Quick answer: Procreate is a raster drawing and painting app for iPad, made by the Australian company Savage Interactive. It turns an iPad and Apple Pencil into a digital sketchbook and painting studio with pressure-sensitive brushes, layers, blend modes, simple animation and export to Photoshop-compatible files. It is a one-time purchase, runs only on iPad (with a separate iPhone version called Procreate Pocket), and is widely used by illustrators, comic artists, letterers and hobbyists.
If you have scrolled past a time-lapse of a painting appearing stroke by stroke on an iPad, there is a good chance it was made in Procreate. The app has become shorthand for “drawing on an iPad,” the way certain brand names become the word for a whole category.
So what is Procreate, exactly? This guide explains what the app does, how it works under the hood, what you can make with it, who it suits and who might be better served by something else. It is written for people who are curious, not yet committed, and want a clear picture before buying an iPad or Pencil. If you are already sold and want a guided start, our picks for Procreate books that teach beginners step by step are a good companion to this overview.
What Is Procreate in Plain Terms?
Procreate is a raster art app. That means every image is made of pixels, much like a digital photo. When you paint a stroke, the app fills pixels with color according to the brush you chose and how you moved and pressed the Apple Pencil.
Raster apps are ideal for painterly, textured work: watercolor-style washes, pencil sketches, gouache-like illustrations and soft blending. They are less suited to designs that must scale to any size without losing sharpness, such as logos, which is where vector apps come in.
Procreate’s appeal comes from three things working together:
- Responsiveness. Strokes appear with very little delay, which makes the Pencil feel like a real drawing tool.
- Simplicity. The interface hides most controls until you need them, leaving the canvas clear.
- Depth. Beneath the simple surface sits a professional toolset with custom brushes, layers and adjustments.
Where Procreate Came From
Procreate is developed by Savage Interactive, a company based in Hobart, Tasmania. The app first launched in the early 2010s, shortly after the iPad itself appeared, and it grew alongside Apple’s tablet hardware. The arrival of Apple Pencil gave it pressure and tilt input that made digital drawing feel much closer to pencil on paper.
A major turning point came with Procreate 5, which introduced a rebuilt graphics engine called Valkyrie, a redesigned Brush Studio and Animation Assist. Existing owners received that update without paying again, reinforcing the app’s reputation for one-time pricing. Since then, the company has added features in regular updates and launched Procreate Dreams as a separate animation app.
A Quick Tour of the Procreate Interface
When you open a canvas, you see a mostly empty screen with a thin toolbar across the top and a slim sidebar on the edge.
| Area | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Top left (wrench, wand, selection, arrow) | Actions menu, Adjustments, Selection, Transform |
| Top right (brush, smudge, eraser, layers, color) | Painting tools, Layers panel, color picker |
| Sidebar | Brush size and opacity sliders, eyedropper, undo and redo |
| Gallery | Your artworks, organized into stacks |
Much of the speed comes from gestures. Two-finger tap to undo, three-finger tap to redo, pinch to zoom and rotate, touch and hold to sample color. Once those become habit, you rarely touch a menu.
Key Features That Define Procreate
Brushes and the Brush Studio
Procreate ships with a large brush library grouped into sets like Sketching, Inking, Painting, Artistic and Textures. The Brush Studio lets you edit any brush in detail: shape, grain, stroke behavior, taper, Apple Pencil pressure and tilt response, and more. You can also import brushes made by other artists.
Layers and blend modes
Layers let you separate sketch, line art, color and shading so you can adjust each without touching the others. Blend modes such as Multiply, Screen, Overlay and Color change how layers interact, which is essential for shading and lighting. Clipping masks, alpha lock and layer masks give fine control over where paint lands.
Color tools
The color panel offers a disc, classic square, harmony modes (complementary, triadic, analogous and others), numeric values and saved palettes. ColorDrop fills enclosed areas by dragging a color onto them.
Drawing aids
QuickShape straightens lines and perfects circles when you pause at the end of a stroke. Drawing Guides offer grids, symmetry and one-, two- and three-point perspective. StreamLine smooths shaky lines, which is popular for lettering.
Animation Assist
Procreate includes a frame-by-frame animation mode with onion skinning, adjustable frame rates and looping options. It is great for short loops, GIFs and simple character animations. For more complex animation, the developer offers a separate app, Procreate Dreams.
Time-lapse recording
Every canvas can record a replay of its creation, exportable as a video. Many artists share these online, which is part of why the app is so visible on social media.
Export and file compatibility
You can export to .procreate (the native format), PSD with layers, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF, animated GIF, animated PNG and video. PSD export makes it straightforward to continue work in desktop software.
What Can You Make With Procreate?
- Digital paintings and illustrations
- Comics and storyboards
- Hand lettering and calligraphy
- Concept art and character design
- Tattoo design and flash sheets
- Pattern and surface design
- Greeting cards and printable art
- Short animations and GIFs
- Plein-air-style sketches and studies
Traditional painters also use Procreate as a planning tool, trying out compositions and color schemes before committing paint to canvas.
Who Is Procreate For?
| User type | Why Procreate fits | Possible limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Complete beginners | Clean interface, low price, lots of tutorials | Requires an iPad and Pencil |
| Hobby illustrators | Fast sketching, natural brushes, portable | None major for most |
| Professional illustrators | PSD export, custom brushes, high-res canvases | Canvas size and layer count depend on iPad memory |
| Letterers and tattoo artists | StreamLine, guides, easy redraws | Raster, so final logos may need vector conversion |
| Graphic designers | Good for sketching ideas | Not a vector or layout tool |
| Animators | Animation Assist for short loops | Limited compared with dedicated animation software |
Does Procreate Use AI?
Procreate does not include generative AI image tools. The developer has publicly stated that it does not intend to add generative AI to the app, positioning Procreate as a tool where every mark comes from the artist. Assistive features such as QuickShape, StreamLine and perspective guides help with accuracy, but they shape your own strokes rather than generating artwork.
Devices and Platforms
Procreate runs on iPad. Procreate Pocket is a separate app for iPhone with the same core engine and a phone-friendly layout. There are no official versions for Windows, Android, Chromebook or macOS.
Can you use Procreate on a computer or laptop?
No. You cannot install Procreate on a Windows PC, a Mac or a laptop. If you need a desktop workflow, export PSD files from the iPad and open them in a computer program, or choose a cross-platform painting app instead.
Make sure your iPad model and iPadOS version meet Procreate’s current requirements before buying. Older iPads may not support the latest release.
How Much Does Procreate Cost?
Procreate is a one-time purchase on the App Store, with no subscription. In the US it has been priced around $12.99. Procreate Pocket and Procreate Dreams are separate purchases. The bigger cost is the hardware: an iPad and, for pressure sensitivity, an Apple Pencil compatible with that iPad.
How to Start Learning Procreate
The app is approachable, but its depth means there is always more to learn. A sensible beginner sequence:
- Learn the gestures. Undo, redo, zoom and color sampling become second nature within a day.
- Explore five brushes. Pick one pencil, one inking pen, one painting brush, one airbrush and one texture brush. Avoid the temptation to try all of them at once.
- Practice layers. Do a sketch, ink on a new layer, color on another, shade with Multiply.
- Try clipping masks and alpha lock. These two features unlock clean shading.
- Copy simple subjects. Fruit, mugs and plants teach form and light without complex anatomy.
- Follow a structured resource. Books and courses prevent gaps that random tutorials leave.
For a curated reading list, see our roundup of the best Procreate books for beginners, which highlights titles that teach tools and art fundamentals together.
How to use Procreate like a coloring book
This is a gentle first project. Import or draw line art, open the layer options and tap Reference. Create a new layer beneath it and drag colors from the color circle into each enclosed shape. ColorDrop reads the line art layer but fills on your new layer, keeping lines crisp.
How to print from Procreate
Create the canvas at the final print size with a resolution of about 300 DPI for sharp results. When finished, use Actions, Share, and export a PDF or PNG. Print from the iPad or send the file to a printer or print service.
A Typical Procreate Workflow From Blank Canvas to Finished Piece
Seeing the steps in order helps the features click into place. Here is how many illustrators structure a piece:
- Create a canvas. Choose dimensions and DPI based on where the art will end up. Screen-only work can be smaller; print work needs more pixels.
- Thumbnail. Sketch several tiny compositions on one layer with a pencil brush, then pick the strongest.
- Refine the sketch. Enlarge the chosen thumbnail with the Transform tool, lower its opacity and draw a cleaner sketch on a new layer.
- Line art (optional). Ink on a new layer with StreamLine turned up for smooth lines.
- Flat colors. Set the line art as Reference and use ColorDrop on a layer beneath it, or paint flat shapes directly.
- Shading and lighting. Add clipping-mask layers set to Multiply for shadows and Add or Screen for highlights.
- Adjustments. Use Hue, Saturation, Brightness or Curves to unify the color scheme.
- Texture and finishing. Apply a subtle texture brush or noise, then sharpen key edges.
- Export. Save a PNG or JPEG for sharing and a layered PSD or .procreate file as your master.
Painterly artists often skip line art entirely and block in large shapes of color, then refine edges, which Procreate handles equally well.
Procreate Compared With Other Kinds of Art Software
| Software type | Typical strengths | How Procreate differs |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop raster editors | Photo editing, huge canvases, deep adjustment tools | Procreate is focused on drawing and painting, with a simpler, touch-first interface |
| Vector illustration apps | Scalable shapes, logos, crisp type | Procreate is pixel-based and not designed for infinitely scalable graphics |
| Comic and manga programs | Panel tools, page management, screentones | Procreate handles single illustrations well but lacks multi-page layout |
| Dedicated animation software | Timelines, rigging, sound sync | Procreate offers basic frame animation; Procreate Dreams covers more |
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
- Fast, natural feel with Apple Pencil
- One-time price with no subscription
- Large community and abundant free learning material
- Portable studio that fits in a bag
- Layered PSD export for professional pipelines
Limitations
- iPad and iPhone only
- Raster-only, no vector tools
- Maximum canvas size and layer count limited by iPad memory
- No built-in multi-page comic layout or text-heavy design tools
- Files live on the device unless you back them up
FAQs
What is Procreate used for?
Procreate is used for digital drawing, painting, illustration, lettering, comics, concept art, tattoo design and simple animation on iPad.
Is Procreate good for beginners?
Yes. Its uncluttered interface, low one-time price and large number of free tutorials make it one of the friendliest starting points for digital art, provided you have a compatible iPad.
Does Procreate have a subscription?
No. Procreate is a one-time purchase from the App Store. Procreate Pocket and Procreate Dreams are separate one-time purchases.
Can you use Procreate on PC?
No. There is no official Windows version. Procreate runs only on iPad, and Procreate Pocket runs on iPhone.
Do you need an Apple Pencil for Procreate?
You can draw with a finger, but an Apple Pencil is strongly recommended. It provides pressure and tilt sensitivity, which most brushes rely on for natural strokes.
Is Procreate vector or raster?
Procreate is a raster app. Artwork is made of pixels, so plan your canvas size for the largest output you need.
Final Thoughts
Procreate is an iPad painting studio that balances simplicity with professional depth. It is affordable, fast, and capable of producing everything from quick sketches to gallery-quality illustrations, as long as you are happy working on Apple’s tablets.
If you have decided to start, the next step is learning efficiently. Our guide to top Procreate learning books for new artists can help you choose a resource that matches your goals and style.
