To change brush color in Procreate, tap the colored circle in the top-right corner of the canvas and choose a new color in the Color panel. The new color applies to your next stroke. To recolor strokes you've already painted, use ColorDrop, Alpha Lock, or Recolor. To make a brush shift color on its own, use Color Dynamics in Brush Studio.

Change the active brush color

The active color is shown in the circle at the top right of the interface. Changing that circle changes what your brush lays down.

1. Tap the color circle to open the Color panel.
2. Pick a color using the modes in the Color panel.
3. Close the panel and paint. The new color is live.

If you've moved to a different brush and the color looks wrong, check the layer's blend mode and opacity. Either can make a correctly chosen color look different from what you expect.

Recolor strokes you've already painted

Changing the active color only affects new strokes. When you need to change what's already on the canvas, Procreate gives you several routes. The right one depends on how the artwork is built.

ColorDrop

ColorDrop fills a region with the active color. Drag from the color circle onto the shape you want to change, then release. A detail to know:

• Sweep from the circle to the target without pausing. Hold too long over the circle and the dot reverts to your previous color.

Alpha Lock

For recoloring everything on one layer, Alpha Lock is often the cleanest approach.

1. Swipe right with two fingers on the layer in the Layers panel. A checkerboard pattern on the thumbnail confirms Alpha Lock is on.
2. Select your new color.
3. Paint over the layer with a large brush.

Only pixels that already have paint will accept the new color.

Recolor

Recolor is a quick-menu or gesture-assigned tool that lets you recolor in real time on the selected layer.

1. Assign Recolor to a Quick Menu slot or gesture in Actions > Prefs > Gesture controls.
2. Confirm you're on the right layer.
3. Trigger Recolor. A crosshair appears; drag it onto the area you want to affect.
4. Change the color in the Color panel and watch the area update live.
5. Adjust the flood threshold if the recolor doesn't reach all of an object or spills into neighbors.

If the whole background changes, the crosshair is probably sitting on the wrong color region. Move it onto your object.

Adjustments

When you want to shift colors relatively instead of replacing them, open Adjustments and use:

• Hue, Saturation, Brightness to tweak the entire layer.
• Color Balance to push shadows, midtones, or highlights toward a tint.
• Curves for channel-level control.

Duplicate the layer first if you might want to go back. Adjustments work well for variations on a painted frame without repainting it.

Make a brush change color automatically with Color Dynamics

If you want the brush itself to vary color, for example a rainbow-like stroke or subtle tonal variation across a painted texture, you can build it into the brush.

1. Open the Brush Library and tap a brush to open its settings, or tap + to create a new one. Duplicate a brush first so you don't overwrite a favorite.
2. In Brush Studio, choose Color Dynamics.
3. Use the Drawing Pad to preview. Its settings let you choose a test color other than white so the effect is visible.

The main controls:

• Stamp Color Jitter: varies color, such as hue and saturation, on each individual stamp within a stroke. It's good for painterly, speckled texture.
• Stroke Color Jitter: varies color from stroke to stroke, so each time you lift the Pencil and start again, the color shifts.
• Pressure and tilt: Color Dynamics can also change the brush's color based on Apple Pencil pressure or tilt.

Start with small values. High jitter on hue produces garish results quickly, whereas a few percent of brightness or saturation jitter gives artwork a hand-painted variation that looks less flat. If a brush is already behaving unexpectedly, such as appearing to change color when you didn't intend it to, open its Color Dynamics settings and check whether any jitter or pressure values are non-zero.

Troubleshooting common problems

• The brush color won't change: check that Color Dynamics isn't varying the color.
• Color looks different from what you picked: check the layer blend mode and opacity.
• Recolored lettering has jagged edges: undo and use Alpha Lock instead of a selection.
• You can't find Recolor: it can be hard to find; assign it in gesture controls.
• The color keeps reverting during a ColorDrop: you're pausing on the color circle. Make the drag one continuous motion.

Where Procreate color work fits in a motion pipeline

Many motion designers and animators use Procreate for the stage before After Effects: loose concepts, color explorations, and painted styleframes. Choosing and recoloring those frames quickly matters, because a color decision made at this point carries through to everything that follows.

That's where a tool like Styleframe can come in. Styleframe is an AI video and motion tool built around artistic control instead of one-click generation. You can bring in a Procreate painting as a reference, so the colors you settled on in Procreate can inform the look of the sequence.

A practical handoff routine:

1. Finalize your palette in Procreate.
2. Use Alpha Lock or Adjustments to create two or three palette variants on duplicate layers.
3. Export each variant.
4. Use the chosen frames as keyframes or style references, then bring the result into your compositing app.

Quick reference

Once the active-color workflow is second nature, the rest comes down to choosing the right recolor method for the way your artwork is built: flat shapes, lettering on its own layer, or textured painting. Keep each element on its own layer and Alpha Lock becomes the fastest tool in your kit.

To change brush color in Procreate, tap the colored circle in the top-right corner of the canvas and choose a new color in the Color panel. The new color applies to your next stroke. To recolor strokes you've already painted, use ColorDrop, Alpha Lock, or Recolor. To make a brush shift color on its own, use Color Dynamics in Brush Studio.

Change the active brush color

The active color is shown in the circle at the top right of the interface. Changing that circle changes what your brush lays down.

1. Tap the color circle to open the Color panel.
2. Pick a color using the modes in the Color panel.
3. Close the panel and paint. The new color is live.

If you've moved to a different brush and the color looks wrong, check the layer's blend mode and opacity. Either can make a correctly chosen color look different from what you expect.

Recolor strokes you've already painted

Changing the active color only affects new strokes. When you need to change what's already on the canvas, Procreate gives you several routes. The right one depends on how the artwork is built.

ColorDrop

ColorDrop fills a region with the active color. Drag from the color circle onto the shape you want to change, then release. A detail to know:

• Sweep from the circle to the target without pausing. Hold too long over the circle and the dot reverts to your previous color.

Alpha Lock

For recoloring everything on one layer, Alpha Lock is often the cleanest approach.

1. Swipe right with two fingers on the layer in the Layers panel. A checkerboard pattern on the thumbnail confirms Alpha Lock is on.
2. Select your new color.
3. Paint over the layer with a large brush.

Only pixels that already have paint will accept the new color.

Recolor

Recolor is a quick-menu or gesture-assigned tool that lets you recolor in real time on the selected layer.

1. Assign Recolor to a Quick Menu slot or gesture in Actions > Prefs > Gesture controls.
2. Confirm you're on the right layer.
3. Trigger Recolor. A crosshair appears; drag it onto the area you want to affect.
4. Change the color in the Color panel and watch the area update live.
5. Adjust the flood threshold if the recolor doesn't reach all of an object or spills into neighbors.

If the whole background changes, the crosshair is probably sitting on the wrong color region. Move it onto your object.

Adjustments

When you want to shift colors relatively instead of replacing them, open Adjustments and use:

• Hue, Saturation, Brightness to tweak the entire layer.
• Color Balance to push shadows, midtones, or highlights toward a tint.
• Curves for channel-level control.

Duplicate the layer first if you might want to go back. Adjustments work well for variations on a painted frame without repainting it.

Make a brush change color automatically with Color Dynamics

If you want the brush itself to vary color, for example a rainbow-like stroke or subtle tonal variation across a painted texture, you can build it into the brush.

1. Open the Brush Library and tap a brush to open its settings, or tap + to create a new one. Duplicate a brush first so you don't overwrite a favorite.
2. In Brush Studio, choose Color Dynamics.
3. Use the Drawing Pad to preview. Its settings let you choose a test color other than white so the effect is visible.

The main controls:

• Stamp Color Jitter: varies color, such as hue and saturation, on each individual stamp within a stroke. It's good for painterly, speckled texture.
• Stroke Color Jitter: varies color from stroke to stroke, so each time you lift the Pencil and start again, the color shifts.
• Pressure and tilt: Color Dynamics can also change the brush's color based on Apple Pencil pressure or tilt.

Start with small values. High jitter on hue produces garish results quickly, whereas a few percent of brightness or saturation jitter gives artwork a hand-painted variation that looks less flat. If a brush is already behaving unexpectedly, such as appearing to change color when you didn't intend it to, open its Color Dynamics settings and check whether any jitter or pressure values are non-zero.

Troubleshooting common problems

• The brush color won't change: check that Color Dynamics isn't varying the color.
• Color looks different from what you picked: check the layer blend mode and opacity.
• Recolored lettering has jagged edges: undo and use Alpha Lock instead of a selection.
• You can't find Recolor: it can be hard to find; assign it in gesture controls.
• The color keeps reverting during a ColorDrop: you're pausing on the color circle. Make the drag one continuous motion.

Where Procreate color work fits in a motion pipeline

Many motion designers and animators use Procreate for the stage before After Effects: loose concepts, color explorations, and painted styleframes. Choosing and recoloring those frames quickly matters, because a color decision made at this point carries through to everything that follows.

That's where a tool like Styleframe can come in. Styleframe is an AI video and motion tool built around artistic control instead of one-click generation. You can bring in a Procreate painting as a reference, so the colors you settled on in Procreate can inform the look of the sequence.

A practical handoff routine:

1. Finalize your palette in Procreate.
2. Use Alpha Lock or Adjustments to create two or three palette variants on duplicate layers.
3. Export each variant.
4. Use the chosen frames as keyframes or style references, then bring the result into your compositing app.

Quick reference

Once the active-color workflow is second nature, the rest comes down to choosing the right recolor method for the way your artwork is built: flat shapes, lettering on its own layer, or textured painting. Keep each element on its own layer and Alpha Lock becomes the fastest tool in your kit.