Procreate stores your artwork only on the iPad, so the safest way to back it up to a computer is to export canvases in the native .procreate format and copy them off the device. In the Gallery, tap Select, choose your canvases, tap Share, pick Procreate, and save to Files, AirDrop, or a cloud folder. Then download or copy the files to your computer, export a flattened PNG of each piece, and keep a full iPad backup as a second layer of protection.

What You Need to Back Up

Procreate keeps everything in the app's local storage. If you delete the app, overwrite the iPad's storage, or lose the device, the work can be gone permanently. A complete backup covers several things:

• Canvases as .procreate files, which keep layers, settings, and the Time-lapse Replay.
• Flattened images (PNG) so you can see what each file contains without opening Procreate.
• Custom brushes, palettes, and fonts, which are separate assets and are easy to forget.
• A full-device backup, so you can restore the whole iPad to a known state.

Do this before every Procreate or iPadOS update. Updates are a common moment for things to go wrong.

Method 1: Export from the Gallery, Then Pull Files to Your Computer

This is the most reliable route for most people because it works the same whether your computer runs macOS or Windows.

1. Open the Procreate Gallery and tap Select.
2. Tap each canvas or Stack you want to back up. A tick marks the selected items.
3. Tap Share and choose Procreate as the format. This preserves layers, settings, and the Time-lapse.
4. When the share sheet appears, choose Save to Files and pick a destination, such as a folder in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
5. On your computer, open that same cloud service and download the folder to a local drive.

Create a dedicated folder such as "Procreate Backup" before you start, and rename your canvases first. Default names like "Untitled" make a large backup hard to navigate later.

Be careful with Stacks. Sharing a Stack in .procreate format includes everything inside it, so exporting many large Stacks at once can overload the iPad. Work in batches. If you share a Stack as images instead, you get the canvases as single images, or as a grouped PDF if you choose PDF.

Method 2: AirDrop to a Mac

If you work on a Mac, AirDrop skips the cloud step. Use the same Select → Share → Procreate sequence, then pick your Mac from the AirDrop options on the share sheet. Then move the received files into your archive.

AirDrop suits small batches. For a gallery of hundreds of large canvases, a wired transfer or a cloud-sync folder is steadier, because you can see what has finished transferring and what hasn't.

Method 3: USB Transfer via Finder or iTunes File Sharing

Wired transfer avoids both cloud storage limits and wireless interruptions. The older Procreate guidance describes this flow:

1. In Procreate, share your files to the iTunes/File Sharing destination.
2. Connect the iPad to your computer with a cable.
3. Open Finder (macOS Catalina or later with a recent iPadOS) or iTunes (Windows, and older macOS), then select the iPad.
4. Go to File Sharing, select Procreate, and find your exported files.
5. Copy them into a new folder on your computer.

The interface and app names on the computer side have changed across macOS and Windows versions, so follow Apple's current instructions for your system if the labels differ. The principle is the same: export from Procreate to the file-sharing area, then copy off the device.

Method 4: Drag and Drop

Drag and drop is a quick way to bulk-export from the Gallery. First, set your export formats under Settings → Apps → Procreate:

• Preferred File Format controls what you get when you drag canvases into the Files app.
• Preferred Image Format controls what you get when you drag them into Photos.

Then, in the Gallery, tap Select, pick your artwork, press and hold one selected item, and use another finger to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Files. Drop the group into a folder, such as one in iCloud Drive or on a connected external drive. Check the destination afterward to confirm the files arrived and have realistic sizes.

Method 5: External Drive on the iPad

If your iPad has a USB-C port, you can connect an external drive and save directly to it from the share sheet. This works without Wi-Fi and without paying for extra cloud storage. One caveat: you may need a computer to format the drive before first use. This is an intermediate step, not a replacement for a computer copy. Plug the drive into your computer later and copy the contents to your main archive.

Add a Full iPad Backup

A full-device backup protects settings, apps, and everything else, but it isn't a substitute for file-level exports. There are two options:

• Backup to your computer through Finder or iTunes. This makes a complete copy you can restore to the same iPad or a new one. Each new backup overwrites the previous one, so copy the existing backup elsewhere if you want to keep a point-in-time version.
• iCloud backup. Make sure Procreate is toggled on in the list of apps included in the backup. Some artists find that other data restores quickly while large Procreate libraries take hours or days, or don't come back as expected, so don't make this your only copy.

The main limitation of both is that you can't pull out a single file. To recover one canvas, you'd have to restore the whole device. That is why individual .procreate exports matter.

If the iPad is too full to complete a backup, free space by deleting apps that are easy to re-download from the App Store. Don't delete anything that can't be re-downloaded.

Export Secondary Formats

A .procreate file can't be opened outside Procreate. Treat it as your archival master and add formats you can open anywhere:

• PNG for a lossless flattened image. It's also a safety net if a .procreate file turns out to be corrupted.
• PSD if you need layers in Photoshop or another compositing tool. Note that PSD doesn't carry the Time-lapse.
• Time-lapse video, if you want the process recording as a standalone file. Export it separately.

For motion work, the layered PSD plus a PNG reference is usually the most practical pairing.

Back Up Brushes, Palettes, and Fonts Separately

Brushes and palettes aren't included when you export a canvas. Share each custom brush set or palette from its own panel using the same Save to Files or AirDrop flow, and keep them in their own folders alongside your artwork. If you've installed custom fonts, keep copies of the original font files on your computer.

Organize and Verify on the Computer

Getting files onto the computer is only half the job. Set up a structure you can scale:

• Use one top-level folder per project or client, with subfolders for procreate, png, psd, brushes, and exports.
• Put dates or version numbers in file names.
• Keep at least two copies in different physical locations, such as an internal drive plus an external drive or a cloud sync. Treat the cloud as one copy, not as the only copy.

Then verify the backup:

• Check file sizes. A .procreate file that is only a few KB, or 0 KB, is a warning sign. Older app versions had export bugs that produced empty or corrupted files.
• Test a reimport. Send a sample of files back to the iPad and open them. Confirm the layers are intact, especially for older artwork.
• Open the file in Procreate before exporting if it's an old canvas you haven't touched since an update. That was a documented workaround for earlier export problems.

Only delete work from the iPad after you've confirmed it opens correctly from the backup.

Using Backed-Up Procreate Art in a Motion Pipeline

Once your archive is on a computer, your illustrations become usable source material. You can export PNG or PSD files from Procreate for use in other tools, including Styleframe.

A Simple Backup Routine

1. After each project: export .procreate and PNG files to your cloud or external folder.
2. Weekly or monthly: copy new exports to your computer and a second drive.
3. Before every update: do a full iPad backup, plus a fresh export of active work.
4. Quarterly: reimport a sample to confirm your backups still open.

Exporting is quick, but recovering lost work isn't possible. A backup you've never tested is only a guess, so confirm that your files open before you rely on them.

Procreate stores your artwork only on the iPad, so the safest way to back it up to a computer is to export canvases in the native .procreate format and copy them off the device. In the Gallery, tap Select, choose your canvases, tap Share, pick Procreate, and save to Files, AirDrop, or a cloud folder. Then download or copy the files to your computer, export a flattened PNG of each piece, and keep a full iPad backup as a second layer of protection.

What You Need to Back Up

Procreate keeps everything in the app's local storage. If you delete the app, overwrite the iPad's storage, or lose the device, the work can be gone permanently. A complete backup covers several things:

• Canvases as .procreate files, which keep layers, settings, and the Time-lapse Replay.
• Flattened images (PNG) so you can see what each file contains without opening Procreate.
• Custom brushes, palettes, and fonts, which are separate assets and are easy to forget.
• A full-device backup, so you can restore the whole iPad to a known state.

Do this before every Procreate or iPadOS update. Updates are a common moment for things to go wrong.

Method 1: Export from the Gallery, Then Pull Files to Your Computer

This is the most reliable route for most people because it works the same whether your computer runs macOS or Windows.

1. Open the Procreate Gallery and tap Select.
2. Tap each canvas or Stack you want to back up. A tick marks the selected items.
3. Tap Share and choose Procreate as the format. This preserves layers, settings, and the Time-lapse.
4. When the share sheet appears, choose Save to Files and pick a destination, such as a folder in iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
5. On your computer, open that same cloud service and download the folder to a local drive.

Create a dedicated folder such as "Procreate Backup" before you start, and rename your canvases first. Default names like "Untitled" make a large backup hard to navigate later.

Be careful with Stacks. Sharing a Stack in .procreate format includes everything inside it, so exporting many large Stacks at once can overload the iPad. Work in batches. If you share a Stack as images instead, you get the canvases as single images, or as a grouped PDF if you choose PDF.

Method 2: AirDrop to a Mac

If you work on a Mac, AirDrop skips the cloud step. Use the same Select → Share → Procreate sequence, then pick your Mac from the AirDrop options on the share sheet. Then move the received files into your archive.

AirDrop suits small batches. For a gallery of hundreds of large canvases, a wired transfer or a cloud-sync folder is steadier, because you can see what has finished transferring and what hasn't.

Method 3: USB Transfer via Finder or iTunes File Sharing

Wired transfer avoids both cloud storage limits and wireless interruptions. The older Procreate guidance describes this flow:

1. In Procreate, share your files to the iTunes/File Sharing destination.
2. Connect the iPad to your computer with a cable.
3. Open Finder (macOS Catalina or later with a recent iPadOS) or iTunes (Windows, and older macOS), then select the iPad.
4. Go to File Sharing, select Procreate, and find your exported files.
5. Copy them into a new folder on your computer.

The interface and app names on the computer side have changed across macOS and Windows versions, so follow Apple's current instructions for your system if the labels differ. The principle is the same: export from Procreate to the file-sharing area, then copy off the device.

Method 4: Drag and Drop

Drag and drop is a quick way to bulk-export from the Gallery. First, set your export formats under Settings → Apps → Procreate:

• Preferred File Format controls what you get when you drag canvases into the Files app.
• Preferred Image Format controls what you get when you drag them into Photos.

Then, in the Gallery, tap Select, pick your artwork, press and hold one selected item, and use another finger to swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open Files. Drop the group into a folder, such as one in iCloud Drive or on a connected external drive. Check the destination afterward to confirm the files arrived and have realistic sizes.

Method 5: External Drive on the iPad

If your iPad has a USB-C port, you can connect an external drive and save directly to it from the share sheet. This works without Wi-Fi and without paying for extra cloud storage. One caveat: you may need a computer to format the drive before first use. This is an intermediate step, not a replacement for a computer copy. Plug the drive into your computer later and copy the contents to your main archive.

Add a Full iPad Backup

A full-device backup protects settings, apps, and everything else, but it isn't a substitute for file-level exports. There are two options:

• Backup to your computer through Finder or iTunes. This makes a complete copy you can restore to the same iPad or a new one. Each new backup overwrites the previous one, so copy the existing backup elsewhere if you want to keep a point-in-time version.
• iCloud backup. Make sure Procreate is toggled on in the list of apps included in the backup. Some artists find that other data restores quickly while large Procreate libraries take hours or days, or don't come back as expected, so don't make this your only copy.

The main limitation of both is that you can't pull out a single file. To recover one canvas, you'd have to restore the whole device. That is why individual .procreate exports matter.

If the iPad is too full to complete a backup, free space by deleting apps that are easy to re-download from the App Store. Don't delete anything that can't be re-downloaded.

Export Secondary Formats

A .procreate file can't be opened outside Procreate. Treat it as your archival master and add formats you can open anywhere:

• PNG for a lossless flattened image. It's also a safety net if a .procreate file turns out to be corrupted.
• PSD if you need layers in Photoshop or another compositing tool. Note that PSD doesn't carry the Time-lapse.
• Time-lapse video, if you want the process recording as a standalone file. Export it separately.

For motion work, the layered PSD plus a PNG reference is usually the most practical pairing.

Back Up Brushes, Palettes, and Fonts Separately

Brushes and palettes aren't included when you export a canvas. Share each custom brush set or palette from its own panel using the same Save to Files or AirDrop flow, and keep them in their own folders alongside your artwork. If you've installed custom fonts, keep copies of the original font files on your computer.

Organize and Verify on the Computer

Getting files onto the computer is only half the job. Set up a structure you can scale:

• Use one top-level folder per project or client, with subfolders for procreate, png, psd, brushes, and exports.
• Put dates or version numbers in file names.
• Keep at least two copies in different physical locations, such as an internal drive plus an external drive or a cloud sync. Treat the cloud as one copy, not as the only copy.

Then verify the backup:

• Check file sizes. A .procreate file that is only a few KB, or 0 KB, is a warning sign. Older app versions had export bugs that produced empty or corrupted files.
• Test a reimport. Send a sample of files back to the iPad and open them. Confirm the layers are intact, especially for older artwork.
• Open the file in Procreate before exporting if it's an old canvas you haven't touched since an update. That was a documented workaround for earlier export problems.

Only delete work from the iPad after you've confirmed it opens correctly from the backup.

Using Backed-Up Procreate Art in a Motion Pipeline

Once your archive is on a computer, your illustrations become usable source material. You can export PNG or PSD files from Procreate for use in other tools, including Styleframe.

A Simple Backup Routine

1. After each project: export .procreate and PNG files to your cloud or external folder.
2. Weekly or monthly: copy new exports to your computer and a second drive.
3. Before every update: do a full iPad backup, plus a fresh export of active work.
4. Quarterly: reimport a sample to confirm your backups still open.

Exporting is quick, but recovering lost work isn't possible. A backup you've never tested is only a guess, so confirm that your files open before you rely on them.