Tuesday, February 25, 2020

How to Use Photoshop Brushes in Procreate

Final product image
What You'll Be Creating

Procreate can now use Photoshop Brushes—awesome, right? For those of us who enjoy digital illustration in both applications, this is really an exciting development. In this quick tip tutorial, we'll take a look at how to import and use Photoshop brushes in Procreate, as of the Procreate 5 update.

Follow along with us over on our Envato Tuts+ YouTube channel:

What You'll Need:

I'll be using this Photoshop brush set in this tutorial; you're welcome to use it along with me, or use another Photoshop brush set of your choice. 

I'll be specifically using an ABR file, which is the Photoshop brush file type. Make sure you are using a similar file if you're following along!

New to Procreate or unfamiliar with Procreate brushes? I would recommend checking out this tutorial, as it goes through how to create and customize Procreate brushes of your own. Check it out!

Ready to get started? Let's dig in!

1. How to Import Photoshop Brushes Into Procreate

Step 1

Before we jump into Procreate, make sure you have your Photoshop Brush ABR file downloaded and saved onto your iPad.

I would highly recommend saving your brush file to your Files. For example, in my Files, on my iPad, I have a folder called Procreate. Within that folder, I have a folder named Brushes. This makes it easier for me to locate and organize my brushes.

Photoshop Brush Files

Step 2

However, if you've just downloaded a brush from the Internet, it might be within a compressed ZIP document. If this is the case, we'll want to extract the contents so we can install the brushes. 

With the ZIP file in your Files, tap on it. Your iPad will then extract the contents, as seen below, into a new folder. 

Extracting a Zip File

Step 3

That said, we're going to look at two different ways that we can import Photoshop brushes. Let's start jump into Procreate and start there.

Start in any open document of your choice. Then, tap on the Brush icon to open up your brushes, and tap on the Plus Sign to create a new brush.

Creating a new Procreate Brush

Step 4

This opens up the Brush Studio (our brush settings), where we can customize our brushes to our heart's content! 

However, instead of customizing a new brush, tap on Import, instead.

Import Procreate Brushes

Step 5

Now, it's time to navigate to your saved ABR files. 

Here's a look at my brushes folder, within my Procreate folder, in my Files. 

Tap the ABR file that you'd like to import.

Opening an ABR file in Procreate

Step 6

Then, Procreate gives us visual confirmation that the brush (or brush set) is being installed. This ticker only takes a moment—then your brush will be active and installed.

Importing Brushes Procreate

Step 7

Once installed, you'll see your newly installed brushes in a new Brush Set, on the left-hand side of your Procreate brushes. 

In the example below, notice how Inkers by Guerillacraft has been added as a new Brush Set in my brushes, as highlighted below.

Note that, now that we've imported this brush content, we can move, rename, and customize our brushes—and you likely will want to. 

On a personal note, drawing with an Apple Pencil just doesn't feel the same as drawing with a Wacom pen—the tool I personally use when drawing in Adobe Photoshop. Why do I mention it? Well, I find that this means a few little tweaks to my brushes to get them feeling similar. A different environment might warrant a few adjustments, just so you and your brush feel at home. Don't hesitate to adjust settings so they're just right for you!

Imported Procreate Brush Set

Step 8

But this isn't the only way we can import Photoshop brushes into Procreate! Let's look at a second method, as well.

This time, instead of starting in Procreate, let's start by looking at our files. Navigate to the folder on your device where you have your Photoshop brushes saved. 

iPad Files

Step 9

Once you've located your ABR file on your device, tap on it to open it up. 

Tap to open ABR file

Step 10

Check it out! It jumps right to Procreate, where we get the visual confirmation that the brush is being imported. Handy, right? It's that simple.

Importing Procreate Brushes

2. How to Customize Photoshop Brushes in Procreate

Step 1

Customizing your brush is a breeze. Simply open up your brushes, and then tap on the brush you'd like to customize.

Customizing Procreate Brushes

Step 2

This opens up the Brush Studio (the Brush Settings), where we can customize our brush to our heart's content! 

Browse through the tabs on the left-hand side to view each category of settings that you can customize to your liking.

Not sure where to start? There are a lot of settings here to check out! Again, I would recommend this tutorial on How to Create and Customize Procreate Brushes, if you'd like to dive deeper into these customization settings.

Customizing Procreate Brushes

3. How to Delete Photoshop Brushes in Procreate

Step 1

All right, so you've imported your Photoshop brushes—but what if you don't want them there anymore? Luckily, it's just as easy to delete them.

First, let's start with deleting individual brushes. 

Navigate to the brush set associated with your newly imported brushes. Then Swipe Left on the brush you'd like to delete. This will reveal a menu where we can Share, Duplicate, or Delete the brush.

Simply tap Delete, and the single brush will be removed from the set.

Deleting a Procreate Brush

Step 2

Prefer to get rid of the entire set? 

Tap on the Brush Set. This will open a menu on the left, where we can Rename, Delete, Share, and Duplicate the brush set.

Simply tap Delete to remove the brush set.

Note, you can install the same ABR file again if you want to! Removing your brushes from Procreate does not delete your Photoshop brush ABR file. 

Deleting a Procreate Brush Set

And There You Have It!

Using Photoshop brushes in Procreate is really quite simple, if you know where to tap and where to look. This is such an exciting development, as it means a lot of really cool brush sets out there are now Procreate-friendly! What are some of your favorite brushes?

Now that we've imported ABR files into Procreate, you can use them as you would any other brush in the application. Neat, right? Good luck, and happy drawing!

Looking for more Procreate tips, tricks, and tutorials? Here are some articles to check out!


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