Can You Use Procreate Brushes in Krita? A Workaround

Procreate has one of the largest brush-sharing communities of any painting app, so it is natural to wonder whether that library is usable after moving to a Windows PC, a Linux machine or a Mac running Krita. The answer is “partly, with some manual work”.

This guide explains why Procreate brushes do not import straight into Krita, how to extract their components, how to rebuild them step by step, and when a native Krita alternative is the better option. If you want brushes that work immediately with no conversion, see our guide to the best Krita brushes available today.

Why Procreate Brushes Don’t Import Into Krita

Procreate and Krita both describe brushes as a combination of a shape (the stamp) and settings (how that stamp behaves). The problem is that they store and interpret those settings differently.

• File format: A Procreate .brush file is a compressed archive containing images and a settings file in Procreate’s own structure. A .brushset is a collection of .brush files. Krita has no importer for either.
• Engine differences: Procreate’s Valkyrie engine and Krita’s brush engines (Pixel, Color Smudge, Bristle and others) use different parameters. There is no one-to-one mapping between Procreate’s streamline, taper, wet mix and grain behavior and Krita’s sensors and options.
• Platform: Procreate runs only on iPad and iPhone. Its brush files are designed for that environment.

What does transfer is the artwork inside: the grayscale shape image and the grain texture. For many brushes, especially texture and stamp brushes, those images carry most of the character.

Can I Use Procreate Brushes in Krita Legally?

Before converting, check the brush’s license. Many paid and free Procreate brushes are licensed for use in Procreate only, or forbid modification and redistribution. Extracting the images to use in another app could break those terms. Some creators sell cross-platform versions, including Krita or Photoshop formats, which is the cleanest option when available. If the license is unclear, ask the creator.

What’s Inside a Procreate Brush File

When you unzip a .brush file, you typically see:

Some brushes only use a default shape or default grain from Procreate’s built-in library. In that case, the archive may contain only one image, or none, and you will need to choose a similar tip in Krita.

How to Convert Procreate Brushes for Krita: Step by Step

Step 1: Unpack the files

1. Copy the .brushset or .brush files to your computer.
2. Rename a .brushset to .zip and extract it. Inside you will find folders, each representing one brush.
3. If you have individual .brush files, rename each to .zip and extract.
4. Put each brush’s images in a clearly named folder so you know which shape belongs with which grain.

Step 2: Prepare the shape image

Procreate generally treats white as paint and black as empty space. Krita’s predefined brush tips usually treat dark areas as paint. That means many Procreate shapes need inverting.

1. Open Shape.png in Krita as a regular document.
2. Use Filter > Adjust > Invert (or Ctrl+I) so the shape becomes dark on light.
3. Save as PNG with a clear name, for example “chalk-shape.png”.

Alternatively, import the shape as is and see whether Krita’s tip options produce the correct result. Some versions offer handling for grayscale tips that may avoid manual inversion.

Step 3: Import the shape as a brush tip

1. Pick a basic Pixel engine brush preset.
2. Press F5 to open the brush editor.
3. Select Brush Tip, switch to Predefined and click Import.
4. Choose your prepared shape image.
5. Select it and test on the scratchpad.

Step 4: Add the grain as a texture

1. In the brush editor, enable the Texture option.
2. Click the pattern selector and import Grain.png as a new pattern.
3. Adjust scale, brightness, contrast and strength until the texture matches the preview from Procreate.
4. Set the texturing mode. Multiply or Subtract-style modes give the most Procreate-like grain.

Step 5: Rebuild the behavior

Now recreate how the brush responds to your pen. Use the original brush preview image as a visual target.

• Spacing: Start around 5 to 10 percent for smooth strokes or 25 percent and higher for stamp-like brushes.
• Size and pressure: Enable Size with the Pressure sensor, curving the response to taste.
• Opacity and flow: Link to pressure for build-up effects common in Procreate’s painting brushes.
• Rotation: Add Drawing Angle if the brush followed stroke direction in Procreate.
• Scatter and count: Use for spray and foliage brushes that scattered stamps in Procreate.

Step 6: Save and tag

Click Save New Brush Preset, name it after the original brush (credit the creator in the name or notes) and tag it, for example “Converted – Procreate”. Tagging keeps converted brushes separate from native ones.

Procreate Features and Krita Equivalents

How to Use Brush Stabilizer in Krita to Match Procreate’s StreamLine

Many Procreate inking brushes rely on StreamLine for smooth lines. In Krita, select the Freehand Brush tool, open Tool Options and set Brush Smoothing to Stabilizer. A Distance around 30 to 60 gives a similar effect. Weighted mode is lighter and may feel closer to modest StreamLine values. Unlike Procreate, Krita stores smoothing on the tool rather than the brush, so it applies to every brush until you change it.

Which Procreate Brushes Convert Well?

• Converts well: Stamp brushes, texture brushes, grain-heavy pencils and charcoals, spatter and foliage brushes.
• Converts partially: Inking pens, since the shape is simple but the feel depends on StreamLine and taper.
• Converts poorly: Wet painting and blending brushes whose effect depends on Procreate’s wet mix behavior. Krita’s own Color Smudge brushes are usually a better starting point.

Can You Use Photoshop Brushes in Krita More Easily?

Somewhat. Krita has a direct import for Photoshop .abr brush tips through the Predefined tip panel, so you skip the unzip and invert steps. As with Procreate, the dynamics do not transfer. If a creator offers both Procreate and Photoshop versions of a set, the Photoshop version may be faster to bring into Krita.

Can You Make Custom Brushes in Krita Instead?

Often that is the better path. Krita’s brush engines are deep, and building a brush from scratch gives you a cleaner result than forcing a conversion. You can paint a tip directly on the canvas, select it and capture it with the Clipboard or Stamp option in the Predefined tip panel. Combined with Krita’s texture, scatter and smudge options, many Procreate looks can be reproduced natively.

Common Mistakes When Converting

1. Forgetting to invert the shape, leading to a brush that paints a square block.
2. Leaving spacing too high, which makes strokes look like a dotted line.
3. Scaling the grain wrong. Procreate’s grain scale does not map directly; adjust visually.
4. Converting everything at once. Convert your five most-used brushes first and see whether they earn their place.
5. Ignoring licenses. Conversion does not change usage terms.

Krita Dynamic Brush vs Freehand: Which to Use for Converted Brushes

After conversion, choose the Freehand Brush tool for painting with your new presets. The Dynamic Brush tool simulates a weighted brush that drags behind the pen, which can be fun for calligraphy but does not resemble anything in Procreate. If a converted brush feels floaty or delayed, check which tool is active before adjusting the brush itself.

Worked Example: Rebuilding a Procreate Chalk Brush

Chalk and pastel brushes are among the most popular Procreate downloads, and they convert reasonably well because their texture lives in the grain image.

1. Extract the brush and locate Shape.png (often an irregular round blob) and Grain.png (a rough paper-like texture).
2. Invert the shape if it is white on black, and import it as a predefined tip.
3. Set spacing low, around 5 to 10 percent, so the stroke is continuous.
4. Import the grain as a pattern and enable Texture. Increase contrast so the grain bites into the stroke at light pressure.
5. Link texture strength to pressure if your Krita version supports it, so light strokes look broken and heavy strokes fill in, the way real chalk behaves on toothy paper.
6. Add slight rotation randomness with the Fuzzy Dab sensor to stop the tip edge repeating visibly.
7. Save and test on a mid-tone background.

The result will not be identical to the Procreate original, but it often captures the visual character closely enough for real work.

Keeping Track of Converted Brushes

If you convert more than a handful of brushes, a simple system prevents confusion later:

• Keep the extracted images in a folder named after the original brush set, along with a copy of the license.
• Prefix preset names with “PC –” or similar so converted brushes stand out from native ones.
• Note the original creator in the preset name or a text file, so you can credit them or buy an official Krita version if one appears.
• Package your converted presets into a personal bundle using Krita’s bundle creator for backup. Do not share that bundle publicly unless the license allows.

Can I Use Procreate Brushes in Krita on an Android Tablet?

Krita’s Android and ChromeOS builds share the same resource system as the desktop version, so the conversion approach is the same. The practical difference is file handling: unzipping archives and inverting images is easier on a computer. Many artists do the conversion on a desktop, export a personal bundle and then import that bundle on the tablet.

What About Brushes Made for Both Apps?

A growing number of brush makers sell multi-format packs that include Procreate, Photoshop and sometimes Krita versions. When a pack lists a Krita .bundle, the presets were built in Krita’s own engine and should behave as the creator intended. That is almost always better than any conversion you could do yourself, so it is worth checking a creator’s store or product page for a Krita edition before you start unzipping files.

FAQs

Can you use Procreate brushes in Krita?

Not directly. You can extract the shape and grain images from Procreate brush files and rebuild them as Krita presets, but the original settings do not carry over.

Is there a Procreate brush converter for Krita?

Krita has no built-in converter. Some community scripts and third-party tools attempt it, but results vary, and manual rebuilding usually gives better control.

Can Krita open .brushset files?

No. Rename the file to .zip and extract it to access the images inside.

Why does my converted Procreate brush paint a square?

The shape image is likely inverted. Invert it so the brush shape is dark on a light background, then import it again.

Can you use Photoshop brushes in Krita?

Partly. Krita imports .abr brush tip images directly, but pressure, scattering and other settings need to be recreated.

Is Krita a good Procreate alternative on PC?

Many artists use it that way. Krita is free, runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and some Android devices, and has a strong brush engine, though its interface is more complex than Procreate’s.

Final Thoughts

You can use Procreate brushes in Krita only as raw material: the shapes and textures come across, the behavior has to be rebuilt. For a handful of favorite texture brushes, that effort is worthwhile. For a complete painting kit, native Krita bundles save hours and keep every setting intact. Explore our roundup of the top Krita brush packs for 2026 to find native equivalents for the Procreate brushes you miss most.