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Learn Procreate

Draw and paint on the iPad with brushes, layers and the tools artists use most.

Free to start. Built from a single prompt. No credit card.

Procreate is a raster drawing and painting app for the iPad, built around the Apple Pencil and its pressure and tilt sensitivity. A smaller version, Procreate Pocket, runs on the iPhone. The interface hides most tools behind gestures: two-finger tap to undo, three-finger swipe to copy and paste, and pinch to zoom. The real power lives in layers, blend modes, alpha lock, clipping masks and a deep brush engine. Learnr builds a personalized Procreate course from a single prompt, teaching the app alongside the drawing fundamentals that make digital art look good.

How to learn Procreate, step by step

Create a canvas sized for your output. Choose pixel dimensions and DPI up front: around 300 DPI at the final print size for prints, or the platform size for screens. Larger canvases limit how many layers Procreate allows, so do not oversize by default.
Learn the gestures before the menus. Practice two-finger tap to undo, three-finger tap to redo, pinch to zoom and rotate, and touch and hold to sample a color. Setting these into muscle memory early saves constant trips to the toolbar.
Draw clean line art with brush settings. Pick a simple inking brush and raise StreamLine to smooth wobbly strokes. Hold at the end of a stroke to trigger QuickShape for straight lines, circles and ellipses. Sketch on one layer, lower its opacity and ink on a new layer above.
Master alpha lock and clipping masks. Drag flat colors into closed shapes with ColorDrop, using a reference layer for line art on a separate layer. Then shade on clipping masks above each flat, or alpha lock the flat itself, so shadows never spill outside the shape.
Use selections, transform and Liquify to fix proportions. Select a part of the drawing and move, scale or warp it rather than redrawing. Flip the canvas horizontally often to spot errors your eye has adapted to, then nudge them with Liquify.
Customize brushes and export your work. Duplicate a brush before editing it in Brush Studio, and import brush sets as .brushset files. Export as PNG, PSD, PDF or a time-lapse video. Learnr lessons on value and color theory help your digital pieces improve beyond tool tricks.

What you'll learn

Set up canvases with the right size and resolution for print or screen
Use the core gestures, QuickShape and StreamLine for clean lines
Organize layers with blend modes, alpha lock and clipping masks
Color line art quickly with ColorDrop and reference layers
Customize and import brushes in Brush Studio

What's inside your Procreate course

A sample path Learnr builds for Procreate. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Gallery, canvas sizes and gestures
2. Brushes, StreamLine and QuickShape
3. Layers, alpha lock and clipping masks
4. Selections, transforms and Liquify
5. Coloring, blend modes and adjustments
6. Exporting, time-lapse and animation basics

How long does it take to learn Procreate?

Most people get comfortable with gestures, brushes and layers within one to two weeks of regular use. Producing polished illustrations depends far more on drawing and painting skill than on the app, which usually takes months to years of practice.

What you need before you start

A compatible iPad and ideally an Apple Pencil, plus the Procreate app from the App Store. Basic drawing skills help, but you can learn the app and drawing together.

Common mistakes to avoid

Doing everything on one layer, then being unable to fix line art or color separately. Keep sketch, ink, flats and shading on their own layers.
Using dozens of fancy brushes and textures instead of learning a few well. Most finished pieces rely on a small set of familiar brushes.
Starting with a canvas far too small and getting blurry exports. Decide on the final use first and set the canvas size accordingly.

How Learnr builds your course

Type your topic

Tell Learnr you want to learn Procreate, or get as specific as you like.

Get a personalized course

Learnr instantly builds a full Procreate course tailored to your goal and skill level.

Learn and level up

Move through bite-sized lessons and interactive practice, earning XP and keeping your streak.

Procreate questions, answered

Does Procreate work on Android or Windows?

No. Procreate is made for the iPad, with Procreate Pocket for the iPhone. On other platforms artists use alternatives such as Krita, Clip Studio Paint or similar apps.

Do I need an Apple Pencil for Procreate?

You can draw with a finger, but the Apple Pencil adds pressure and tilt sensitivity that most brushes rely on, so it makes a large difference for serious drawing.

Can Procreate do animation?

Yes. Animation Assist turns layers into frames with onion skinning and playback, which is good for short loops and GIFs. Longer projects usually move to dedicated animation software.