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# How to Use Procreate: Interface, Gestures and a Four-Part Plan
- URL: https://theprocreate.com/start-here/how-to-use-procreate/
- Published: 2026-10-27T20:21:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-02T15:13:00.000Z
- Description: Start a canvas in the Gallery, learn the three zones of the interface and the gestures that replace most buttons, then export and keep a .procreate copy. Procreate's own Beginners Series adds up to 69 minutes of video and 2.5 to 3.5 hours of lessons, split here into four sittings.
- Author: Robert Rios
- Tags: start-here, #topic-start-here, #section-start-here-set-up-the-drawing

**To use Procreate, open the Gallery, tap + for a new canvas and work from three zones: painting tools at the top right, size and opacity sliders on the left, editing tools at the top left. Gestures do most of the rest: tap two fingers to undo, three to redo, pinch to zoom. Procreate's own four-part Beginners Series adds up to 69 minutes of video and 2.5 to 3.5 hours of lesson time. I'd learn it in four short sittings, one part each, and draw a real picture after the first, because gestures stick faster on a drawing you care about than on test strokes.**

Below: what you need, how to start a canvas, a map of every button, the gestures worth learning on day one, brushes, color and layers, the editing tools, how to export and keep a copy, a time budget built from the official course, and the settings I'd change before the second drawing.

## What you need before you start

[Procreate runs on iPad only](https://theprocreate.com/comparisons/procreate-for-mac/). The [Procreate App Store listing](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/procreate/id425073498?ref=theprocreate.com) asks $12.99 once in the US, requires iPadOS 16.3 or later and takes 1.2 GB. There's no subscription to set up. Buyers rate it 4.4 out of 5 from 51K ratings, and the listing carries an Editors' Choice badge; the Procreate price guide covers what buyers rate it for and how to check your iPad before you buy.

You don't need an Apple Pencil to begin. The [Procreate gestures handbook](https://help.procreate.com/procreate/handbook/interface-gestures/gestures?ref=theprocreate.com) says you can paint on the canvas with your fingertip. A Pencil earns its place once your brushes respond to pressure; if strokes ignore pressure after you pair one, the [Apple Pencil pressure fix](https://theprocreate.com/fixes/apple-pencil-pressure-not-working-procreate/) separates hardware problems from brush settings.

## Start in the Gallery

The Gallery is the screen Procreate opens on. Every artwork lives here as a thumbnail, and every artwork saves as a .procreate file on your iPad. Your progress saves automatically while you draw, so there's no Save button to look for.

1. Tap **+** in the top right corner of the Gallery to open the New Canvas menu.
2. Pick a preset: Screen Size, Square, 4K, A4, 4 x 6 Photo or US Paper. Screen Size is the easy choice for practice.
3. For an exact size, tap the icon of a rectangle with a + at the top right of that menu to open the Custom Canvas screen, then enter width, height and DPI. A canvas can run from 1 x 1 pixel up to 16K in one direction, depending on your iPad.
4. Leave the color profile on its default unless you know where the file is going. Procreate ships with seventeen profiles; the defaults, Display P3 for screen and Generic CMYK for print, suit most artists.
5. Tap a preset, or confirm your custom settings, and the empty canvas opens with the full interface around it.

One trade-off decides more than any other setting: larger canvases allow fewer layers. The Custom Canvas screen also shows the maximum number of layers your size allows, as the [Gallery Create handbook page](https://help.procreate.com/procreate/handbook/gallery/gallery-create?ref=theprocreate.com) explains. For practice, Screen Size gives plenty of both. For anything headed to print, I'd set the size from the print dimensions before the first stroke, because the canvas fixes both the detail you can print and the number of layers you get; the [print canvas size guide](https://theprocreate.com/export-print/procreate-canvas-size-for-print/#create-the-canvas-in-procreate) turns inches into pixels, and the [layer limit guide](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-layer-limit/) explains where that number comes from.

As the Gallery fills up, drag one thumbnail onto another to make a Stack; the [Gallery Stacks guide](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-gallery-stacks/) covers naming and moving them.

## Find your way around the interface

The [Procreate interface handbook](https://help.procreate.com/procreate/handbook/interface-gestures/interface?ref=theprocreate.com) splits the screen into three parts, and once you know which corner holds what, nothing on the canvas is hidden.

| Area                      | Buttons                                                          | What you do there                                                                       |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Top right: Painting Tools | Paint, Smudge, Erase, Layers, Color                              | Pick a brush, blend, erase, manage layers, choose and drop colors                       |
| Left: Sidebar             | Size slider, Modify button, Opacity slider, Undo and Redo arrows | Change brush size and opacity, pick a color off the canvas, step back or forward        |
| Top left: Editing Tools   | Gallery, Actions, Adjustments, Selections, Transform             | Return to the Gallery, insert and share, apply effects, isolate an area, move and scale |

![A plain tablet canvas with three labeled zones: Painting Tools at the top right, the Sidebar with size and opacity sliders on the left, Editing Tools at the top left.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/87/95/8795a9f5-73f0-42fe-8d7c-6a02022d8b40/content/images/2026/10/how-to-use-procreate-body1.webp)

Three zones hold every button: paint on the right, adjust on the left, edit at the top left.

A few sidebar details save time from the first session:

- **Finer slider steps.** Hold a slider, drag your finger sideways, then drag up or down. The slider now moves in smaller increments.
- **Modify button.** The square between the sliders opens the Eyedropper. You can also hold Modify and tap anywhere on the canvas to pick that color; the Procreate eyedropper guide covers the faster shortcuts.
- **Undo arrows.** Tap the top arrow to undo, the bottom one to redo, and hold either to run back through steps quickly. Procreate keeps up to 250 actions.

Adjustments holds the effects: Gradient Mapping, Blur, Sharpen, Noise, Clone, Liquify, plus Bloom, Glitch and other special effects. Actions holds the practical features: inserting, sharing, canvas adjustments and the interface and touch settings you'll meet further down.

## Gestures to learn first

Gestures replace most of the buttons once your hands know them. These are the ones that change how fast you work on day one:

| Gesture                 | What it does                                                                                      |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Two-finger tap          | Undo; hold two fingers to undo a run of steps                                                     |
| Three-finger tap        | Redo; hold three fingers to redo a run                                                            |
| Pinch, pinch and twist  | Zoom in and out; twist while pinching to rotate the canvas                                        |
| Quick-Pinch             | A fast pinch fits the canvas to the screen; the same gesture in reverse returns to your last view |
| Three-finger scrub      | Clears the contents of the current layer                                                          |
| Three-finger swipe down | Opens Copy & Paste: Cut, Copy, Copy All, Duplicate, Cut & Paste, Paste                            |
| Four-finger tap         | Full Screen; tap four fingers again to bring the interface back                                   |
| Draw and hold           | QuickShape snaps the stroke to a line or shape; tap a second finger for the perfect version       |

![Gesture cheat sheet with hand icons: two-finger tap undo, three-finger tap redo, pinch to zoom, Quick-Pinch to fit, three-finger scrub to clear, three-finger swipe down for Copy and Paste, four-finger tap for Full Screen.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/87/95/8795a9f5-73f0-42fe-8d7c-6a02022d8b40/content/images/2026/10/how-to-use-procreate-body2.webp)

The seven touches worth practicing before anything else.

One rule about undo matters more than the gesture itself. If you go back to the Gallery or leave Procreate, all undo states clear and your changes become permanent. That's why I'd duplicate an artwork before any edit you might regret: in the Gallery, swipe the thumbnail left and tap Duplicate, then experiment on the copy. Deleting an artwork from that same menu is final and can't be undone. The guide to undo in Procreate lists what else undo can't bring back.

QuickShape deserves an early try because it fixes the wobbly circle problem; the [QuickShape guide](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-quickshape/#draw-then-hold) shows how long to hold and how to edit the shape afterward. If multi-finger gestures are awkward for you, the Single Touch Gestures Companion puts Undo, Redo, Zoom, Move and Fit Canvas buttons in a window over the canvas; turn it on in iPadOS Settings → Procreate.

## Brushes, color and layers

### Brushes

Tap the Paint button, the brush icon, to open the Brush Library: brush sets on the left, the brushes in the active set on the right. Smudge and Erase open the same library, so the eraser can carry the texture of your brush. To switch tools and keep the current brush, tap and hold the unselected Paint, Smudge or Erase icon, as the [Paint, Smudge and Erase handbook page](https://help.procreate.com/procreate/handbook/brushes/paint-smudge-erase?ref=theprocreate.com) describes. Start with two or three built-in brushes before downloading packs: a short set teaches you what size and opacity do faster than a hundred options. When you're ready for more, the [guide to installing and organizing brushes](https://theprocreate.com/learn/install-organize-procreate-brushes/) keeps the library tidy, and [brush pressure and taper settings](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-brush-settings/#pressure-and-taper) explain why a stroke thins out at the ends.

### Color

The Active Color, the swatch in the top right of the interface, shows your current color; tap it to open the Color panel. It opens on the Disc by default, with Classic, Harmony, Value and [Palettes](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-palette-from-photo/) as the other tabs. The History row shows the last ten colors you used, which is handy when you're switching between a skin tone and its shadow. To fill a closed shape, drag the Active Color onto the canvas and drop it inside the outline; the guide to filling in Procreate explains the threshold when a fill leaks.

### Layers

The Layers button looks like a pair of overlapping squares. Tap it, then tap the + at the top right of the panel to add a layer. Layers let you move, edit, recolor and delete parts of a drawing without touching the rest, so my default is line art on one layer and color on another below it: you can repaint the color without redrawing a single line. Two layer gestures pay off early. Pinch two layers together to merge them, along with any layers between. Swipe right with two fingers on a layer to turn on Alpha Lock, which keeps paint inside what's already there; the [Alpha Lock guide](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-alpha-lock/) shows where it beats a clipping mask.

## Select, move and adjust

The three buttons next to the Gallery handle edits after the paint is down.

- **Selections** (the ribbon icon) offer four modes: Automatic, Freehand, Rectangle and Ellipse. Selection opens in Freehand the first time; the [Procreate selections guide](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-selections/#pick-a-selection-mode) helps you pick the mode for the shape you're isolating.
- **Transform** (the arrow icon) opens in Freeform, one of four modes with Uniform, Distort and Warp, and automatically selects the contents of your current layer. Uniform keeps proportions, which makes it the safer pick for scaling a finished element.
- **Adjustments** holds the effects, from Blur and Noise to Liquify; the [Liquify guide](https://theprocreate.com/learn/procreate-liquify/) covers pushing and reshaping.

Text lives in the Actions menu too, under Actions → Add → Add Text; the guide to adding text in Procreate walks through fonts, size and curving.

## Export and keep a copy

Everything leaves Procreate through Actions → Share. Pick the format by what the person on the other end needs:

| Format    | What it keeps                                            | Use it for                                        |
| --------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Procreate | All layers, masks and effects                            | Your own backup, or another Procreate artist      |
| PSD       | Layers, layer names, opacity, visibility and blend modes | Someone working in Photoshop                      |
| PDF       | A PDF at Good, Better or Best quality                    | Printing and quick previews                       |
| JPEG      | Flattened image, lossy compression                       | Small files for messages and the web              |
| PNG       | Flattened image, lossless, with transparency             | Stickers, logos, anything over another background |
| TIFF      | A high-quality image                                     | Print shops that ask for it                       |

The [Share handbook page](https://help.procreate.com/procreate/handbook/actions/actions-share?ref=theprocreate.com) lists the full options, and the [transparent PNG guide](https://theprocreate.com/export-print/transparent-png-procreate/#export-through-share) covers hiding the background layer before you export.

Autosave protects you from forgetting to save. It doesn't protect you from losing the iPad. Your artworks sit in the app on that one device, and Procreate has no account that keeps a copy for you. An App Store review from July 2025 titled "Please make an account system" describes artists losing their work when they couldn't back it up or their device broke; Procreate's reply added the vote toward an account system and pointed to its backup article. So I'd export a .procreate copy to Files or a cloud folder after every sitting on a piece you care about, because it's the only format that brings back every layer. The [Procreate backup guide](https://theprocreate.com/export-print/backup-procreate-artwork/#export-the-native-artwork) sets up that routine.

## A four-sitting learning plan

Procreate's [Beginners Series](https://education.procreate.com/beginners-series?ref=theprocreate.com) is the most structured way to learn the app, and its own numbers make a realistic time budget. Each of the four parts has a video, a downloadable workbook and an estimated lesson time:

| Part                     | Video  | Lesson time  | What you can do after it                                                               |
| ------------------------ | ------ | ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1\. The Fundamentals     | 16 min | 30 to 45 min | Move around the interface, use gestures, pick colors, paint, smudge, erase, use layers |
| 2\. Painting Tools       | 18 min | 45 to 60 min | QuickShape, ColorDrop, Layer Options, Alpha Lock, blend modes, Blur, Text, Transform   |
| 3\. Editing Tools        | 19 min | 45 to 60 min | Selection and Transform modes, clipping masks, Blur and Liquify                        |
| 4\. Actions & Animations | 16 min | 30 to 45 min | Insert a reference photo, draw with symmetry, make a looping animation                 |

Across the four parts, the videos total 69 minutes, a median of 17 minutes per part with a range of 16 to 19\. The estimated lesson time adds up to 150 to 210 minutes, or 2.5 to 3.5 hours of hands-on work. That's the honest size of "learning Procreate" for a beginner: one long evening of video, a weekend of practice.

![Bar chart of the four Beginners Series parts: video lengths of 16, 18, 19 and 16 minutes, with lesson time ranges of 30 to 45, 45 to 60, 45 to 60 and 30 to 45 minutes.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/87/95/8795a9f5-73f0-42fe-8d7c-6a02022d8b40/content/images/2026/10/how-to-use-procreate-body3.webp)

69 minutes of video and 2.5 to 3.5 hours of lesson time across the four parts.

Split it by sitting, not by evening:

1. **Sitting one:** Part 1, then the [first Procreate illustration walkthrough](https://theprocreate.com/start-here/first-procreate-illustration/#set-up-your-canvas) on a new canvas. Gestures stick when they're solving a real drawing.
2. **Sitting two:** Part 2\. QuickShape, ColorDrop and Alpha Lock are the tools you'll reach for in nearly every picture after this.
3. **Sitting three:** Part 3, with a duplicate of your first drawing to practice selections and Liquify on, so the original stays untouched.
4. **Sitting four:** Part 4 when you want reference photos, symmetry or animation. If you only draw still pictures, this part can wait; the Animation Assist guide picks it up when you need it.

Start with sitting one if you have a single free evening; add the rest once you've finished one picture and know which tools you missed.

## Settings worth changing first

All of these live in Actions → Prefs, documented on the [Preferences handbook page](https://help.procreate.com/procreate/handbook/actions/actions-preferences?ref=theprocreate.com).

- **Brush cursor.** Actions → Prefs → Brush cursor shows the outline of your brush shape when you touch the canvas. Turn it on first: seeing the size before the mark lands saves a lot of two-finger taps.
- **Right-hand interface.** The sidebar sits on the left for right-handed artists. If you draw with your left hand, Actions → Prefs → Right-hand interface moves it out from under your palm.
- **Light Interface.** Dark Mode keeps the focus on your artwork; Actions → Prefs → Light Interface gives higher contrast for bright rooms.
- **Pressure and Smoothing.** Actions → Prefs → Pressure and Smoothing holds the pressure curve, which accepts up to six handles. Change it only when every brush feels too heavy or too light, not for one brush.
- **Disable Touch actions.** In the gesture settings, this makes fingers trigger only gestures, so a resting hand can't paint or erase. Turn it on once you draw with a Pencil; leave it off while you paint with a fingertip, or your finger stops painting.
- **Rapid Undo Delay.** This slider sets how long you hold two fingers before rapid undo starts. Raise it if you trigger runs of undo by accident.

If you use a keyboard case, the Procreate keyboard shortcuts list covers the keys worth learning first.

## Short answers

### Is Procreate hard to learn?

Not for the basics. Procreate's own beginner course runs 69 minutes of video across four parts, with 2.5 to 3.5 hours of lesson time. Most of the learning is gestures, and you can start a real drawing after the first part.

### Can you use Procreate without an Apple Pencil?

Yes. You can paint with a fingertip, and the gestures are finger touches anyway. If several fingers at once is hard, the Single Touch Gestures Companion in iPadOS Settings → Procreate gives you on-screen Undo, Redo, Zoom, Move and Fit Canvas buttons.

### Does Procreate save automatically?

Yes. Progress saves while you draw, as a .procreate file on your iPad. Leaving the canvas also clears its undo history, so duplicate first if you might want to go back.

### How do you undo in Procreate?

Tap the canvas with two fingers, or tap the top arrow on the sidebar. Procreate keeps up to 250 actions until you leave the canvas.

### Is there a Procreate for iPhone?

Yes, a separate app. [Procreate Pocket](https://theprocreate.com/comparisons/procreate-pocket/) is iPhone only and costs $5.99 in the US App Store; the price guide explains why it's a separate purchase.

### Can I use Procreate on a PC?

No. Procreate requires iPadOS. The Procreate for PC guide covers the Windows apps that come closest.

This is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Procreate.