It helped to remember that every drawing didn’t need to be a finished piece.
Sarah Mills
When I first started using Procreate, I spent a lot of time unsure if I was setting things up “correctly”.
Canvas size, DPI, colour profiles, brushes — everything felt important, and I wasn’t sure what actually mattered.
I’m still learning Procreate myself, but these are a few small things I found helpful early on, and that made drawing feel less confusing and more enjoyable.
They’re not rules — just observations that worked for me.
1. Starting with a smaller canvas felt less stressful
At the beginning, I always chose very large canvases “just in case”.
What I didn’t realise was that bigger canvases reduce the number of layers available, which made experimenting harder.
Using a smaller canvas gave me:
- More layers to work with
- Less pressure to get things right
- A smoother drawing experience overall
It helped me focus more on drawing and less on managing settings.
2. Realising that DPI matters more for print than for learning
For a long time, I thought everything needed to be 300 DPI.
Later, I learned that DPI mostly matters when you plan to print.
For digital work or learning:
- Canvas size mattered more than DPI
- I didn’t need to worry about print quality yet
Letting go of that idea made starting new drawings feel much easier.
3. Staying in RGB unless I knew I was printing
Colour profiles were confusing at first.
I eventually stuck with RGB for most of my work and only thought about CMYK when printing was actually involved.
Working in RGB:
- Looked better on screen
- Felt more forgiving
- Caused fewer surprises while drawing
That one choice removed a lot of uncertainty for me.
4. Using fewer brushes helped me finish more drawings
At one point, I had many brushes and kept switching between them.
It felt productive, but it often slowed me down.
Limiting myself to just a few brushes:
- Simplified decisions
- Helped me understand each brush better
- Made it easier to finish pieces
I found that familiarity mattered more than variety.
5. Adding texture later instead of early
I used to add texture almost immediately because it was fun.
Over time, I noticed my drawings felt more balanced when I waited until the shapes and colours felt settled.
Adding texture later:
- Kept forms clearer
- Made effects feel more intentional
- Reduced the feeling of “overdoing it”
This wasn’t a rule — just something that worked better for me.
6. Saving different canvases for different purposes
Trying to use one canvas setup for everything caused unnecessary confusion.
Saving a few presets, like:
- A general digital canvas
- A print-ready canvas
meant I didn’t have to rethink settings every time I started something new.
7. Letting drawings be imperfect helped me enjoy the process more
This was probably the most important change for me.
Once I stopped trying to make everything look finished or polished, drawing became more enjoyable.
I learned more by finishing imperfect pieces than by endlessly adjusting one drawing.
Final thought
Procreate has many features, but you don’t need to understand all of them to begin.
These are simply small choices that helped me feel less lost when I was starting out.
If even one of them makes your drawing process feel a little easier, that’s enough.
