What Is Procreate Used For?
Procreate is a digital illustration app for iPad that artists use to sketch, paint, letter, animate, and finish professional artwork.
Its mix of responsive brushes, layer controls, and Apple Pencil support makes it useful for both beginners and working creatives who want a portable studio.
If you have seen artists use an iPad like a sketchbook, there is a good chance Procreate was the app on screen.
Its popularity comes from being simple to start with, yet powerful enough for detailed illustration, concept art, and production work.
Core Uses of Procreate
At its core, Procreate is used for creating raster-based artwork.
That means it works with pixels rather than vectors, which makes it ideal for painting, drawing, and textured digital art.
- Sketching: Quick idea development, thumbnails, and rough compositions
- Digital painting: Illustrations, portraits, landscapes, and character art
- Line art: Clean pen, ink, and comic-style outlines
- Lettering: Hand-drawn text, brush lettering, and calligraphy practice
- Concept art: Visual development for games, film, and animation
- Animation: Frame-by-frame motion studies and simple animated sequences
- Photo editing: Paintovers, masking, and image enhancement
Why Artists Choose Procreate
One of the biggest reasons people ask what is Procreate used for is that the app feels natural to draw in.
The interface is streamlined, so artists can focus on creating instead of managing complex menus.
Procreate is especially appealing because it offers a strong balance of accessibility and depth:
- Apple Pencil support: Pressure and tilt sensitivity help mimic traditional tools.
- Fast performance: The app is optimized for iPad hardware.
- Custom brushes: Users can create or import brushes for unique effects.
- Layer system: Artists can separate sketch, line, color, and shading stages.
- Time-lapse recording: Every artwork can be automatically recorded as a replay video.
- One-time purchase: Unlike many creative subscriptions, Procreate is known for its straightforward pricing model.
What Types of Art Can You Make in Procreate?
Procreate is used across many styles, from loose experimental sketches to polished commercial artwork.
The same app can support a wide range of creative workflows depending on the artist’s needs.
Illustration and Digital Painting
Illustrators use Procreate for portraits, editorial artwork, fantasy scenes, and children’s book imagery.
Brush blending, textured strokes, and layer effects make it suitable for both painterly and graphic styles.
Character Design and Concept Art
Game and entertainment artists use Procreate to explore characters, props, environments, and mood studies.
Its speed makes it valuable for rapid ideation and multiple variations.
Comics and Storyboarding
Comic artists use Procreate to draft panels, ink pages, and create visual narratives.
Storyboard artists rely on it for quick compositions, camera angles, and scene planning.
Hand Lettering and Graphic Design Support
While Procreate is not a full vector design app, it is widely used for hand lettering, brush lettering, and decorative typography.
Designers often create custom assets or title treatments before moving them into layout software.
How Procreate Fits Into a Professional Workflow
For professionals, Procreate is often one part of a broader creative pipeline rather than the only tool used.
Artists may start in Procreate and then move files into other software for final adjustments, print prep, or vector conversion.
Common workflow examples include:
- Illustrators: Sketch and paint in Procreate, then refine in Adobe Photoshop or export for clients.
- Comic creators: Draft pages in Procreate, letter in dedicated software, and prepare final exports for print or web.
- Surface designers: Build patterns and motifs in Procreate, then assemble them in Adobe Illustrator or Adobe InDesign.
- Animators: Use Procreate Dreams or export frames for later compositing in animation tools.
Can Procreate Be Used for Beginners?
Yes.
Procreate is often recommended for beginners because it is approachable without being limited.
New users can start with basic brushes, a few layers, and simple gestures, then learn advanced features over time.
Beginners typically use Procreate for:
- Daily sketching practice
- Learning digital brush control
- Trying color studies
- Practicing shading and perspective
- Making simple social media graphics or illustrations
The learning curve is usually manageable because the app emphasizes direct drawing on the canvas instead of complex setup.
What File Types and Output Uses Does Procreate Support?
Procreate is used not only for creating art but also for preparing files for export.
This matters for artists working with print, publishing, social media, and client delivery.
Artists commonly export Procreate files as:
- PSD: For layered editing in Adobe Photoshop and other compatible tools
- PNG: For transparent artwork and clean digital output
- JPEG: For web images and compressed sharing
- TIFF: For high-quality print workflows
- Procreate files: For saving the full editable canvas inside the app
Because of this flexibility, Procreate is used in both personal art projects and client-facing production work.
What Procreate Is Not Best For
Understanding what is Procreate used for also means knowing where it is less suitable.
It is not primarily a vector illustration tool, so it is not ideal for logo creation that needs infinite scaling without pixelation.
Procreate is also less focused on:
- Multi-page desktop publishing
- Advanced photo compositing
- Complex vector editing
- Large collaborative team workflows
- CAD-style precision drawing
For those tasks, artists usually turn to Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Affinity Designer, Figma, or other specialized software.
Who Uses Procreate Most Often?
Procreate is used by a broad creative audience, including professional illustrators, tattoo artists, teachers, concept designers, hobbyists, and students.
It is especially common among artists who want a portable drawing setup without carrying a laptop.
Popular user groups include:
- Freelance illustrators
- Comic and manga artists
- Character designers
- Teachers and educators
- Lettering artists
- Social media content creators
- Art students and beginners
How Procreate Supports Creative Learning
Because it combines drawing, painting, and editing in one place, Procreate is also used as an educational tool.
Artists can study anatomy, master brush control, practice composition, or create visual notes and diagrams.
Its time-lapse replay feature is particularly useful for learning, since creators can review how a piece was built from the first sketch to the final detail.
This makes Procreate valuable for both self-teaching and classroom demonstrations.
Is Procreate Only for Drawing?
No.
Although drawing is the most common use, Procreate is used for much more than sketching on a blank canvas.
It supports painting, typography, image editing, storyboarding, animation basics, and visual brainstorming.
That range is why the app has become a favorite among artists who want a single creative space on iPad.
Whether the goal is a rough concept sketch or a polished illustration, Procreate can serve as a fast and flexible production tool.
