To add a filter in Procreate, select the layer you want to change, tap the magic wand (Adjustments) icon in the top bar, and pick an effect from the menu. Then drag your finger across the canvas to set its intensity. Procreate has no one-tap preset filters like a photo app, so most "filter looks" come from combining the built-in effects, color adjustments, blend modes, and layer opacity.

Step-by-step: applying a filter in Procreate

1. Select the layer. Adjustments and filters act on your current primary layer, so check the Layers panel first. If you want a non-destructive result, duplicate the layer and work on the copy.
2. Open the Adjustments menu. Tap the magic wand icon in the top menu bar.
3. Choose an effect. The menu has two halves: color adjustments and filters (more on the difference below). Tap the one you want to activate it.
4. Set the amount. For filters, slide your finger left or right across the canvas. The percentage appears in the top bar. Color adjustments use the toolbar at the bottom of the screen instead.
5. Choose Layer or Pencil mode if you want to limit where the effect lands (covered in the next sections).
6. Apply. When you're happy with the result, apply the effect to the layer.

If you don't like the result, undo it. If you only want a fraction of the effect, lower the opacity of the duplicated layer afterward.

Adjustments vs. filters: what the menu actually contains

The Adjustments menu mixes two kinds of tools, and it helps to know which is which.

Adjustments change color within the image. The current version of the menu puts these in the top half: Hue, Saturation, Brightness (HSB), Color Balance, Curves, and Gradient Map. They are the closest thing Procreate has to grading tools, and they work on the active layer.

Filters manipulate pixels or add special effects. The bottom half of the menu holds 11 of them, including Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, Perspective Blur, Sharpen, Noise, Bloom, Liquify, and Clone. Older versions of Procreate listed fewer filters (seven), so if your menu looks different, check which version you're running.

Each filter has its own gestures:

• Gaussian Blur gives an even, out-of-focus softness. Drag right or left to set the amount.
• Motion Blur creates a streaky blur in the direction you drag, which suggests speed.
• Perspective Blur sets a center point with a disc, then radiates the blur from it. Positional mode blurs in every direction, and Directional mode blurs along one direction. It's useful for zoom and blast looks.
• Sharpen pulls out edge detail.
• Noise adds grain, like film stock or newsprint.
• Bloom adds glow around bright areas.
• Liquify and Clone are paint-on tools. Liquify has modes such as Push, Twirl, Pinch, Expand, Crystals, and Edge. Clone paints one part of the image onto another.

Layer mode vs. Pencil mode

Once you've picked an adjustment or filter, a small triangle appears next to the percentage in the top bar. Tap it to choose between two modes:

• Layer applies the effect to the whole layer.
• Pencil lets you paint the effect onto specific areas with a brush.

Two details are easy to miss. First, Pencil mode requires an Apple Pencil. Second, Liquify and Clone skip this choice and go straight to Layer mode, so they don't offer Pencil painting through this switch.

You can switch between modes at any time. A practical routine is to apply a blur or color shift across the full layer, then switch to Pencil mode to paint a stronger version of the same effect where you want it, such as depth-of-field falloff toward the edges of an illustration.

While Pencil mode is active, a sparkle icon appears on the brush icon at the top of the canvas. Whatever brush you pick now paints the filter instead of color. The Smudge and Erase tools also get the sparkle and work on the filter you've painted, so you can soften or remove parts of the effect without touching the underlying art.

Building your own filter looks with blend modes

Because Procreate's built-in filter set is small, the "filter" look people want, such as a faded film feel or punchy contrast, usually comes from layering. This approach also keeps the work editable, which should feel familiar if you build adjustment layers in After Effects.

A simple contrast filter:

1. Duplicate your flattened artwork.
2. Set the duplicate's blend mode to Color Dodge, then drop its opacity to zero and bring it back up slowly. Even 1–2% brightens areas noticeably.
3. Duplicate the original again, set that copy to Color Burn, and bring its opacity up the same way to deepen the darks.
4. The two layers together increase contrast. Adjust each layer's opacity to control how strong the effect is.

A grayscale filter with adjustable strength:

1. Duplicate the layer.
2. Open Adjustments → Hue, Saturation, Brightness and pull saturation all the way down.
3. Use the duplicate's opacity to decide how much color to remove. At 100% you get full grayscale, and anything lower gives a partial desaturation.

Color-shift filters: Color Balance, Curves, and Gradient Map applied to a duplicate layer work the same way. You can cycle through blend modes and opacity values until the look lands, and delete the duplicate if you prefer the original.

To save a stack of layers as a single result without flattening your working file, use the three-finger swipe down to bring up Copy All, then paste it back in with another three-finger swipe down and Paste. You get a merged layer on top while keeping the originals below it, and you can toggle that layer on and off to compare before and after.

Clipping masks are another useful tool. Add a layer above the artwork, set it as a clipping mask, and anything you paint or filter on that layer stays inside the shape of the layer beneath. Cycling through blend modes on a clipped layer is a fast way to discover looks you wouldn't have planned, such as Vivid Light for a strong light effect, followed by Bloom for a blown-out glow.

Adding filters in Procreate Dreams

If you're animating in Procreate Dreams, filters work differently depending on where you are in the app.

In Draw & Paint mode, tap the Filters button at the top and choose from the dropdown. The available filters include HSB, Lens Blur, Gaussian Blur, Noise, and Sharpen. Slide across the canvas to set intensity (HSB is the exception and uses its own sliders). Tap the canvas to open a menu with:

• Apply to finalize the change
• Undo to revert the last value change
• Reset to return all values to default
• Cancel to discard everything and return to Draw & Paint
• Preview (tap and hold) to see the content as it was before your edits

Some filters have deeper controls. Noise offers Clouds, Billows, and Ridges types, plus Scale, Octaves, and Turbulence sliders. In the Advanced Noise menu, Additive restricts noise to pixels that already exist on the layer (turn it off to fill the empty paintable area), and Multichannel produces colored rather than monochrome noise. Lens Blur is supported on M-series iPads and has Brightness and Contrast controls, where raising brightness produces bloom-like effects.

On the timeline, filters are animatable. Select your content, place the playhead, tap it to open the Action menu, and choose Filter. The available timeline filters are Opacity, Gaussian Blur, Sharpen, Noise, and HSB. Set a value, move the playhead, set another, and keyframes appear in a track beneath the clip. Easing applies to those keyframes, so check your curve if the motion feels off. You can also use Perform to apply filters in real time while timing them to the animation. None of this permanently alters the original content, so you can edit or undo it later.

Getting Procreate filter work into a motion pipeline

For motion designers, Procreate is usually a source tool rather than the finishing environment. A few habits make the handoff easier:

• Keep effects on separate layers where possible, and export layered files or individual passes so you can rebuild or adjust blur, grain, and color in After Effects, Nuke, or Premiere Pro with proper control.
• Treat Procreate filters as look development. Test how a Noise treatment feels on a frame, then decide whether to bake it in or recreate it with live effects that respond to animation.
• Avoid baking in Liquify or Clone until the layout is locked, since those edits can't be easily adjusted afterward.
• Export at the resolution you'll deliver in, or higher, so filtered pixels hold up when scaled in a comp.

Quick troubleshooting

• The filter isn't affecting what you expected. Check the active layer. Adjustments and filters only touch the selected layer.
• Pencil mode isn't available. Pencil mode needs an Apple Pencil, and Liquify and Clone never show the Layer/Pencil choice.
• Your menu has fewer filters. You may be on an older version of Procreate, which had seven filters instead of 11.
• The effect is too strong and can't be dialed back. Duplicate the layer before applying, then lower the duplicate's opacity.
• Filters are missing in Procreate Dreams. Open the Filters button inside Draw & Paint mode, or use Filter in the timeline Action menu for animatable effects.

Start with a duplicated layer, learn how each filter responds to your gestures, and use blend modes and opacity when you want something the menu doesn't offer. Because everything stays on its own layer, you can keep adjusting until the look is right.

To add a filter in Procreate, select the layer you want to change, tap the magic wand (Adjustments) icon in the top bar, and pick an effect from the menu. Then drag your finger across the canvas to set its intensity. Procreate has no one-tap preset filters like a photo app, so most "filter looks" come from combining the built-in effects, color adjustments, blend modes, and layer opacity.

Step-by-step: applying a filter in Procreate

1. Select the layer. Adjustments and filters act on your current primary layer, so check the Layers panel first. If you want a non-destructive result, duplicate the layer and work on the copy.
2. Open the Adjustments menu. Tap the magic wand icon in the top menu bar.
3. Choose an effect. The menu has two halves: color adjustments and filters (more on the difference below). Tap the one you want to activate it.
4. Set the amount. For filters, slide your finger left or right across the canvas. The percentage appears in the top bar. Color adjustments use the toolbar at the bottom of the screen instead.
5. Choose Layer or Pencil mode if you want to limit where the effect lands (covered in the next sections).
6. Apply. When you're happy with the result, apply the effect to the layer.

If you don't like the result, undo it. If you only want a fraction of the effect, lower the opacity of the duplicated layer afterward.

Adjustments vs. filters: what the menu actually contains

The Adjustments menu mixes two kinds of tools, and it helps to know which is which.

Adjustments change color within the image. The current version of the menu puts these in the top half: Hue, Saturation, Brightness (HSB), Color Balance, Curves, and Gradient Map. They are the closest thing Procreate has to grading tools, and they work on the active layer.

Filters manipulate pixels or add special effects. The bottom half of the menu holds 11 of them, including Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, Perspective Blur, Sharpen, Noise, Bloom, Liquify, and Clone. Older versions of Procreate listed fewer filters (seven), so if your menu looks different, check which version you're running.

Each filter has its own gestures:

• Gaussian Blur gives an even, out-of-focus softness. Drag right or left to set the amount.
• Motion Blur creates a streaky blur in the direction you drag, which suggests speed.
• Perspective Blur sets a center point with a disc, then radiates the blur from it. Positional mode blurs in every direction, and Directional mode blurs along one direction. It's useful for zoom and blast looks.
• Sharpen pulls out edge detail.
• Noise adds grain, like film stock or newsprint.
• Bloom adds glow around bright areas.
• Liquify and Clone are paint-on tools. Liquify has modes such as Push, Twirl, Pinch, Expand, Crystals, and Edge. Clone paints one part of the image onto another.

Layer mode vs. Pencil mode

Once you've picked an adjustment or filter, a small triangle appears next to the percentage in the top bar. Tap it to choose between two modes:

• Layer applies the effect to the whole layer.
• Pencil lets you paint the effect onto specific areas with a brush.

Two details are easy to miss. First, Pencil mode requires an Apple Pencil. Second, Liquify and Clone skip this choice and go straight to Layer mode, so they don't offer Pencil painting through this switch.

You can switch between modes at any time. A practical routine is to apply a blur or color shift across the full layer, then switch to Pencil mode to paint a stronger version of the same effect where you want it, such as depth-of-field falloff toward the edges of an illustration.

While Pencil mode is active, a sparkle icon appears on the brush icon at the top of the canvas. Whatever brush you pick now paints the filter instead of color. The Smudge and Erase tools also get the sparkle and work on the filter you've painted, so you can soften or remove parts of the effect without touching the underlying art.

Building your own filter looks with blend modes

Because Procreate's built-in filter set is small, the "filter" look people want, such as a faded film feel or punchy contrast, usually comes from layering. This approach also keeps the work editable, which should feel familiar if you build adjustment layers in After Effects.

A simple contrast filter:

1. Duplicate your flattened artwork.
2. Set the duplicate's blend mode to Color Dodge, then drop its opacity to zero and bring it back up slowly. Even 1–2% brightens areas noticeably.
3. Duplicate the original again, set that copy to Color Burn, and bring its opacity up the same way to deepen the darks.
4. The two layers together increase contrast. Adjust each layer's opacity to control how strong the effect is.

A grayscale filter with adjustable strength:

1. Duplicate the layer.
2. Open Adjustments → Hue, Saturation, Brightness and pull saturation all the way down.
3. Use the duplicate's opacity to decide how much color to remove. At 100% you get full grayscale, and anything lower gives a partial desaturation.

Color-shift filters: Color Balance, Curves, and Gradient Map applied to a duplicate layer work the same way. You can cycle through blend modes and opacity values until the look lands, and delete the duplicate if you prefer the original.

To save a stack of layers as a single result without flattening your working file, use the three-finger swipe down to bring up Copy All, then paste it back in with another three-finger swipe down and Paste. You get a merged layer on top while keeping the originals below it, and you can toggle that layer on and off to compare before and after.

Clipping masks are another useful tool. Add a layer above the artwork, set it as a clipping mask, and anything you paint or filter on that layer stays inside the shape of the layer beneath. Cycling through blend modes on a clipped layer is a fast way to discover looks you wouldn't have planned, such as Vivid Light for a strong light effect, followed by Bloom for a blown-out glow.

Adding filters in Procreate Dreams

If you're animating in Procreate Dreams, filters work differently depending on where you are in the app.

In Draw & Paint mode, tap the Filters button at the top and choose from the dropdown. The available filters include HSB, Lens Blur, Gaussian Blur, Noise, and Sharpen. Slide across the canvas to set intensity (HSB is the exception and uses its own sliders). Tap the canvas to open a menu with:

• Apply to finalize the change
• Undo to revert the last value change
• Reset to return all values to default
• Cancel to discard everything and return to Draw & Paint
• Preview (tap and hold) to see the content as it was before your edits

Some filters have deeper controls. Noise offers Clouds, Billows, and Ridges types, plus Scale, Octaves, and Turbulence sliders. In the Advanced Noise menu, Additive restricts noise to pixels that already exist on the layer (turn it off to fill the empty paintable area), and Multichannel produces colored rather than monochrome noise. Lens Blur is supported on M-series iPads and has Brightness and Contrast controls, where raising brightness produces bloom-like effects.

On the timeline, filters are animatable. Select your content, place the playhead, tap it to open the Action menu, and choose Filter. The available timeline filters are Opacity, Gaussian Blur, Sharpen, Noise, and HSB. Set a value, move the playhead, set another, and keyframes appear in a track beneath the clip. Easing applies to those keyframes, so check your curve if the motion feels off. You can also use Perform to apply filters in real time while timing them to the animation. None of this permanently alters the original content, so you can edit or undo it later.

Getting Procreate filter work into a motion pipeline

For motion designers, Procreate is usually a source tool rather than the finishing environment. A few habits make the handoff easier:

• Keep effects on separate layers where possible, and export layered files or individual passes so you can rebuild or adjust blur, grain, and color in After Effects, Nuke, or Premiere Pro with proper control.
• Treat Procreate filters as look development. Test how a Noise treatment feels on a frame, then decide whether to bake it in or recreate it with live effects that respond to animation.
• Avoid baking in Liquify or Clone until the layout is locked, since those edits can't be easily adjusted afterward.
• Export at the resolution you'll deliver in, or higher, so filtered pixels hold up when scaled in a comp.

Quick troubleshooting

• The filter isn't affecting what you expected. Check the active layer. Adjustments and filters only touch the selected layer.
• Pencil mode isn't available. Pencil mode needs an Apple Pencil, and Liquify and Clone never show the Layer/Pencil choice.
• Your menu has fewer filters. You may be on an older version of Procreate, which had seven filters instead of 11.
• The effect is too strong and can't be dialed back. Duplicate the layer before applying, then lower the duplicate's opacity.
• Filters are missing in Procreate Dreams. Open the Filters button inside Draw & Paint mode, or use Filter in the timeline Action menu for animatable effects.

Start with a duplicated layer, learn how each filter responds to your gestures, and use blend modes and opacity when you want something the menu doesn't offer. Because everything stays on its own layer, you can keep adjusting until the look is right.