#procreatehelp

Blending modes alter the way layers appear and blend with other layers. Each layer's default blend mode is Normal, but there are several different options. To switch to a different option, open up your layers and select the N that is on the right side of a layer. This will open a drop-down menu that allows you to scroll through the various modes and shows a preview before you actually decide to stick with it.

Before the list is the bar that gives you the ability to change the layer's opacity. While you do have the interface that changes the opacity of your brush, this changes the layer's transparency as a whole.

The first blending mode is Multiply. This mode changes the appearance of a layer by making the art darker. This will be helpful when trying to create an appearance of a shadow.

The next mode is Darken. Darken, depending on whether or not there is a difference in color and darkness between two layers, will keep the darker layer, bringing it to the front. If there is little to no difference, however, nothing will change.

The next two modes are Color Burn and Linear Burn. Though both give the layer a darker effect, Linear Burn's darken effect does not have as much saturation as the other and shows more of a contrast in the darker colors.

Darker Color is similar to Darken in the sense that it will not change if the colors are similar, but it takes a slightly different approach when comparing the colors.

Normal is the default mode where nothing is changed. The image that you've created stays the same.

Next is Lighten. Lighten does the opposite of Darken, using the lighter color and blending it.

Screen, Color Dodge, and Add all do similar things, but with different approaches. Screen brightens the colors, making your image somewhat transparent and transforming it into a highlight. Color Dodge makes the layer even brighter. This can also be for highlights, but if you want it to have more of an exaggerated effect. Add brightens the lighter colors without brightening the layer below it as much as Color Dodge.

Lighter Color lightens the layer, but just like Darker Color, takes a different approach to performing the task.

Overlay lightens and darkens aspects of the layer depending on the tones. It darkens the darker tones and lightens the lighter ones. This can be used if you want both the effect that Multiply and Screen apply to the layer.

Soft Light, Hard Light, Vivid Light, Linear Light, and Pin Light are all like Overlay with the way that they lighten and darken the layer. Soft Light is a more subtle version, while Linear Light would be a much harsher mode. Hard Light and Vivid Light would be considered in between the two, but Hard Light is a lot less bright than the other.

Pin Light darkens and lightens the layer at the same time. Depending on the colors that are used, that layer may seem as if it doesn't exist.

Hard Mix reduces the colors that you have used on the layer, replacing them with black, white, cyan, yellow, magenta, red, green, and/or blue based on the colors used.

Difference inverts and darkens colors using the base and contrasting colors as a reference. This will completely change your layer, but if that's something that you're interested in, I'd recommend testing it.

Exclusion, much like Difference inverts and darkens colors, but if there are variations of gray in the layer, those colors will remain unaffected.

Subtract darkens the lighter parts of an image and leaves darker colors with almost no effect.

Divide performs the opposite task as Subtract, lightening darker colors and keeping the lighter ones the same.

Hue is for when you want to slightly change the hue, but want to keep the tone and saturation that already exists on the layer.

Saturation changes the intensity of the layer, making it less vivid.

Color uses the hue and intensity of the layer above, while keeping the radiance of the bottom layer. Depending on the colors used, there could be little to no difference.

And finally, Luminosity. This mode does the opposite of Color, keeping the hue and saturation of the bottom layer, but using the radiance of the top.

Last week we talked about brushes and the different types, but sometimes we want something different. When we don’t want to use any of the standard brushes that come with the app, there are two options; adding premade brushes or making your own. Today, I will explain how to make your own brush.

The first thing that you should do is add another set under your brush library to keep track of which ones are custom. Although a little symbol appears on the side, indicating that the brushes are not from the standard sets, it could be beneficial when trying to stay organized.

 To start a new set, drag your list down until a blue plus button pops up, and then select it. To add a brush to the set, select the plus button on the top right of the library. This will add a basic brush, but by selecting it, you will be brought to the Brush Studio.

The Brush Studio is what you will use when customizing a brush and there are several options, from stroke path, to shape, to adding color to your brush. The best way to get comfortable with these settings is by playing around with them, making small strokes on the provided drawing pad. When your drawing pad is full, you can clear it by selecting Drawing Pad and clicking on the Clear drawing pad prompt. 

Although it’s not too soon, I’ve already become excited for Christmas, so as an example, I made a brush that resembles a Garland. To get the garland look, I dragged the Scatter option to the right (not with a specific number in mind) and brought Tilt Roundness to -99%. 

When testing the brush out on a new canvas, I noticed that by dotting everywhere, it kind of looks like someone had blown on a dandelion!

One of the first things that you should know how to navigate through is settings. To go into settings, you will select the wrench icon at the top left of any opened artwork. Under this will be six different options; Add, Canvas, Share, Video, Prefs, and Help. While we will go further into detail about these settings and the advantages that you can and should take with them at a later time, it is important to at least give a brief explanation for each section, as it may be something you refer to often.

Under Add, there are options to insert an image, file, or text, and cut, copy or paste an item of your choosing. This will come in handy for people who plan on making things like logos or banners of some sort. It can also be good for making creative restaurant menus or even

Under Canvas, you can crop or resize your canvas, utilize assistance for your animations or drawing, insert a reference image, flip the canvas horizontally/vertically, or view your canvas information.

Share allows you to share your canvas, whether it be just a single image or the layers. It provides you with several options for the type of file and allows you to send it to your desired destination directly from the app.

Video has three options; Time-lapse Replay, Time-lapse Recording, and Export Time-lapse video. The first and last options depend on whether or not

Prefs gives you the ability to change the canvas preferences. From interface and cursor settings to projecting your canvas. Some problems that you have with gestures or the way that your stylus is operating may be answered here.

The Help section provides you with the option to deal with any problem that cannot be addressed within the other sections or the app at all. If you are missing something or have a concern, the options in this section will bring you directly to where you need to be.

Sometimes you don't want to go through the trouble of remaking little things that you use constantly in your art. An example of this would be a little signature. While you can just copy and paste it from another art piece, you can simply make a stamp for it!

To start, begin a new canvas and remove the background by selecting the checkbox next to Background color. When you've done this, draw your desired art.

Once you're happy with your art piece, go into Actions and then select the PNG option under Share Image in Share. This will save your image to your photo library or wherever you decide to save it.

Next, you have to go into your Brush Library and create a new brush. When you're brought to the Brush Studio, go into Shape and select Shape Source.

Selecting Shape Source will open Shape Editor, which is something you may or may not be familiar with. Click Import, select the source option that you saved your art, and then choose the art that you've made. Once this is complete and your art has been placed into Shape Editor, press Done.

Next, you have to adjust some of the Brush Settings. First, under Stroke Path, drag Spacing to Max. Under Apple Pencil, drag Opacity to None. Lastly, go into Properties and turn on Use Stamp Preview. After this, you can name the brush or do any other adjustments that you'd like to make. Once you're satisfied, exit the Brush Studio and test out your new brush!

Before we go further into things like gestures, layers, and shortcuts, it's important to know about brushes. Brushes are the main tool that you will be using in Procreate and there are endless possibilities style-wise. If you select the brush icon on the top right, it opens up the Brush Library. Because there are so many brush options, you should take the time to play around with them.

The fun doesn’t end here though! By clicking on a specific brush, you will have several options to edit your brush, from the way it flows on the screen to a specific color. 

Anything that you want to see different in your brush can be fixed here. This is also something that can be fun to play around with, as you can even change the shape of your brush! 

When you want to change the brush size (top) or the opacity (bottom) of the brush, lower or heighten the adjustments on the left side of the screen!

On Friday I briefly talked about drawing guides, but I felt that it was important to go more in depth with it, as it can be a life saver! To use Drawing Guide, you must go into Actions, select Canvas and turn it on.

This does not stop here, however, as there are several ways that you can use Drawing Guide. To edit the Drawing Guide, make sure that it is on and then select Edit Drawing Guide. In this, there are four settings, 2D Grid, Isometric, Perspective, and Symmetry. 

2D Grid and Isometric both provide you with grids, but 2D Grid is for assisting you with 2D art. When Assisted Drawing is selected under 2D Grid, the lines you draw will go either vertically or horizontally.

Isometric consists of triangles and is usually used for 3D art. With Isometric, the lines will go vertically or along the diagonal grids. 

Perspective allows you to create up to three vanishing points so that you can easily make a perspective drawing of your choosing. Whether you want to make a bedroom or a beautiful landscape, Perspective helps you achieve that!

Lastly, Symmetry helps you make sure your art is symmetrical. Without editing anything, it adds a straight line down the middle of your canvas, but by selecting Options, it shows other options like Vertical, Horizontal, Quadrant, and Radial. You can also select Rotational Symmetry and Assisted Drawing, which will help you flawlessly create what ever your heart desires!

Don’t forget to turn off Assisted Drawing! Even if you turn off Drawing Guide, Assisted Drawing will still be selected within the edit section. If you’re ever confused as to why your brush is consistently drawing a straight line, be sure to check and see if Assisted Drawing is still on.

Sometimes making brushes can be difficult. Other times, you just may not want to make your own brush. Whatever the reason is, know that there is an alternative. When making your own brushes isn’t an option that appeals to you, there is the option to import premade brushes! 

The first thing you should do is find the brushes that you like. Although there are free options that are great brushes, there are also sets that you have to pay for. These paid brushes aren’t expensive at all though so don’t worry!

Once you’ve decided on the brushes and have made the optional purchase, you will have to download the sets/individual brush. To keep track of your downloads, you should put them in a folder that you can easily find when it’s time to import.

After the brushes are fully downloaded, next thing is to go to your Procreate app and open up a new or preexisting canvas. In the canvas, you will go to the Brush library and select the + on the top right. At this point, the Brush Studio should be something that you’re familiar with, but unlike when editing a brush, the Import option is also at the top right next to Cancel and Done.

Selecting that import button will bring you to your downloaded files, where your brush sets will be. When you tap on the brush sets and open them, they will be added to your library with a little imported sign next to them. 

Once you’ve added all of the brushes that you want, you’re free to use them as much as you want! As someone who has downloaded a few brush sets, I find this to be very handy and definitely plan on doing it more if I find some more that I like. It’s such a convenient and fun way to branch out and try different things with your art!

When I first started using Procreate, I had a lot of trouble with masks and alpha lock, as I didn’t full understand it. Because of that, I wanted to take a lesson to specifically talk about it! Some people may use these tools a lot, while others may not use it at all, but at least knowing how to use them is very useful!

Alpha lock is something that I use often. It allows you to only draw or color within the existing art in that layer. This can be helpful when doing something like shading or adding little details without going outside of the space in the layer. If you didn’t read the last post, to turn on Alpha Lock, as well as the other options like Masks, you have to go into the layer settings. Selecting a specific layer within layer settings will open up the list of options and allow you to turn on Alpha Lock. You can tell when Alpha Lock is on not only by seeing whether or not there is a check mark next to it, but by noting whether or not there is a transparent background surrounding the existing art. No check mark and no transparent background? Alpha Lock is not on!

Mask gives you the ability to edit a layer in a way that doesn’t completely ruin everything around it. It shows you the alterations that have been made on a “mask” without actually affecting the masked layer. For example, say I wanted to see what it would look like if I erased a heart out of this circle. 

I could use the eraser directly on that layer, or I could apply a mask to the layer. This would bring me to the mask, where I could edit the circle without actually editing it. If I wanted to go back to the way it was, I could get rid of the mask or select the checkbox on the right side of the layer, which would just hide the alteration. If you wanted to keep the alteration, you can select the masked layer and then select Merge Mask.

Clipping Mask is somewhat similar to Mask, but instead of using a single layer and masking it, it clips the selected layer and the lower layers, making the selected layer the mask. This can be beneficial when trying to test out alterations for several layers.