Procreate User Interface and Performance
Procreate’s user interface is relatively simplistic. The most striking thing about the app is not the depth of its features but how responsive and fluid it is to work with. This is due to the high level of performance, as well as a well-thought-out user interface that doesn’t get in the way. Unlike many mobile painting apps, there’s zero stroke lag when painting in Procreate. You’ll appreciate this responsiveness if you enjoy working with a smudge tool for blending colors. You can enable the streamline feature to automatically correct your strokes as you draw for even more precision. When you rotate the iPad, the canvas stays in place, but the user interface rotates so the tools are always oriented to your drawing position. Like Adobe Photoshop, Procreate’s selection tool allows you to outline areas of your drawing for editing without affecting the whole canvas. Since Procreate records your drawings in real time, you can impress your friends with time-lapsed animations of your work when it’s finished.
Procreate Brushes and Layers
Procreate comes with hundreds of brush and tool presets. You can also create your own custom brushes directly on the device. To create custom brushes, you import images for the brush shape and texture, then set the parameters of the brush attributes, such as spacing and rotation. You can share your custom brush presets and import new presets from other users. When it comes to working with layers, Procreate provides a great deal of flexibility for merging, locking, and working with blending modes. The maximum number of layers is limited by the canvas size.
Procreate and Third-Party Devices
Procreate supports only Apple Pencil on iPad Pro with tilt, azimuth, accumulation, and flow settings. If you have a different iPad model, you can use these pressure-sensitive stylus pens:
Adonit Jot Touch 4, Jot Touch Pixelpoint, Jot Script, and Jot Script 2TenOneDesign’s Pogo Connect 1 and 2Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 1 and 2, Bamboo Fineline 1 and 2FiftyThree Pencil
Getting Help in Procreate
Help for Procreate is available through an in-app quick start guide, as well as a detailed handbook you can download from within the app. Links are provided for the Procreate Community forum, online tutorials, and customer support.
Procreate vs. Photoshop
Procreate is similar to Photoshop in how it handles layers, but it’s better optimized for the iPad. Fortunately, Procreate supports Photoshop files, so you can import your PSD files and continue working on your tablet. Procreate also makes it easy to share files and open them on non-Apple devices. All in all, Procreate offers many of the same features as Photoshop at a much lower price. Although no free version is available for experimenting, a onetime cost of $9.99 is more appealing than Adobe’s annual subscription fee. While Procreate has a small learning curve, it’s a good alternative to Photoshop for artists who primarily work on their iPads.
