To add color in Procreate, tap the color circle in the top-right corner, pick a shade, and either paint on a new layer or drag the color into a closed shape with ColorDrop. For clean flat fills, put your line art on a reference layer and fill on a separate layer underneath. To change existing color, use Alpha Lock for quick repaints or the Adjustments menu (Hue, Saturation, Brightness; Color Balance; Curves) for non-destructive shifts.

Choose a color first

Tap the color circle at the top right to open the Color panel. You can switch between Disc, Classic, Value, and Harmony tabs depending on how much control you want. Disc is fastest for exploring, Value suits precise adjustments, and Harmony helps when you want related colors without building a scheme by hand.

If you're working toward a look you'll need to reproduce later, save your colors as a palette. Open the Palettes tab, tap +, and create a new palette, then tap empty squares to store swatches. You can also build a palette from a reference: tap + and choose New from File, New from Photos, or New from Camera. Procreate pulls the dominant colors from that image into a fresh palette. This works with low-resolution stills, so a client moodboard frame or a screenshot from a reference film is enough.

Method 1: Paint on a separate layer

Painting on its own layer is the most flexible way to add color, because it never touches your drawing.

1. Open the Layers panel (the double-square icon) and tap + to add a new layer above your line art.
2. Tap the N on the new layer to open Blend Modes and choose Multiply. Multiply lets black lines show through the color instead of being covered.
3. Select a brush from the Brush Library and a color from the Color panel, then paint.

If your color seems to sit on top of the lines, the layer is almost certainly not set to Multiply. To avoid accidental edits, you can also lock the line art layer by swiping left on it in the Layers panel and tapping Lock.

This approach feels closest to traditional marker or watercolor work. It's good for shading and texture, but slower, and harder to change colorways later if everything is painted by hand.

Method 2: ColorDrop for fast flat fills

ColorDrop works like a paint bucket you drag into place.

1. Drag the color circle from the top right into the area you want to fill, and keep holding.
2. While still holding, slide left or right to set the threshold. Left fills less, right fills more, and the percentage appears at the top of the screen.
3. Lift your Apple Pencil or finger to commit.

After a drop, tap Continue Filling to fill other areas with simple taps. You can also tap-hold-drag to adjust the threshold on the fly. Exit by tapping the tick or switching to another tool.

ColorDrop only works cleanly when the shape is closed. If color leaks across the canvas, there's a gap in your line art. Either close the gap with a brush stroke or lower the threshold.

Use a reference layer so fills respect your lines

The most reliable flat-color workflow separates the line art from the color:

1. Keep your outlines on one layer.
2. Tap that layer and choose Reference.
3. Add a new layer underneath and ColorDrop into it.

Because the fill is calculated from the reference layer but applied to the layer you're working on, your line art stays untouched and you can recolor fills freely. This is the standard approach for character flats, icon sets, and anything you may need to revise after client feedback.

For a layer-by-layer approach to masks and fills, another method is to select the reference layer, invert the selection, and use Fill Layer on a new layer placed beneath the line work. That produces a fill with holes where the lines are, ready for recoloring.

Method 3: Color Fill with Selections

If you want color applied the instant you make a selection:

1. Tap Selections at the top.
2. Choose a selection method from the tabs at the bottom (Automatic, Freehand, Rectangle, or Ellipse).
3. Tap Color Fill so it's highlighted blue.
4. Pick your color, then make the selection.

The area fills as soon as the selection closes. Two practical notes: Procreate remembers the Color Fill setting after you leave Selections, so turn it off when you're done. And Color Fill only works on a single layer, not a group.

For soft graphic framing, you can combine a rectangle or ellipse selection with Feather to get a vignette-style edge.

Method 4: Fill an entire layer

To flood a whole layer with color (useful for backgrounds, color-wash layers, or base tones to be blended with Multiply or Overlay):

1. Choose your color.
2. Open the Layers panel and tap the layer twice to open Layer Options.
3. Select Fill Layer.

A common pairing is a flat background fill on its own layer, with a second layer in a blend mode above it for tint or atmosphere.

Change color that's already on the canvas

Alpha Lock for quick repaints

If you drew something in black and now need it pink or white, don't repaint it manually. Swipe right with two fingers on the layer to turn on Alpha Lock (a checkerboard pattern appears on the thumbnail). Now anything you paint on that layer only affects pixels that already exist. Pick a new color and scribble over the artwork, or use Fill Layer, and the shape stays intact with no ragged edges.

Adjustments for non-destructive shifts

Open the Adjustments menu with the target layer active:

• Hue, Saturation, Brightness: Three sliders for the quickest global changes. Hue shifts the color family, Saturation moves between gray and vibrant, and Brightness controls lightness.
• Color Balance: Pushes the layer toward red, green, blue, or their opposites (cyan, magenta, yellow). You can target Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights separately. Midtones are selected by default and give the most even results.
• Curves: The most advanced option. You bend a tonal line over a histogram to control both color and contrast, which is helpful for matching a grade across several pieces.

Tap the Adjustments icon again to commit your changes, or two-finger tap to undo.

Recolor via QuickMenu

Procreate's Recolor tool was removed and later restored, and it now lives in QuickMenu, which is off by default. To enable it, go to Actions → Prefs → Gesture Controls → QuickMenu and choose a trigger. Assign Recolor to one of the radial options, tap it, pick a color, and tap the areas you want to change. The Flood slider controls how aggressively it fills.

One caution from user reports: Recolor can affect the entire canvas rather than a single drawn element, so isolate your artwork on its own layer first.

Habits that keep color clean and revisable

• Separate layers by function. Line art, flats, shading, and highlights each get their own layer. Recoloring then takes seconds.
• Build the palette early. Block in large color areas first, starting with the background, and refine from there.
• Use blend modes deliberately. Multiply for shadows and tinting under lines, and other modes on dedicated layers rather than baked into fills.
• Name and group layers before handing files off, especially if someone else will animate them.

Taking Procreate color into a motion workflow

For motion designers, Procreate is often where a styleframe or character design starts, and then the real work begins in After Effects, Cinema 4D, Blender, or Nuke. The color decisions you make in Procreate (palette, flats, shading layers) are only the first stage of a look that has to survive animation.

Quick reference

Start with the layer-based flats workflow. It's the fastest to learn, the easiest to revise, and the one that translates best when your artwork needs to move beyond a still image.

To add color in Procreate, tap the color circle in the top-right corner, pick a shade, and either paint on a new layer or drag the color into a closed shape with ColorDrop. For clean flat fills, put your line art on a reference layer and fill on a separate layer underneath. To change existing color, use Alpha Lock for quick repaints or the Adjustments menu (Hue, Saturation, Brightness; Color Balance; Curves) for non-destructive shifts.

Choose a color first

Tap the color circle at the top right to open the Color panel. You can switch between Disc, Classic, Value, and Harmony tabs depending on how much control you want. Disc is fastest for exploring, Value suits precise adjustments, and Harmony helps when you want related colors without building a scheme by hand.

If you're working toward a look you'll need to reproduce later, save your colors as a palette. Open the Palettes tab, tap +, and create a new palette, then tap empty squares to store swatches. You can also build a palette from a reference: tap + and choose New from File, New from Photos, or New from Camera. Procreate pulls the dominant colors from that image into a fresh palette. This works with low-resolution stills, so a client moodboard frame or a screenshot from a reference film is enough.

Method 1: Paint on a separate layer

Painting on its own layer is the most flexible way to add color, because it never touches your drawing.

1. Open the Layers panel (the double-square icon) and tap + to add a new layer above your line art.
2. Tap the N on the new layer to open Blend Modes and choose Multiply. Multiply lets black lines show through the color instead of being covered.
3. Select a brush from the Brush Library and a color from the Color panel, then paint.

If your color seems to sit on top of the lines, the layer is almost certainly not set to Multiply. To avoid accidental edits, you can also lock the line art layer by swiping left on it in the Layers panel and tapping Lock.

This approach feels closest to traditional marker or watercolor work. It's good for shading and texture, but slower, and harder to change colorways later if everything is painted by hand.

Method 2: ColorDrop for fast flat fills

ColorDrop works like a paint bucket you drag into place.

1. Drag the color circle from the top right into the area you want to fill, and keep holding.
2. While still holding, slide left or right to set the threshold. Left fills less, right fills more, and the percentage appears at the top of the screen.
3. Lift your Apple Pencil or finger to commit.

After a drop, tap Continue Filling to fill other areas with simple taps. You can also tap-hold-drag to adjust the threshold on the fly. Exit by tapping the tick or switching to another tool.

ColorDrop only works cleanly when the shape is closed. If color leaks across the canvas, there's a gap in your line art. Either close the gap with a brush stroke or lower the threshold.

Use a reference layer so fills respect your lines

The most reliable flat-color workflow separates the line art from the color:

1. Keep your outlines on one layer.
2. Tap that layer and choose Reference.
3. Add a new layer underneath and ColorDrop into it.

Because the fill is calculated from the reference layer but applied to the layer you're working on, your line art stays untouched and you can recolor fills freely. This is the standard approach for character flats, icon sets, and anything you may need to revise after client feedback.

For a layer-by-layer approach to masks and fills, another method is to select the reference layer, invert the selection, and use Fill Layer on a new layer placed beneath the line work. That produces a fill with holes where the lines are, ready for recoloring.

Method 3: Color Fill with Selections

If you want color applied the instant you make a selection:

1. Tap Selections at the top.
2. Choose a selection method from the tabs at the bottom (Automatic, Freehand, Rectangle, or Ellipse).
3. Tap Color Fill so it's highlighted blue.
4. Pick your color, then make the selection.

The area fills as soon as the selection closes. Two practical notes: Procreate remembers the Color Fill setting after you leave Selections, so turn it off when you're done. And Color Fill only works on a single layer, not a group.

For soft graphic framing, you can combine a rectangle or ellipse selection with Feather to get a vignette-style edge.

Method 4: Fill an entire layer

To flood a whole layer with color (useful for backgrounds, color-wash layers, or base tones to be blended with Multiply or Overlay):

1. Choose your color.
2. Open the Layers panel and tap the layer twice to open Layer Options.
3. Select Fill Layer.

A common pairing is a flat background fill on its own layer, with a second layer in a blend mode above it for tint or atmosphere.

Change color that's already on the canvas

Alpha Lock for quick repaints

If you drew something in black and now need it pink or white, don't repaint it manually. Swipe right with two fingers on the layer to turn on Alpha Lock (a checkerboard pattern appears on the thumbnail). Now anything you paint on that layer only affects pixels that already exist. Pick a new color and scribble over the artwork, or use Fill Layer, and the shape stays intact with no ragged edges.

Adjustments for non-destructive shifts

Open the Adjustments menu with the target layer active:

• Hue, Saturation, Brightness: Three sliders for the quickest global changes. Hue shifts the color family, Saturation moves between gray and vibrant, and Brightness controls lightness.
• Color Balance: Pushes the layer toward red, green, blue, or their opposites (cyan, magenta, yellow). You can target Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights separately. Midtones are selected by default and give the most even results.
• Curves: The most advanced option. You bend a tonal line over a histogram to control both color and contrast, which is helpful for matching a grade across several pieces.

Tap the Adjustments icon again to commit your changes, or two-finger tap to undo.

Recolor via QuickMenu

Procreate's Recolor tool was removed and later restored, and it now lives in QuickMenu, which is off by default. To enable it, go to Actions → Prefs → Gesture Controls → QuickMenu and choose a trigger. Assign Recolor to one of the radial options, tap it, pick a color, and tap the areas you want to change. The Flood slider controls how aggressively it fills.

One caution from user reports: Recolor can affect the entire canvas rather than a single drawn element, so isolate your artwork on its own layer first.

Habits that keep color clean and revisable

• Separate layers by function. Line art, flats, shading, and highlights each get their own layer. Recoloring then takes seconds.
• Build the palette early. Block in large color areas first, starting with the background, and refine from there.
• Use blend modes deliberately. Multiply for shadows and tinting under lines, and other modes on dedicated layers rather than baked into fills.
• Name and group layers before handing files off, especially if someone else will animate them.

Taking Procreate color into a motion workflow

For motion designers, Procreate is often where a styleframe or character design starts, and then the real work begins in After Effects, Cinema 4D, Blender, or Nuke. The color decisions you make in Procreate (palette, flats, shading layers) are only the first stage of a look that has to survive animation.

Quick reference

Start with the layer-based flats workflow. It's the fastest to learn, the easiest to revise, and the one that translates best when your artwork needs to move beyond a still image.