Robert Rios

Austin, Texas

Freelance illustrator and letterer. Drawing in Procreate since 2013, BFA in Studio Art from UT Austin. Practical guides on brushes, layers, color and export.

More about Robert Rios

A filmstrip shows a sailing-boat drawing progressing from a sketch to a coral-sailed painting.

Procreate Time-lapse: Decide What the Recording Is Allowed to Show

Choose recording quality before drawing, keep private references out of the time-lapse, and review the exported process video before sharing.

A separate colored effect sheet overlaps a geometric grayscale portrait.

Procreate Blend Modes: Choose a Layer Effect by What Changes

Choose Multiply, Darken, Screen or Overlay for a specific effect, then check the layer opacity and the colors underneath.

A floating full-car overview sits above a close view of the same drawing.

Procreate Reference Companion: Keep the Reference Separate from the Painting

Keep the composition in view with Canvas mode or import a photo into Image mode. Move, resize and close the reference window without changing a paint layer.

An enlarged crop frame adds blank space around a small geometric skyline.

Procreate Resize Canvas: Change the Frame Without Accidentally Resampling the Art

Duplicate the artwork before cropping. Change the canvas boundary for extra space, or enable Resample when the entire image needs new pixel dimensions.

Change a Procreate Color Profile Without Switching RGB or CMYK

Find the current profile, preserve an unchanged copy, and select a replacement within RGB or CMYK. Check the exported still and time-lapse separately.

Cobalt paint stays inside a single coral origami-bird silhouette.

Procreate Alpha Lock: Recolor Existing Marks Without Painting Outside Them

Recolor existing pixels with Alpha Lock, protect transparent areas, and use a separate clipping-mask layer when the treatment needs later adjustment.

Cobalt shading on a separate layer follows a coral rocket silhouette.

Procreate Clipping Masks: Paint Inside a Shape Without Erasing the Base

Keep shading on a separate clipping-mask layer, identify the shared base in a clipped chain, and check layer order before repainting a missing effect.

A cobalt ribbon and flat grid bend around a Liquify brush contact.

Procreate Liquify: Distort a Copy and Keep the Original Recoverable

Warp a duplicate with Push or directional Twirl, control the stroke strength, and finish Reconstruct or Amount changes before committing.

Cobalt fill and a narrow inner fringe inside an angular ink outline.

Procreate ColorDrop Threshold: Stop a Fill From Leaking

Lower Threshold for a leaking fill, raise it carefully for an inner fringe, and inspect the remembered value before the next ColorDrop.

Poster elements align to a canvas guide while another star moves along a constrained direction.

Procreate Snapping vs. Magnetics: Why Does an Object Jump or Lock?

Check Snapping for jumps to an edge or center, and Magnetics for constrained motion. Distance and Velocity adjust Snapping only.

A kingfisher wing edge shown as hard pixel steps and a softer painted contour.

Procreate Transform Interpolation: Nearest, Bilinear, or Bicubic?

Compare Transform methods on a duplicate: preserve intended pixel steps, painted transitions or thin lines at the final viewing size.

Colors from a coastal image form a palette for a painted landscape.

Make a Procreate Color Palette from a Photo or File

Create swatches from a photo or JPG/PNG file, rename the palette, set it active and save a shareable copy before deleting it.