Procreate Actions and Preferences: Customizing Your Workflow

Procreate's Actions menu and Preferences give you powerful control over your digital art experience. This comprehensive guide will help you optimize your workflow by customizing Procreate's interface, features, and behavior to match your personal working style.

Video Tutorial

Understanding the Actions Menu

The Actions menu (wrench icon) is your gateway to Procreate's tools, features, and settings. It's organized into several key sections, each containing important functions.

Accessing the Actions Menu

To open the Actions menu:

1. Tap the wrench icon in the top toolbar
2. The Actions panel will open, displaying all available options
3. Select a category to see more specific options

Add Menu Options

The Add menu contains tools for importing content into your artwork.

Photo and File Import

Bring external assets into your artwork:

1. Tap Actions (wrench icon) > Add
2. Select "Insert a Photo" to add an image from your Photos app
3. Select "Insert a File" to add content from Files app
4. Position and resize the imported content as needed

Importing Text

Add text to your artwork:

1. Tap Actions > Add > Add Text
2. Type your text and adjust font, size, and color
3. Use the transform tools to position and manipulate text
4. Text remains editable until rasterized

Quick Shapes

Create perfect geometric shapes:

1. Tap Actions > Add > QuickShape
2. Choose from line, arrow, rectangle, ellipse, triangle, or polygon
3. Draw the rough shape and hold at the end
4. Procreate automatically converts it to a perfect geometric form
5. Edit nodes and adjust properties before committing

Canvas Options

The Canvas menu provides tools for managing your canvas orientation and guides.

Perspective Guide

Create professional perspective drawings:

1. Tap Actions > Canvas > Edit Drawing Guide > Perspective
2. Tap "Edit Guide" to customize the perspective grid
3. Add up to three vanishing points by tapping on the canvas
4. Adjust the guide color and opacity
5. Toggle "Assisted Drawing" to have your strokes automatically follow the guide lines

Pro Tip: For complex architectural or product illustrations, set up multiple perspective guides on different layers, and toggle between them as needed.

Canvas Rotation

Adjust canvas orientation for comfortable drawing:

1. Tap Actions > Canvas > Rotate Canvas
2. Select a preset rotation angle or set a custom angle
3. Use "Flip Horizontal" or "Flip Vertical" to mirror your artwork

This is particularly useful for checking composition, spotting asymmetry issues, and testing whether your artwork "reads" correctly when flipped.

Canvas Information

Check detailed information about your artwork:

1. Tap Actions > Canvas > Canvas Information
2. View dimensions, DPI, color profile, and layer count
3. See memory usage and maximum layer capacity

Share Options

Procreate offers multiple ways to share your artwork with others.

Export Options

Export your artwork in various formats:

1. Tap Actions > Share
2. Choose your preferred format (PSD, PDF, JPEG, PNG, etc.)
3. Select "Share Layers" if you want to export individual layers
4. Choose your destination app or service

Time-lapse Recordings

Procreate automatically records your drawing process:

1. Tap Actions > Video
2. Select "Time-lapse Replay" to watch your drawing process
3. Choose "Export Time-lapse Video" to save the recording
4. Adjust quality settings in Preferences

Creative Use: Time-lapse videos are excellent for social media content, showing your process on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.

Live Streaming

Share your drawing process in real-time:

1. Tap Actions > Video > Start Live Broadcast
2. Connect to streaming services like Twitch or YouTube
3. Configure your broadcast settings
4. Start your live session

For more professional streaming setups, you can use AirServer to mirror your iPad to a computer, then use streaming software like OBS or Streamlabs to create a more customized broadcast.

Preferences Menu

The Preferences section lets you customize how Procreate behaves and appears.

Interface Options

Customize Procreate's appearance:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences
2. Toggle "Light Interface" for a different color scheme
3. Enable "Right-hand Interface" to move controls to the right side
4. Adjust "Brush Cursor" to change how your brush indicator appears
5. Toggle "Auto-hide Interface" to maximize your canvas space

Gesture Controls

Customize how Procreate responds to your touch:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences > Gesture Controls
2. Modify any gesture to match your preferred workflow
3. Change default actions for taps, swipes, and multi-finger gestures
4. Create custom gesture shortcuts for your most-used tools

Workflow Enhancement: Our ArtPack Pro brush collection is designed with optimized performance settings that work beautifully with customized gesture controls, allowing you to switch between specialized brushes quickly while maintaining your creative flow.

Apple Pencil Settings

Fine-tune how Procreate responds to your Apple Pencil:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences > Edit Pressure Curve
2. Adjust the curve to match your drawing style:
   • Lower curve = lighter touch needed
   • Higher curve = more pressure needed
3. Test your settings in the preview area

For detailed illustration work with our Infinity Fractals collection, a more sensitive pressure curve can help you achieve precise control over intricate patterns.

Advanced Settings

Access deeper customization options for power users.

Time-lapse Settings

Configure how Procreate records your process:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences > Help > Advanced > Time-lapse Recording Quality
2. Choose between High, Medium, and Low quality
3. Toggle "Time-lapse HEVC Enabled" for more efficient video encoding
4. Adjust frame rate for smoother or more compact videos

Performance Optimization

Fine-tune performance for your specific iPad model:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences > Help > Advanced
2. Adjust "Palm Support Level" based on your drawing style
3. Toggle "Simplified Undos" for better performance on older devices
4. Adjust "Maximum Speed Distance" to match your drawing speed

File Format Preferences

Set default formats for your exported artwork:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences > Help > Advanced
2. Set "Preferred file format" for your main export format
3. Choose "Preferred image format" for sharing
4. Select formats that best match your typical usage (e.g., PSD for editing, PNG for transparency, JPEG for web)

Optimizing Your Workflow

Creating a Custom Quick Menu

Set up quick access to your most-used tools:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences > Gesture Controls
2. Assign "QuickMenu" to a convenient gesture (e.g., three-finger tap)
3. Configure your QuickMenu with your most-used tools
4. Access your custom menu with your assigned gesture while working

Setting Up QuickLine

Create perfect straight lines quickly:

1. Draw a line and hold your pencil at the end
2. Procreate automatically straightens the line
3. Adjust the line position while still holding
4. Lift your pencil to commit the line
5. Customize QuickLine delay in Preferences

Customizing the Color Profile

Ensure color accuracy for your specific needs:

1. Tap Actions > Canvas > Canvas Information
2. Tap the current color profile to change it
3. Choose from RGB, CMYK, or other profiles
4. Select the appropriate profile based on your final output (web, print, etc.)

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Interface Too Small or Large

If the interface elements are hard to see or too prominent:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences
2. Adjust "Interface Scale" to your preference
3. Find a balance that provides good visibility without taking up too much canvas space

Accidental Gestures

If you're triggering unwanted actions while drawing:

1. Tap Actions > Preferences > Gesture Controls
2. Modify or disable gestures that you frequently trigger accidentally
3. Consider changing gestures that conflict with your natural drawing motion

Performance Sluggishness

If Procreate is running slower than expected:

1. Reduce canvas size or lower the DPI
2. Enable "Simplified Undos" in Advanced Settings
3. Close background apps on your iPad
4. Merge completed layers to reduce memory usage

FAQ About Procreate Settings

Conclusion

Mastering Procreate's Actions menu and Preferences allows you to customize the app to your specific needs and workflow. By taking the time to optimize these settings, you'll create a more efficient and enjoyable drawing experience tailored exactly to your style.

Remember that preferences are highly personal – experiment with different settings to find what works best for you. As you become more experienced with Procreate, revisit these settings to refine your workflow further.

Ready to enhance your Procreate skills further? Explore our other tutorials:

• Master advanced brush settings for customized artwork
• Learn selection techniques for precise editing
• Discover transform techniques for manipulating your artwork