feature that will help you colour individual layers. Using this feature, you will be able to add shadows, colour or texture to your illustrations. To use this, all you need to do is go to the layer menu and click Alpha Lock or simply swipe right with two fingers.

Once it is in Alpha Lock mode, you can add any details you want, and the colour you add will not go outside the lines of the shape you draw originally. With these Procreate tips, you can easily and effectively change direction on a colour palette every time you need it. 

•  QuickLine and QuickShape

These Procreate tips will help illustrators to draw a straight line or symmetrical shapes. All you need to do is draw a line or a shape, then hold your pencil for a while on the screen. Procreate then will automatically adjust your lines and shapes perfectly. Drawing smooth lines and shapes will be quicker with these features and doesn’t need additional complicated steps. 

Another interesting feature in shape drawing is the Symmetry tool. This tool allows you to create an asymmetrical design. All you need to do is open the ‘Actions’ panel, turn on the ‘Drawing Guide’ toggle, then click on ‘Edit Drawing Guide’. Then you can choose which symmetrical option you want, whether it is vertical, horizontal, quadrant, or radial. Click ‘Done’ to return to the canvas and start drawing symmetrical shapes or lines. 

• Optimize the Brush Use

Procreate allows you to custom the brush and switch between brush and eraser easily. By customizing your brush, you can create the brush that suits your need if you don’t find a default brush that perfectly fits your need. 

Meanwhile, the brush switch features will help you work with Procreate easily. You can switch between brushes and eraser in this app by holding down the eraser tool in the top menu for a while. This way, you can draw an interesting texture or effects by switching between painting and erasing.

Procreate is powerful to use for drawing illustrations. However, the minimalist interface may be confusing for illustrators who just started to use this app. Finding out some Procreate tips will help illustrators make the most of this app and help them save time when drawing illustrations.