Advanced Brush Settings in Procreate: Creating Custom Brushes

Procreate's brush engine is incredibly powerful, offering nearly limitless possibilities for customization. This comprehensive guide will help you understand and master advanced brush settings so you can create custom brushes tailored to your unique artistic style.

Video Tutorial

Understanding the Brush Studio

Procreate's Brush Studio is where all the magic happens for creating and modifying brushes.

Accessing the Brush Studio

To open the Brush Studio:

1. Tap the Brush tool in the top right corner
2. Select a brush you want to modify (or create a new one)
3. Tap the brush name at the top of the Brush Library
4. The Brush Studio interface will open with all available settings

Pro Tip: Always duplicate a brush before modifying it to preserve the original. Swipe left on a brush and tap "Duplicate" to create a copy for editing.

Stroke Path Settings

The Stroke Path settings control the fundamental behavior of your brush strokes.

Spacing

Controls how often the brush stamp is applied along the stroke path:

1. Lower values create more continuous, smoother lines
2. Higher values create more distinct, separated stamps
3. Adjust the slider to find the right balance for your brush

Creative Application: Increase spacing dramatically (80-100%) to create dotted or dashed line effects with any brush shape.

Streamline

Helps create smoother, more controlled lines:

1. Higher values smooth out hand tremors and create flowing lines
2. Lower values preserve more of your natural hand movement
3. Useful for clean linework and smooth curves

Jitter

Adds randomness to your brush stroke:

1. Higher values create more scattered, organic-looking strokes
2. Lower values keep strokes more predictable and controlled
3. Combine with spacing adjustments for various textural effects

Taper

Controls how your stroke begins and ends:

1. Adjust Start and End sliders for how the stroke tapers at each end
2. Higher values create longer tapers
3. Pressure and Speed options allow these to respond to your drawing dynamics

For calligraphy-style brushes, set End Taper higher than Start Taper to create elegant stroke endings.

Shape Settings

Shape settings determine the fundamental appearance of your brush.

Shape Source

The basic shape of your brush stamp:

1. Tap "Edit" next to Shape Source to access the shape options
2. Choose from Procreate's default shapes or import your own
3. Use the slider to adjust the density of the shape

Important: The shape is the foundational element of your brush. Experimenting with different shapes can completely transform how a brush behaves.

Grain Source

The texture applied to your brush shape:

1. Tap "Edit" next to Grain Source to access texture options
2. Select from Procreate's default textures or import your own
3. Adjust sliders to control the appearance of the grain

Grain Behavior

Determines how the grain texture interacts with your strokes:

1. "Movement" links grain to the movement of your stroke
2. "Rotation" follows the rotation of your Apple Pencil
3. Experiment with different behaviors for unique effects

Our ArtPack Pro includes custom grain textures specifically designed to create unique textural effects that aren't possible with the default Procreate grains.

Dynamics Settings

Dynamics control how your brush responds to pressure, speed, and tilt.

Pressure

Adjusts how the brush responds to Apple Pencil pressure:

1. Size: Controls how pressure affects brush size
2. Opacity: Controls how pressure affects transparency
3. Bleed: Controls how much color spreads or bleeds

Technique Tip: For realistic paintbrushes, set high pressure sensitivity for both size and opacity to mimic traditional media.

Speed

Controls how the brush reacts to drawing speed:

1. Size: Adjusts brush size based on stroke speed
2. Opacity: Changes transparency based on speed
3. Higher values create more dramatic changes as speed varies

Tilt

Determines how the brush responds to Apple Pencil angle:

1. Size, Opacity, and Scatter are all affected by pencil tilt
2. Great for mimicking traditional media like pencils and charcoal
3. Essential for creating brushes with realistic edge behavior

Rendering Settings

These settings affect how your brush strokes appear on the canvas.

Blending Modes

Controls how your brush interacts with existing colors:

1. Normal: Standard blending
2. Multiply: Darkens existing colors (great for shading)
3. Screen: Lightens existing colors (perfect for highlights)
4. Overlay: Increases contrast while preserving details

Wet Mix and Glazed

Creates watercolor and wet paint effects:

1. Wet Mix creates realistic color mixing between strokes
2. Glazed creates transparent overlays that build up gradually
3. Adjust Dilution, Charge, and Flow for different wet media effects

The Infinity Fractals collection includes specialized brushes with optimized Wet Mix settings to create flowing, organic patterns with dynamic color blending.

Advanced Brush Properties

Smoothing

Affects how your strokes are calculated:

1. None: No additional smoothing (most responsive)
2. Light/Medium/Heavy: Progressively more smoothing
3. More smoothing reduces jittery lines but increases lag

Color Dynamics

Creates color variation within a single stroke:

1. Adjust Hue, Saturation, and Brightness jitter
2. Higher values create more color variation
3. Stamp Preview shows how colors will change

General Settings

Fine-tune overall brush behavior:

1. Adjust brush size limits (minimum and maximum)
2. Set opacity limits
3. Control flow rate and flow dynamics

Creating Specialized Brush Types

Textured Brushes

Create brushes with realistic surface textures:

1. Choose or import a textured Grain Source
2. Set Grain behavior to "Movement"
3. Adjust contrast and brightness for desired texture intensity
4. Use light or medium Scatter for natural variation

Calligraphy Brushes

Design brushes for lettering and calligraphy:

1. Use an angular or oval Shape Source
2. Set Dynamics > Pressure > Size to maximum
3. Add significant End Taper (60-80%)
4. Enable Azimuth setting and adjust to respond to pencil rotation

Watercolor Brushes

Create realistic watercolor effects:

1. Enable "Wet Mix" in Rendering settings
2. Adjust Dilution, Charge, and Flow
3. Use a soft, textured grain
4. Add slight Jitter (10-15%) for organic edge variation

Concept Sketching Brushes

Design brushes for quick ideation and sketching:

1. Use a pencil or charcoal grain
2. Set high Streamline value (30-40%)
3. Enable Pressure dynamics for both Size and Opacity
4. Add slight tilt response for edge variation

Sharing and Organizing Custom Brushes

Exporting Brushes

Share your custom brushes with others:

1. In the Brush Library, tap and hold on a brush
2. Select "Share" from the menu
3. Choose your sharing method (AirDrop, Messages, Email, etc.)
4. The brush will be exported as a .brush file

Creating Brush Sets

Organize your custom brushes into themed collections:

1. In the Brush Library, tap the "+" button at the top
2. Name your new set
3. Create or drag brushes into your new set
4. Tap and hold the set to access additional options

Importing Brushes

Add brushes from external sources:

1. When you receive a .brush or .brushset file, tap on it
2. Choose "Open in Procreate"
3. The brush will be added to your Brush Library
4. Organize it into the appropriate set

Troubleshooting Brush Issues

Performance Problems

If your custom brush is causing lag:

1. Reduce the brush size
2. Lower the Source density for both Shape and Grain
3. Simplify the grain texture
4. Reduce or disable wet mix settings

Unexpected Appearance

If your brush doesn't look as expected:

1. Check the Shape Source and Grain Source
2. Verify the Blending Mode
3. Adjust the contrast and brightness settings
4. Check if Wet Mix or Color Dynamics are affecting the appearance

Pressure Sensitivity Issues

If pressure response seems off:

1. Adjust the pressure curve in Procreate's Preferences
2. Check the Pressure settings in the Dynamics panel
3. Ensure your Apple Pencil is properly paired and charged
4. Restart Procreate if problems persist

FAQ About Advanced Brush Settings

Conclusion

Mastering Procreate's advanced brush settings opens up a world of creative possibilities. By understanding how each parameter affects your brushes, you can create custom tools that perfectly match your artistic style and workflow.

Remember that brush creation is both technical and artistic—there's no "right" way to set up a brush. Experimentation is key to discovering unique combinations that produce effects you love. Don't be afraid to push parameters to extreme values to see what happens!

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

• Learn how to work with layers effectively for complex compositions
• Master color techniques for vibrant artwork
• Discover adjustments and effects for enhancing your artwork