Getting Started with Procreate: What It Is & How to Use It 📋
By: Zaira Khemani
Tags: Drawing, Digital Drawing, Digital Art, Procreate, Illustration

Getting Started with Procreate: What It Is & How to Use It 📋

Welcome back to my blog. Today I am going to walk you through the basics of a digital art app called Procreate. We will cover simple information like what it looks like, how to use it, and how to optimize it to fit your needs.

Homepage

You’ve finally installed the Procreate app for just $10 and opened it to reveal the homepage. It will look like this (but without all the artworks):

But how do I navigate the app? Well, let’s start at the top. When you want to make a mass deletion, share, duplicate, or more, press the select button and choose the artworks that apply. If you need to import a file to kickstart your drawing, just push the import button next to select. To start an artwork from a photo, you guessed it: tap the photo button.

When it comes time to create your first drawing, select the + sign. You will be presented with a menu of size options, but I suggest sticking with screen size. This way, the canvas will cover your entire screen and give you the largest possible workspace.

Canvas

Once you’ve entered the canvas, you will see many more tools, but don’t be overwhelmed! Each of the options is there for a specific and essential reason. You won’t start out using all of the features, but it’s good to know about them.

At the top right, there is a button labeled gallery. It takes you back to the homepage. There are also the actions, adjustments, selection, and transform tools, but you don’t need to know about those yet.

Below the gallery button is a brush adjustment bar. The top slider controls the brush size, and the bottom slider changes the opacity.

Brushes

Let’s zoom in on the brushes feature, a significant aspect of the app. When you select the brush tool, you will be able to choose from a large library of 150 realistic art brushes! You can even make your own brushes using the settings and the + button!

There are even texture and element brushes like fire, water, cloth, paint, and more! Have fun and experiment by swatching different brushes all over your canvas.

Colors

As for the color agent, you have limitless options! You can switch between the disc, classic, harmony, and value views. Each view allows you to manipulate your colors to choose the best hues for your artwork.

If you enter the palettes tab, you can find all your created color groupings. Palettes are an advanced feature, so we’ll save that for another article.

Tools

If you want to create a smooth blend or gradient, the smudge feature is excellent. It’s the finger symbol next to the brush tool. Just tap on it twice to choose the type of blender, and use it like it is a real smudging tool.

When you make a mistake in your artwork, just tap the eraser symbol and drag your finger or stylus over the problem.

Beside the eraser button is the layers tool. I’ll talk about that next time because it is challenging and not great for beginners.

Saving & Exporting

What do I do now that I’m finished with my masterpiece? Procreate automatically saves it within the app, but you should probably export it to your photos application.

To do this, simply tap the wrench symbol, which stands for the actions button. Go to the share tab and select PNG. From there, I scroll through my apps and choose photos, but pick whichever application you want.

Congratulations, you just created and exported your first Procreate artwork! 😄