To add a border to text in Procreate, open Actions > Add > Add Text, type your text, then open the Font panel and turn on the outline option under Attributes. Duplicate the text layer first so you can color the outline separately from the fill. If you need a thicker or cleaner outline, rasterize the text, blur a duplicate with Gaussian Blur, use Automatic Selection to build a selection from the blur, and fill it on a new layer beneath the lettering.

Both methods work on iPad with Apple Pencil. If the lettering is headed into a motion pipeline, the later sections cover that handoff.

Which Method Should You Use?

Procreate gives you two practical ways to outline text. Pick based on how much control you need over the border.

If your text is still a text layer and you only need a thin border, start with the native option. If you want a bold sticker-style outline, or you drew your lettering with a brush rather than typing it, use the selection method.

Method 1: Use the Built-In Text Outline

This is the fastest route and keeps the text editable.

Step 1: Create a text layer

Create or open a canvas. Tap the wrench (Actions) icon, choose Add, then Add Text. Type your text, then tap it again to open the editing controls. Choose your font and size, and reposition the text on the canvas.

Step 2: Set the fill color

Select the text and pick a color from the color panel in the top right. This is the interior color of your letters.

Step 3: Duplicate the layer

Open the Layers panel, swipe left on the text layer, and tap Duplicate. You now have two identical text layers. The duplicate is what lets you color the border and the fill independently, because the outline picks up the text color rather than offering a separate stroke color.

Step 4: Apply the outline to one layer

Double-tap the text on one of the layers to enter edit mode, open the Font panel, and find the Attributes section. Toggle the outline option, then tap Done. At this point the outline may be invisible because it matches the fill color.

Step 5: Recolor the outline

Select the outlined text again and choose a contrasting color from the color panel. Deselect the text and the border should read clearly against the fill from the other layer sitting on top.

If the result looks thin or lopsided, this is the point where most people switch to Method 2. The built-in outline gives you few controls over thickness, so the selection-based approach is better for heavier borders.

Method 2: Build a Custom Border with Blur and Selection

This approach produces a thick, smooth border you fully control. It also works on hand-drawn lettering, where there is no text outline option at all.

Step 1: Rasterize the text

Text layers need to be converted to pixels before you can apply adjustments. Tap the text layer and choose Rasterize. Make sure your background color and text color are set before you begin, because you will be working with several overlapping layers.

Step 2: Duplicate the layer twice

Swipe left on the lettering layer and tap Duplicate, then duplicate again. You should have three identical layers. The top one will stay as your clean lettering. The bottom two will become the base for the border.

Step 3: Fill the bottom layer with the border color

Tap the bottom layer, turn on Alpha Lock, and tap Fill Layer using your border color. Turn Alpha Lock off afterward. A darker color than the lettering usually reads best, but any contrasting color works.

Step 4: Blur the middle layer

Select the middle layer, open Adjustments (the magic wand icon), choose Gaussian Blur, and set it to Layer. Drag your Apple Pencil left or right on the canvas to set the amount. Somewhere around 7 to 8 percent is a reasonable starting point on a typical canvas, but the right value depends on canvas size and how thick you want the border. Do not over-blur. If the edges dissolve into a faint haze, the next step will not select cleanly.

Step 5: Merge the bottom two layers

Pinch the bottom two layers together to merge them into one. This gives you a soft-edged shape in your border color.

Step 6: Select the blurred shape

Choose the Selection tool (the S-shaped icon) and make sure Automatic is active at the bottom. Tap inside your lettering, then drag your pencil to the right. The selection edge expands outward. Stop as soon as you see a marching-ants outline hugging the lettering at the thickness you want.

If the whole canvas turns blue, you have dragged too far or the blurred layer has no clean edge to detect. Undo and try again with a smaller drag.

Step 7: Fill the border

Create a new layer beneath your top lettering layer. Choose the Hard Airbrush from the Airbrush set, pick your border color, and paint over the selected area until it is solid. Because the selection constrains the paint, you get a clean edge without freehanding.

Tap the Selection tool again to clear the selection. Hide or delete the helper blur layers, and you have a bordered lettering stack: clean text on top, solid border beneath.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Automatic Selection grabs the whole background or just a speck. Some users report this with the blur method. Check that the layer you are tapping actually contains the blurred lettering, not an empty or fully filled layer. Reduce the blur amount if the shape has become too faint, or increase it slightly if the selection collapses to a speck. Also confirm you tapped inside the lettering and not on empty canvas.

The outline looks wobbly. If you outlined by hand, switch to the selection method. For hand-drawn lettering, using a brush with clean edges gives a sharper border because the border inherits the edge quality of the original strokes.

The border looks jagged when scaled. Procreate is raster-based, so scaling up after the fact will soften or pixelate edges. Work at the largest canvas size you can afford, or plan to redo the border in a vector or layer-style environment for final delivery.

The outline color matches the fill. With the native option, the stroke follows the text color. Duplicate the layer and recolor one copy, as in Method 1.

Getting Procreate Lettering into a Motion Pipeline

Many motion designers sketch lettering in Procreate and then animate elsewhere. A few habits make that handoff smoother.

• Keep layers separate. Border, fill, and any shadow should live on their own layers. Export each as a transparent PNG, or export the whole file as a layered PSD, so you can animate them independently in After Effects.
• Hide the background. Turn off the Background Color layer before exporting so you get real alpha.
• Export large. Start on a big canvas. A border that looks fine on the iPad can look soft once it is composited into a 4K timeline.
• Rebuild if it must scale. For titles that need to zoom, push in, or be reused at multiple sizes, treat the Procreate version as a design reference and recreate the text in After Effects with a Stroke or Layer Style. That keeps it resolution-independent and editable.
• Use alpha-aware settings. In After Effects, interpret footage as straight or premultiplied correctly. A dark border fringe is often an alpha interpretation problem rather than a Procreate problem.

Quick Reference

1. For a fast border on editable text: Add Text, duplicate the layer, toggle the outline under Attributes, recolor one copy.
2. For a thick custom border: rasterize, duplicate twice, fill the bottom layer, blur the middle layer, merge, auto-select, and fill on a new layer.
3. If Automatic Selection fails, adjust the blur amount and check you are tapping the right layer.
4. Export on transparent layers at high resolution, and rebuild in After Effects when you need scalable titles.

With both methods in hand, you can choose speed or control per project, and hand a clean, layered lettering asset to the rest of your pipeline.

To add a border to text in Procreate, open Actions > Add > Add Text, type your text, then open the Font panel and turn on the outline option under Attributes. Duplicate the text layer first so you can color the outline separately from the fill. If you need a thicker or cleaner outline, rasterize the text, blur a duplicate with Gaussian Blur, use Automatic Selection to build a selection from the blur, and fill it on a new layer beneath the lettering.

Both methods work on iPad with Apple Pencil. If the lettering is headed into a motion pipeline, the later sections cover that handoff.

Which Method Should You Use?

Procreate gives you two practical ways to outline text. Pick based on how much control you need over the border.

If your text is still a text layer and you only need a thin border, start with the native option. If you want a bold sticker-style outline, or you drew your lettering with a brush rather than typing it, use the selection method.

Method 1: Use the Built-In Text Outline

This is the fastest route and keeps the text editable.

Step 1: Create a text layer

Create or open a canvas. Tap the wrench (Actions) icon, choose Add, then Add Text. Type your text, then tap it again to open the editing controls. Choose your font and size, and reposition the text on the canvas.

Step 2: Set the fill color

Select the text and pick a color from the color panel in the top right. This is the interior color of your letters.

Step 3: Duplicate the layer

Open the Layers panel, swipe left on the text layer, and tap Duplicate. You now have two identical text layers. The duplicate is what lets you color the border and the fill independently, because the outline picks up the text color rather than offering a separate stroke color.

Step 4: Apply the outline to one layer

Double-tap the text on one of the layers to enter edit mode, open the Font panel, and find the Attributes section. Toggle the outline option, then tap Done. At this point the outline may be invisible because it matches the fill color.

Step 5: Recolor the outline

Select the outlined text again and choose a contrasting color from the color panel. Deselect the text and the border should read clearly against the fill from the other layer sitting on top.

If the result looks thin or lopsided, this is the point where most people switch to Method 2. The built-in outline gives you few controls over thickness, so the selection-based approach is better for heavier borders.

Method 2: Build a Custom Border with Blur and Selection

This approach produces a thick, smooth border you fully control. It also works on hand-drawn lettering, where there is no text outline option at all.

Step 1: Rasterize the text

Text layers need to be converted to pixels before you can apply adjustments. Tap the text layer and choose Rasterize. Make sure your background color and text color are set before you begin, because you will be working with several overlapping layers.

Step 2: Duplicate the layer twice

Swipe left on the lettering layer and tap Duplicate, then duplicate again. You should have three identical layers. The top one will stay as your clean lettering. The bottom two will become the base for the border.

Step 3: Fill the bottom layer with the border color

Tap the bottom layer, turn on Alpha Lock, and tap Fill Layer using your border color. Turn Alpha Lock off afterward. A darker color than the lettering usually reads best, but any contrasting color works.

Step 4: Blur the middle layer

Select the middle layer, open Adjustments (the magic wand icon), choose Gaussian Blur, and set it to Layer. Drag your Apple Pencil left or right on the canvas to set the amount. Somewhere around 7 to 8 percent is a reasonable starting point on a typical canvas, but the right value depends on canvas size and how thick you want the border. Do not over-blur. If the edges dissolve into a faint haze, the next step will not select cleanly.

Step 5: Merge the bottom two layers

Pinch the bottom two layers together to merge them into one. This gives you a soft-edged shape in your border color.

Step 6: Select the blurred shape

Choose the Selection tool (the S-shaped icon) and make sure Automatic is active at the bottom. Tap inside your lettering, then drag your pencil to the right. The selection edge expands outward. Stop as soon as you see a marching-ants outline hugging the lettering at the thickness you want.

If the whole canvas turns blue, you have dragged too far or the blurred layer has no clean edge to detect. Undo and try again with a smaller drag.

Step 7: Fill the border

Create a new layer beneath your top lettering layer. Choose the Hard Airbrush from the Airbrush set, pick your border color, and paint over the selected area until it is solid. Because the selection constrains the paint, you get a clean edge without freehanding.

Tap the Selection tool again to clear the selection. Hide or delete the helper blur layers, and you have a bordered lettering stack: clean text on top, solid border beneath.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

Automatic Selection grabs the whole background or just a speck. Some users report this with the blur method. Check that the layer you are tapping actually contains the blurred lettering, not an empty or fully filled layer. Reduce the blur amount if the shape has become too faint, or increase it slightly if the selection collapses to a speck. Also confirm you tapped inside the lettering and not on empty canvas.

The outline looks wobbly. If you outlined by hand, switch to the selection method. For hand-drawn lettering, using a brush with clean edges gives a sharper border because the border inherits the edge quality of the original strokes.

The border looks jagged when scaled. Procreate is raster-based, so scaling up after the fact will soften or pixelate edges. Work at the largest canvas size you can afford, or plan to redo the border in a vector or layer-style environment for final delivery.

The outline color matches the fill. With the native option, the stroke follows the text color. Duplicate the layer and recolor one copy, as in Method 1.

Getting Procreate Lettering into a Motion Pipeline

Many motion designers sketch lettering in Procreate and then animate elsewhere. A few habits make that handoff smoother.

• Keep layers separate. Border, fill, and any shadow should live on their own layers. Export each as a transparent PNG, or export the whole file as a layered PSD, so you can animate them independently in After Effects.
• Hide the background. Turn off the Background Color layer before exporting so you get real alpha.
• Export large. Start on a big canvas. A border that looks fine on the iPad can look soft once it is composited into a 4K timeline.
• Rebuild if it must scale. For titles that need to zoom, push in, or be reused at multiple sizes, treat the Procreate version as a design reference and recreate the text in After Effects with a Stroke or Layer Style. That keeps it resolution-independent and editable.
• Use alpha-aware settings. In After Effects, interpret footage as straight or premultiplied correctly. A dark border fringe is often an alpha interpretation problem rather than a Procreate problem.

Quick Reference

1. For a fast border on editable text: Add Text, duplicate the layer, toggle the outline under Attributes, recolor one copy.
2. For a thick custom border: rasterize, duplicate twice, fill the bottom layer, blur the middle layer, merge, auto-select, and fill on a new layer.
3. If Automatic Selection fails, adjust the blur amount and check you are tapping the right layer.
4. Export on transparent layers at high resolution, and rebuild in After Effects when you need scalable titles.

With both methods in hand, you can choose speed or control per project, and hand a clean, layered lettering asset to the rest of your pipeline.