7 Procreate Tips That Will Take Your Digital Art to the Next Level

Whether you have been using Procreate for years or you are just getting started, mastering the little-known features of the app can drastically speed up your workflow.

In this guide, we are diving into seven powerful Procreate tips and tricks shared by lettering artist Ian Barnard. These features will help you work smarter, save time, and focus on creating beautiful art.

1. Adjust the Color Drop Threshold for Textured Brushes

Have you ever tried to fill a shape drawn with a textured brush, like the 6B Pencil, only to have the colour leak out and flood your entire canvas?

Instead of panicking and hitting undo, you can adjust the threshold on the fly:

• Drag and drop your colour into the shape as normal.

• Crucial step: Do not lift your Apple Pencil off the screen.

• Slide your pencil to the left to lower the threshold until the colour stays inside your shape.

Procreate remembers this setting, so the next time you fill a shape with that specific brush texture, it will not leak [00:10].

2. Move the Brush Opacity Sidebar

Procreate allows you to swap the main sidebar from the left hand side to the right hand side via the Preferences menu. However, sometimes having it smack in the middle of the screen can still feel awkward while drawing.

You can actually move the sidebar up or down to better suit your hand placement. Simply place your finger on the outside edge of the screen near the sidebar (by the modified button/eyedropper tool) and slide inwards. From there, you can drag the interface to the very top or bottom of your screen for a more comfortable layout [00:48].

3. Instantly Hide or Show All Other Layers

When working on a complex piece with dozens of layers, it is easy to get distracted by surrounding elements. If you need to focus on just one single element, there is a brilliant shortcut to isolate it:

• Open the Layers panel.

• Press and hold your finger down on the visibility tick box of the layer you want to keep.

This action instantly hides every other layer on your canvas. To bring everything back, just press and hold the same tick box again [01:13].

4. Duplicate Multiple Layers in One Gesture

The traditional way to duplicate multiple layers involves selecting them, grouping them, duplicating the group, and then ungrouping them again. It is tedious and takes way too many steps.

Try this instead:

• Select the layers you want to copy by swiping right on them.

• Hold your finger down on the selection and drag them directly onto your canvas.

• Drop them, and Procreate will instantly create a copy of all those layers at the top of your Layers panel [01:31].

5. Copy Multiple Layers to a Completely New Document

Moving a single layer to another project is simple, but moving a whole batch is just as easy once you know the secret:

• Select your desired layers and hold down to drag them over the canvas (do not let go!).

• With your other hand, tap the Gallery button in the top left corner.

• Open the destination document you want to copy them into.

• Release your finger, and all the selected layers will drop right into the top of the new layers panel [01:53].

6. Master Reference Layers for Clean Colouring

If you want to colour in an outline but keep your line art perfectly separate from the colour fill, the Reference feature is your best friend. This keeps your work non-destructive so you can change your mind later.

• Open your Layers panel and tap the thumbnail of your line art layer.

• Select Reference from the menu.

• Create a new layer directly underneath it.

Now, any colour you drop onto the new layer will automatically align with the outlines of the reference layer above, keeping your line art pristine and your colours on a completely separate layer [02:16].

7. Use Project Canvas with an External Monitor

If you want to take your workspace to the next level, try connecting your iPad to an external monitor using a USB-C cable or an HDMI adapter.

By default, the monitor will simply mirror your iPad screen. However, if you head to the Actions (Wrench) icon > Preferences and turn on Project Canvas, something magical happens:

• Your external monitor will show the entire, un-zoomed artwork.

• Your iPad screen will allow you to zoom right in to work on intricate details.

This setup saves you from constantly zooming in and out to check the composition of your design. You can simply look up at your monitor to see how the overall piece looks [03:23].

Which of these tips was new to you? If you already knew all seven, you can officially call yourself a Procreate pro!

For a full visual walkthrough of these features, you can check out Ian Barnard's original video tutorial on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04XUA0w1vO4