Tap the N in the layer to choose various blend modes. Two finger tap on layer then slide finger left on the canvas to reduce opacity or right to increase opacity. Two finger swipe to the right on the layer. Two finger pinch two or more layers together. They will turn blue and you can move them, transform them, or CREATE A GROUP OF LAYERS. Tap a layer + slide additional layers to the left. To open a canvas at any time, double tap on it. Tap the X to exit out of preview mode or use two fingers and pinch down to exit. You can then swipe left or right or tap the preview and use the arrows to navigate. You will see a blue circle with a number indicating how many canvases are selected and you can move these as a group. Tap + hold a canvas with one finger and using the other hand, tap other canvases you want to select. When it brings you back to the main gallery, let go of the canvas. Tap + hold and hover over the stack name at the top left. This is like a folder that you can rename by tapping “Stack”. When you let go, Procreate will create a stack. Tap + hold to move canvas around and place it where you like. Swipe canvas to the left to either share it, duplicate it, or delete it. Use two fingers and twist the canvas to be either a landscape or portrait orientation. Tap “Untitled Artwork” to rename any of the canvases you created. And you might even feel silly when you realize you’ve just attempted to do a Procreate gesture on paper… yeah, I’ve done that more times than I’d care to admit … so let’s get gesturing! Once you start using these, you’ll find yourself getting disappointed that all the other apps don’t have them. In addition, I’ve included iPad shortcuts and Apple Pencil shortcuts. If you’re used to working in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, these may be helpful for you. As if that’s not amazing enough, I’m also sharing keyboard shortcuts you can use in Procreate.
I’m also offering a PDF cheatsheet you can print and keep next to your iPad as well as a video tutorial showing each of them in action. I’ve compiled over fifty gestures and shortcuts to use in the app and am sharing them in this post. I’m going to show you where all of these hidden actions are and include shortcuts you may not know about. Learning to use the Procreate app is really easy with its simplified interface, but having that minimal interface means a lot of things may be hidden or not obvious within the main screen.
And this may be because of all the fun shortcuts and gestures I’ve learned along the way. You might know by now that working in Procreate is my favorite way to create.