Get Set Procreate 5 E-Book

Samadrita Ghosh

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 339

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Procreate is robust, industry-grade painting software that is extremely versatile yet an affordable alternative to subscription-based applications. If you're new to Procreate, Get Set Procreate 5 will help you get up to speed with creating professional illustrations in no time.
Complete with step-by-step instructions, detailed explanations, and practical application guidelines, this easy-to-follow guide will cover the ins and outs of Procreate 5.2 and show you how to use each feature effectively. You'll learn how to draw using assistive tools, apply effects, create animations, and develop amazing artwork by implementing the skills learned throughout the book. Once you've got to grips with the new features of Procreate 5 for creating beautiful illustrations, animations, and graphics, you'll be able to explore the tools at your disposal and even create your own brushes, shortcuts, and menus to work efficiently.
By the end of this Procreate book, you'll be able to navigate the application confidently and take your artwork to a new level.

Leseprobe

Get Set Procreate 5

A practical guide to illustrating on an iPad filled with tips, tricks, and best practices

Samadrita Ghosh

BIRMINGHAM—MUMBAI

Get Set Procreate 5

Copyright © 2022 Packt Publishing

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Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

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First published: September 2022

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Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

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ISBN 978-1-80056-300-1

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To my parents, who have tirelessly supported my dreams in a world that warned them otherwise, and my friends, who always saw more in me than I could see in myself.

– Samadrita Ghosh

Contributors

About the author

Samadrita Ghosh is self employed artist based in India. She has worked in the industry as an animator, illustrator, and pre-production artist since 2016 and has worked on several projects for diverse clients.

In 2020, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in design from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, and is now pursuing an independent career in illustration. She has been using Procreate to illustrate professionally for over 2 years.

I want to thank my mother, Dr Barnali Ghosh, for giving me my first iPad, where it all started.

About the reviewers

Nadia Ramlan is a digital artist from Malaysia with 10 years of experience in illustration and comics who primarily provides pre-production assets and graphic art. She has worked with local and international clients in the animation and comics industry, including InfiniteMotion Sdn. Bhd. and Headlocked Comics.

Nang Saphoi Longphai is an artist working on honing her skills in commercial art. Her work consists of fanart and original illustrations inspired by games, anime, and fashion. Saphoi completed her bachelor’s degree in design at IIT Guwahati and has been freelancing ever since. Hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, she wishes to showcase her culture through her work in the near future.

Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1: UI Overview

1

The Gallery – Organizing Your Files

Creating a canvas

Creating a canvas using Import

Creating a canvas using Photo

Creating a custom canvas

Sharing a canvas

Sharing a single canvas

Sharing multiple canvases

Sharing by dragging and dropping

Ordering, renaming, and stacking

Ordering your canvases

Renaming a canvas

Stacking canvases

Selecting, duplicating, and deleting

Summary

2

Getting Started – Setting Up a Canvas

Working from presets

Preset – Screen_Size

Preset – Square

Preset – 4K

Preset – A4

Preset – 4 x 6 Photo

Preset – Paper

Preset – Comic

Creating a custom canvas

Custom preset – Usual Landscape

Dimensions, resolutions, and layer limits

Dimensions

Resolution

Layer limits in Procreate

Choosing a color profile

RGB

CMYK

Importing your own color profile

Time-lapse and canvas properties

Time-lapse video

Canvas properties

Summary

3

Understanding Your Workspace

The top-right panel: painting tools

Paint

Smudge

Eraser

Layers

The Colour button

The left panel: the sidebar

Brush size slider

Brush opacity slider

The Modify button

Undo and Redo

The top-left panel: Advanced Features

Gallery

Actions

Adjustments

Selections

Transform

Summary

4

Using the Actions Menu

The Add menu

Insert a file

Insert a photo

Take a photo

Add text

Cut, Copy, Copy Canvas, and Paste

The Canvas menu

Crop and Resize

Animation Assist

Page Assist

Drawing Guide

The Reference companion

Flip Canvas

Canvas Info

The Share menu

Share Image

Share Layers

The Video menu

Time-lapse Replay

Time-lapse Recording

Export Time-lapse video

The Prefs (Preferences) menu

Interface toggles

Connect legacy stylus

Pressure and Smoothing

Gesture controls

Rapid Undo Delay

Selection Mask Visibility

The Help menu

Restore purchases

Advanced settings

What’s new?

Procreate Handbook

Learn to Procreate

Customer support

Procreate Folio

Write a Review

Summary

5

Selecting and Transforming

The Selections tool

Automatic selection

Freehand selection

Rectangle and Ellipse selection

Add

Remove

Invert

Copy & Paste

Feather

Save & Load

Selection mask visibility

Selecting layer contents

Finalizing edits

The Transform tool

Interface

Freeform

Uniform

Distort

Warp

Snapping

Flipping tools

Rotate 45°

Fit to Screen

Interpolation

Reset

Finalizing edits

Summary

Part 2: Utility and an In-Depth Discussion of Utility and Features

6

Using Gestures and Shortcuts

Understanding basic gestures

Pinch

Double-tap undo

Three-finger tap redo

Three-finger scrub

Three-finger swipe down

Four-finger tap

QuickShape

Precise slider control

Using accessibility gestures

Activating single touch gestures

Exploring layer gestures

Selecting layers

Pinch to merge layers

Two-finger tap for layer opacity

Two-finger swipe right for alpha lock

Two-finger hold to select layer contents

Customizing gestures

Painting gestures

Advanced feature gestures

Full Screen gestures

Layer content gestures

General gesture options

Summary

7

Organizing Your Layers

The Layers interface

Create a new layer

Layer thumbnail

Layer name

Primary layer

Blend mode

Layer visibility

Background color

Layer Options menu

Organizing layers

Selecting layers

Grouping layers

Moving layers

Transferring layers between canvases

Lock, duplicate, and delete layers

Exploring Layer Options

Rename

Select

Copy

Fill Layer

Clear

Alpha Lock

Mask

Clipping Mask

Drawing Assist

Invert

Reference

Merge Down

Combine Down

Understanding blend modes

Multiply

Darken

Color Burn

Linear Burn

Darker Color

Lighten

Screen

Color Dodge

Add

Lighter Color

Overlay

Soft Light

Hard Light

Vivid Light

Linear Light

Pin Light

Hard Mix

Difference

Exclusion

Subtract

Divide

Hue

Saturation

Color

Luminosity

Sharing layers

Drag and drop export

Share Layers menu

Summary

8

Painting Tools and the Brush Library – Using and Organizing Brushes

The Paint, Smudge, and Erase tools

Paint

Smudge

Erase

Brush Size Memory

The Brush Library

Brush sets and brushes

Brush Library basics

Recent and pinned brushes

The basics of Brush Studio

Interface

Advanced brush settings

Brush attributes

Summary

9

Brush Studio Settings – Editing and Combining Brushes

Exploring Brush Studio settings

Stroke path

Stabilisation

Taper

Shape

Grain

Rendering

Wet mix

Color dynamics

Dynamics

Apple Pencil

Properties

Materials

About this brush

Dual Brushes

Creating a Dual Brush

Editing a Dual Brush

Summary

10

Using Colour Tools

Colour terms

Hue

Saturation

Value

The interface

The Colours panel

Active colour

ColourDrop

SwatchDrop

Eyedropper

Disc

Interface

Saturation disc controls

Classic

Interface

Harmony

Interface

Reticles

Modes

Choosing colors

Value

Interface

Palettes

Swatches

Palette library

Palette Capture

Importing and sharing palettes

Summary

11

Adjustments – Applying Image Effects

Exploring the Adjustments interface

The Adjustments menu

The Layer and Pencil modes

Adjustment actions

Tweaking colors with color adjustments

Hue, Saturation, and Brightness

Colour Balance

Curves

Gradient Map

Working with blur effects

Gaussian Blur

Motion Blur

Perspective Blur

Applying image effects

Noise

Sharpen

Bloom

Glitch

Halftone

Chromatic Aberration

Warping an image with the Liquify tool

Modes

Settings

Adjust and Reset

Duplicating objects with the Clone tool

The Clone interface

Summary

12

Using Assisted Drawing Tools

Using the Drawing Assist interface

The Drawing Guides interface

Drawing squared grids with 2D Grid

The 2D Grid interface

Drawing technical graphics with the Isometric Grid

The Isometric interface

Realistic drawing with Perspective Guides

The Perspective interface

Symmetrical drawing with Symmetry Guides

The Symmetry interface

Guide Options

Summary

13

Using Animation Assist for 2D Animation

Using the Animation Assist interface

Animation Assist interface

Fine-tuning motion using animation settings

Preview settings

Frame settings

Appearance settings

Editing frames with Frame options

Summary

14

Sketchbooking with Page Assist

Using the Page Assist interface

Page Assist interface

Adjusting pages using Page options

Summary

15

Painting on 3D Models

Opening a 3D model

Importing a 3D model

Importing Procreate’s Model pack

Understanding 3D models

UV maps

Using the 3D interface

The workspace

The Reference companion

The 3D menu

3D gestures

Working with layers in 3D

Texture sets

Meshes

Base Layer

Additional Layers

Materials

Material options

Transforming graphics on a 3D model

Interface

Advanced transformation

Modifying the environment using Lighting Studio

Overview

Lighting

Environment

Exporting from a 3D canvas

Share Model

Share Image

Share textures

Summary

Part 3: Illustration Tips

16

Rendering Objects Using Blend Modes

Clock body

Shading using Multiply mode

Adding light using Screen mode

Drawing specular reflections using Add mode

Drawing dark shadows using Multiply mode

Adding color effects using Hard Light mode

Clock face

Adding cast shadow using Multiply mode

Adding light using Screen mode

Metal parts

Shading using Multiply mode

Adding light using Add mode

Finishing touches

Adding reflection using Screen mode

Summary

Index

Other Books You May Enjoy

Preface

Procreate is a robust and industry-grade painting software that is an extremely versatile yet affordable alternative to subscription-based applications. Get Set Procreate is a comprehensive introduction to the latest version of the software, for those who are new to Procreate. Complete with step-by-step instructions, easy-to-follow descriptions, and practical guidelines, this guide will reveal the ins and outs of the application.

You will learn how to use the features of Procreate 5.2 to create beautiful illustrations, animations, 3D paintings, and much more. The book will take you through all the tools available on Procreate and explain how to use them effectively to create high-quality artworks.

By the end of the book, you will be able to confidently navigate the application to achieve the results you want.

Who this book is for

If you're a beginner who wants to start illustrating professionally on Procreate but doesn’t know where to begin, this is the book for you. This book is also for experienced illustrators and animators accustomed to other software, like Photoshop, looking to pick up a new skill.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, The Gallery – Organizing Your Files, is where you will learn about the landing page of the application, called the Gallery. This will allow you to jump in as soon as you open the app.

Chapter 2, Getting Started – Setting Up a Canvas, will go over how to create a new canvas, both starting with a preset and starting a custom one from scratch to suit your specific needs. Using this knowledge, you will be able to choose your preferred settings, dimensions, color profiles, and much more.

Chapter 3, Understanding Your Workspace, will briefly map out the interface of Procreate, namely the toolbars and buttons visible in the workspace. For experienced artists, it will help you recognize and locate features you may already know from other software.

Chapter 4, Using the Actions Menu, goes into more detail about the Actions menu. It is a powerful set of tools that can be used to make changes to the canvas, interface, and so forth.

Chapter 5, Selecting and Transforming, is where we discuss the Selections tool and the Transform tool. Both of these tools are often used together to select and modify specific areas of an image.

Chapter 6, Using Gestures and Shortcuts, looks at how, by lowering UI complexity, Procreate leaves room for a variety of intuitive gestures. This chapter will give you a thorough overview of the different types of gestures and shortcuts available. If you are familiar with keyboard shortcuts on a computer, it will give you an alternative on the iPad.

Chapter 7, Organizing Your Layers, introduces you to how layers work in Procreate, including features such as layer options and blend modes.

Chapter 8, Painting Tools and the Brush Library – Using and Organizing Brushes, is where you will learn about the painting tools, namely the three types of brushes that are available. You will also learn how to organize, import, and share brushes using the Brush Library. Lastly, the chapter will introduce the basics of using the Brush Studio.

Chapter 9, Brush Studio Settings – Editing and Combining Brushes, is an in-depth discussion of the Brush Studio, covering all its features. It also explains how to combine two brushes into one Dual Brush.

Chapter 10, Using Color Tools, talks about how Procreate has a wide variety of color selection tools to suit your workflow. This chapter will go over each of those in detail.

Chapter 11, Adjustments – Applying Image Effects, is about the Adjustments menu. It consists of several layer adjustment tools to give your artwork an extra edge, using features such as image effects and color adjustments.

Chapter 12, Using Assisted Drawing Tools, talks about Drawing Assist, which is a set of tools that help you automate your drawing for accuracy when you need to follow perspective, symmetry, and other geometrical rules. The chapter will discuss the different types of assisted drawing tools available in Procreate.

Chapter 13, Using Animation Assist for 2D Animation, discusses how Animation Assist works, which is Procreate’s very own animation tool.

Chapter 14, Sketchbooking with Page Assist, explains how to use Page Assist. This is a useful tool for maintaining multiple pages of art on a single canvas, just as you would with a sketchbook or comic book.

Chapter 15, Painting on 3D Models, is all about the fascinating 3D painting feature that allows you to paint directly on 3D models. It will introduce the basics of how 3D models are composed and how they can be painted on.

Chapter 16, Rendering Objects Using Blend Modes, sees you blend layers together to enhance the quality of your rendering. This chapter is a step-by-step walk-through of an illustration, with a special focus on using blend modes to render different types of materials.

To get the most out of this book

This book covers Procreate 5.2, specifically as used on an iPad Pro 12.9-inch (third generation). It is supported by the iPad models mentioned in the following table. To start using this book, you will need to have purchased and launched the Procreate application, which is available on the App Store, for a one-time price of 10 USD.

iPad models that support Procreate 5.2

Operating system requirements

iPad Pro 12.9-inch (first to fifth generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (first to third generation), iPad Pro 10.5-inch, iPad Pro 9.7-inch

iPadOS

iPad (fifth to ninth generation)

iPadOS

iPad mini (fifth and sixth generation), iPad mini 4

iPadOS

iPad Air (third to fifth generation), iPad Air 2

iPadOS

If you are new to Procreate, you will automatically find the latest version on the App Store. If you’re a prior user, make sure the app is updated to Procreate 5.2.

While it’s possible to use Procreate with multiple types of styluses, using an Apple Pencil is highly recommended to experience its full spectrum of features.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/UlHUL.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “From here, choose any .swatches file to import the Procreate palette directly into your app.”

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “In the top right-hand corner of the Layers panel, you will spot a + icon.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, email us at [email protected] and mention the book title in the subject of your message.

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and fill in the form.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

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Your review is important to us and the tech community and will help us make sure we’re delivering excellent quality content.

Part 1: UI Overview

In this first part of the book, you will gain a working knowledge of how the interface works. If you are experienced with other software, you can start illustrating right away.

This section comprises the following chapters:

Chapter 1, The Gallery – Organizing Your Files Chapter 2, Getting Started – Setting Up a CanvasChapter 3, Understanding Your WorkspaceChapter 4, Using the Actions MenuChapter 5, Selecting and Transforming

1

The Gallery – Organizing Your Files

The very first page you will see upon opening Procreate for the first time is what is called the Gallery. This is where all your files exist and where you can create, organize, and view your artworks. This feature sets Procreate apart from most other drawing software, in which the landing page takes you directly to a new canvas.

To begin, the gallery should already have some sample artworks included to give you an idea of the full extent of what the software is capable of. The gallery is where the application automatically saves all your work, much like cloud-based types of software such as Google Docs. This relieves you from having to continually save your progress while working.

In this chapter, let’s look into the gallery and its functionality. By the end of the chapter, you will have learned how to navigate the gallery, make a new canvas, share and arrange your existing canvases, and edit your canvas information.

In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:

Creating a canvasSharing a canvasOrdering, renaming, and stackingSelecting, duplicating, and deleting

Creating a canvas

There are several ways of creating a new canvas on Procreate. In the upper-right corner of the gallery, you will see four buttons. Out of those buttons, Import, Photo, and + are the options that let you create a canvas from different sources of your choice. There is some overlap between how those three work, but let’s look at them one by one.

Creating a canvas using Import

Import allows you to create a new canvas directly from an image, video, PSD, or Procreate file saved in the Files app on your iPad. This is ideal for when you have downloaded a file from somewhere else (such as an email or a cloud drive) and want to open it in Procreate.

Tapping on Import will take you directly to Files, as shown here:

Figure 1.1: Importing from Files

From here, you simply have to go to the location of the file you want and tap on it. Once you have chosen a compatible file to open, Procreate will automatically create a canvas using it for you to work on.

Procreate supports the following file types:

.procreatePSDJPEGPNGTIFF.PDFGIF.MP4HEVC

Another way to quickly import a file into Procreate is by dragging and dropping it from Files. We’ll go into more detail about that in the Sharing by dragging and dropping section. With that, you now know how to import images from Files to create a new canvas. Now, let’s look at the other options we have.

Creating a canvas using Photo

Another avenue the application offers is to import an image from the Photos app. Tapping on Photo will take you to your iPad’s gallery, from where you can pick an image of your choice. It will look like this:

Figure 1.2: Importing from Photos

Here, you have an option to choose either from the entire gallery of photos or your albums. Similar to Import, Procreate will automatically create a fresh canvas with the original image.

Important Note

A canvas created from an imported file from either Files (using Import) or Photos (using Photo) will have the same properties as the source, including dimensions, resolution, and color profile. For time-based files such as GIFs and videos, the canvas will automatically turn on Animation Assist at the same frame rate as the source.

Of course, in this case, dragging and dropping an image from the Photo Library also does the trick. You now know how to create a canvas using Photo.

Creating a custom canvas

Tap on the + icon in the upper-right corner to create a fresh blank canvas from the available presets. If you find that none of them fit your needs, you could always make one from scratch! In the next chapter, we will cover, in detail, the process of setting up a custom canvas.

Next, we will look at the different ways in which we can share a canvas on Procreate.

Sharing a canvas

Procreate lets you export a canvas directly from the gallery to several supported apps such as Google Drive, Twitter, and Instagram. There are two ways to do it: you can choose to either share a single canvas or share multiple canvases together.

Sharing a single canvas

To begin, perform the following steps:

Open the gallery and find the canvas you want to export.Swipe left on it to reveal three buttons, Share, Duplicate, and Delete, as shown here:

Figure 1.3: The canvas menu

Tap on Share to reveal this menu, which has all the possible formats your file can be exported as:

Figure 1.4: The export formats menu

Once you have chosen your desired format, a dialog box will open. From here, you can choose the destination of your exported file, as shown here:

Figure 1.5: The Share menu

You can easily save the file to your device or send it to an app of your choice. It’s worth noting that sharing to an app does not mean that the image is saved to your device. You have to do that separately.

Sharing multiple canvases

Procreate also lets you export multiple canvases at once:

From the gallery, tap on the Select option. A small circle will appear under each canvas.Tap on a canvas to check the circle and select it.Once you have selected all the canvases you want to export, you will notice that the upper-right menu has now changed, as shown here:

Figure 1.6: The canvas

Out of those options, select Share.

Similar to the previous process, choose a format and destination for your files to complete the process and bulk export the selected canvases.

Sharing by dragging and dropping

A quicker and easier way to export files is by dragging and dropping a canvas into the intended destination. For this, you will need to use the Split View feature of your iPad. To activate Split View, follow these steps:

Open Procreate.Gently push up the horizontal white bar at the bottom of your screen to reveal the Tab bar. From there, press and hold the Photos/Files app icon (or wherever you want to export to). Drag the icon to the left or right edge of the screen.Your screen will automatically split, with the two apps on either side of the app divider line. You can adjust the position of this line to decide how much screen space to allot to each app:

Figure 1.7: Activating the split view

Next, simply select the canvases you’d like to export using the Select button from the previous section, and drag them into your destination app to export them automatically.

Important Note

The format of a file exported using drag and drop depends on the destination app. You can edit this via Open Procreate | Actions | Help | Advanced Settings | Drag and Drop Export. By default, the file type is set to .jpeg when exporting to Photos and .procreate when exporting to Files.

Now that we know how to create and export canvases, it’s useful to learn how to organize the gallery.

Ordering, renaming, and stacking

For artists working on several projects at once, it’s important to be able to easily sort out their gallery to navigate it smoothly. There are many convenient ways to organize your canvases within the Procreate gallery.

Ordering your canvases

The gallery has no constraints about sorting canvases in chronological, alphabetical, or any other order. By default, every new canvas you create gets added to the left-hand side of the top row. Even so, you are pretty much free to arrange your files in whatever order you want them to appear. This is done by long pressing on a canvas thumbnail and dragging it to the desired position:

Figure 1.8: Reordering canvases by dragging

Renaming a canvas

The default name of a new canvas is Untitled Artwork. To edit this, simply tap on the canvas name and it will pop out as a text editor bar, where you can type in the name you want. Tapping on the x mark (the cancel icon) on the right-hand side of the text editor will reset it to the default setting. This is how it will look:

Figure 1.9: Renaming a canvas

Right off the bat, you will notice, that Procreate allows you to have multiple canvases with the same name without marking them, such as painting and painting(1). You are also free to use special characters in any order. Note that it’s a slightly different feeling from, perhaps, naming files on your computer:

Figure 1.10: No naming conventions

Stacking canvases

Stacking is the feature you can use when you want to group together similar canvases. It’s like creating a “folder” on your computer. Each one of these groups is called a stack.

To stack two canvases, drag one canvas thumbnail over the other and wait for a blue box to appear over the one on the bottom. Then release it to create a stack:

Figure 1.11: Creating a stack

A stack is named Stack by default. You can rename it in the same way as renaming a canvas: by tapping on the name and editing the it.

Adding an existing canvas to a stack can be done in the following ways:

Drag and hold the stack over the canvas. A blue box will appear over the canvas, and a blue circle with the current number of canvases in the stack will appear in the upper-right corner. Once this happens, release the stack. This will reset the stack name to the default setting, irrespective of what it was named before. The canvas added will be found at the very bottom of the stack.Drag and hold the canvas over the stack. Don’t release it until a blue box blinks over the stack and it opens up to show all the canvases inside. Place the canvas in the position you’d like before releasing it. This method lets you keep whatever name the stack originally had.You can also choose the canvases you want to stack using the Select feature, which is covered in the next section.

Important Note

You cannot create a stack within a stack. Additionally, one stack cannot be stacked with another using drag and hold.

To move a canvas out of a stack, drag it over to the stack name. Then, hold it until the name turns blue and blinks, and the gallery appears. Place the canvas where you’d like.

Selecting, duplicating, and deleting

There are many more actions you can perform on your canvases from the gallery. These features are useful when you want to execute an action in bulk on several canvases. Tap on Select in the upper-right corner of the gallery to begin:

Figure 1.12: The select menu

Once you have selected your desired canvases, you can perform the following actions on them:

Stack: Create a stack with all the selected canvases and stacks.Preview: This will open up a slideshow with all the selected artworks in fullscreen mode, which you can swipe through. For canvases that have Animation Assist turned on, the preview will play the animated video.Share: You can bulk export all of the selected canvases in the same way that we discussed earlier, including dragging and dropping to your preferred destination.Duplicate: Create copies of each selected canvas.Delete: This is self-explanatory. This cannot be undone, so be careful when using it.

Important Note

While in the gallery, pinch out of a canvas thumbnail to automatically activate the Preview mode and swipe through all your artworks in fullscreen, without having to load the individual canvases.

Summary

Hopefully, you’re now comfortable with how the landing screen of Procreate 5 functions, and you’ve got the hang of using all these features to organize your gallery. Try using your newly learned skills to group together all the sample artworks into a stack, because in the next chapter, it will be time to create your own custom canvas.

2

Getting Started – Setting Up a Canvas

While making a new canvas, Procreate offers you a default set of canvas presets to choose from. Your canvas specifics will largely depend on the artwork you want to make. For instance, a thumbnail you want to post to Instagram and a poster you want to print out for your bedroom wall need separate settings to work in the way they are intended. The size they will be viewed in, where, and in what format they will be displayed are among the factors you need to consider while choosing your canvas settings.

If you find that the default options don’t cover your precise needs, you can easily create a fresh canvas manually. This allows you to have a lot more control over parameters such as size and resolution. Since Procreate automatically records a time-lapse video, the canvas settings also include time-lapse settings.

Open Procreate and tap on the + icon in the upper-right corner of the screen. This will open up the New canvas menu, which we will focus on for this chapter.

In this chapter, we’re going to cover the following main topics:

Working from presetsCreating a custom canvasDimensions, resolutions, and layer limits Choosing a color profileTime-lapse and canvas properties

Working from presets

The first thing you will notice once you open the New canvas menu is a list of canvas presets. They are included in Procreate by default and can be quite convenient when used properly. In this section, we will look at each preset, what they’re most suited for, and how to edit/delete them. Note that the exact presets you have available might differ based on your device.

Preset – Screen_Size

The very first option available is Screen_Size. Depending on the model of your iPad, it will create a canvas that has the same size and resolution as your screen. This preset is not editable.

The specifics of this preset are as follows (3rd generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro):

Dimensions: The same as the screen (2732 x 2048 px)Dots per Inch (DPI): 132Color profile: Display P3Layers available: 91Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.1: The Screen_Size preset

This preset is great if you’re designing an image that will only be viewed on screens. For example, images such as website headers and social media layouts are good places to use the Screen_Size canvas.

Important Note

You can edit a preset by swiping left on it and tapping on Edit. This is also a handy way to check the properties of a canvas before using it since there are some things you can’t edit once a canvas has been created (such as the color profile and time-lapse settings).

Please note that Screen_Size is the only preset that cannot be edited.

Once you edit a preset, it will have the settings you assign it every time it’s used, until you edit it again.

Preset – Square

Square is the first item on the list. As per its name, it creates a square canvas with the following specifics:

Dimensions: 2048 x 2048 pxDPI: 132Color profile: sRGB IEC6 1966-2.1Layers available: 124Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.2: The Square preset

Square is a great preset to use when you want to make images for Instagram slides, social media marketing, or generally anywhere on the internet.

Preset – 4K

Next on the list is 4K, which is a canvas for a high-resolution film:

Dimensions: 4096 x 1714 pxDPI: 132Color profile: sRGB IEC6 1966-2.1Layers available: 72Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.3: The 4K preset

This is an especially useful preset for making an animation film, specifically when you are planning to zoom into a single frame. The large dimensions of the 4K preset allow you to work both in a wide angle setting and close up (or even for extreme close-ups), without the loss of quality.

Preset – A4

A4 is a universally useful format. On Procreate, it comes with the following settings:

Dimensions: 210 x 297 mmDPI: 300Color profile: sRGB IEC6 1966-2.1Layers available: 57Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.4: The A4 preset

This preset is useful for making print-ready documents, brochures, flyers, and more. Combined with Procreate’s text editing tools, it also offers you a convenient way to design and format your own documents within the app. The DPI value of 300 means your file will be ready for print right off the bat.

Preset – 4 x 6 Photo

4 x 6 Photo is another preset that is optimized for printing, with the following settings:

Dimensions: 6” x 4”DPI: 300Color profile: sRGB IEC6 1966-2.1Layers available: 244Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.5: The 4 x 6 Photo preset

This preset’s 3:2 aspect ratio is made to mimic traditional film photographs. It’s great for making small-sized prints.

Preset – Paper

Paper is commonly called US Letter. On Procreate, it comes with the following settings:

Dimensions: 11” x 8.5”DPI: 300Color profile: sRGB IEC6 1966-2.1Layers available: 59Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.6: The Paper preset

This preset is optimized for printing in standard North and South American paper sizes.

Preset – Comic

As the name suggests, the Comic preset is designed for making graphic novels. The preset settings are as follows:

Dimensions: 6” x 9.5”DPI: 400Color profile: Generic CMYK profileLayers available: 54Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.7: The Comic preset

You will notice that this is the only preset that uses a CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key) profile. Color profiles and their uses will be described in more detail later. For now, it’s enough to know that CMYK means the canvas is optimized for color accuracy during printing.

Creating a custom canvas

Now that you are familiar with the available presets, you are ready to learn how to create a canvas from scratch:

Tap the + button in the upper-right corner of the gallery. Once the New canvas menu opens up, tap the box with a + icon to enter the Custom Canvas screen. It looks like this:

Figure 2.8: The Custom Canvas screen

Tap on the canvas name to edit it.

This will serve as the preset title (as explained next), not the name of the individual file! By default, the canvas created will still be named Untitled Artwork. What you are naming here is your own fresh preset, in case you want to open a similar file again later:

Figure 2.9: Every new canvas is saved as a preset

Important Note

Every time you create a new canvas, it automatically gets saved in the list of presets with the name Untitled Canvas. Even if you create the same canvas twice, it will be saved as two identical presets.

So, it is a good practice to notice and rename custom canvases that you frequently use, and open them directly from the presets. Otherwise, your list can become repetitive and confusing in no time.

With that, you’re all set to create your own custom canvas.

As an artist, I have my own favorite canvases that I have customized for my work. Here is one I use most frequently:

Custom preset – Usual Landscape

Usual Landscape is a generally versatile preset that I use to make most of my landscape orientation artworks. The preset settings are listed as follows:

Dimensions: 7.5” x 6”DPI: 300Color profile: Display P3Layers available: 128Video settings: 1080p (H.264):

Figure 2.10: The Usual Landscape preset

Dimensions, resolutions, and layer limits

To set up a custom canvas, the first items of information you need to enter are the dimensions and resolution (DPI). Procreate sets a limit of maximum layers depending on those values. Let’s look at each of those terms and what they mean.

Dimensions

Dimensions refers to the physical size of your canvas. It can be entered in inches (“), centimeters (cm), millimeters (mm), or pixels (px). On Procreate, it’s written in the width x height format.

As you can see in the following screenshot, the first value you enter will be for the width (horizontal) of the canvas, and the second one will be for the height (vertical):

Figure 2.11: Canvas Dimensions

Resolution

The term “resolution” refers to how densely the pixels are arranged on a canvas. It is measured in DPI, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 2.12: The canvas resolution in DPI

This tells us how many digital pixels or ink dots (for printing) fit into one physical inch of the canvas. Naturally, the value of the pixel dimensions of the canvas will depend on the DPI you choose.

As a rule of thumb, it’s safe to use 300 DPI or higher when working for print. Usually, screens work on 72 or 96 PPI (Pixels per Inch, as used in the digital context), so higher resolution images get compressed to match that value.

Layer limits in Procreate

For every canvas that you create, Procreate sets a limit on the maximum number of layers you can use. The limit depends on a set of factors, including the dimensions and resolution of your canvas along with the RAM of your device. Adjust the canvas properties to see how it changes the layer limit:

Figure 2.13: The layer limit

For a smooth illustrating experience, adjust your canvas to have at least 100 layers available to you.

Next, we will look at color profiles and how to use them.

Choosing a color profile

The color profile of a canvas dictates how it manages color. Select the Color profile tab in the Custom Canvas screen, as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 2.14: Canvas Color profile

Procreate allows you to work with RGB or CMYK. They are the most widely used profiles and have their separate uses. Let’s look at them in more detail.

RGB

RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue; the three colors of light that most screens display. These colors are emitted in varying combinations to make different colors in a way that the maximum values of all three together produce white light:

Figure 2.15: RGB combines light

RBG color profiles allow you to use a large range of colors, including brighter, highly saturated versions. They are best used when you are designing for screens, such as publishing on the internet or for a film.

CMYK

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). These are the four colors of ink that most printers combine to print different colors. In theory, cyan, magenta, and yellow combined in the same quantities produce black ink, as shown in the following diagram. In reality, black ink is used separately while printing and is referred to as key: