To change the color of what you draw in Procreate, tap the color dot in the top-right corner and pick a new color, which applies to every new stroke. To recolor existing linework, select the layer, turn on Alpha Lock, pick a color, and choose Fill Layer. You can also drag the color dot onto a shape with ColorDrop, or shift a whole layer's color through Adjustments > Hue, Saturation, Brightness.

Which method is best depends on what you're recoloring and how much you'll need to revise it later. The sections below cover each approach, its limits, and how to keep your colors editable once the artwork moves into a motion pipeline.

Pick the right method first

Change the color of new strokes

The color dot in the top-right corner of the canvas shows your active color. Tap it to open the Color panel, which has several modes:

• Disc
• Classic
• Value
• Harmony
• Palettes: saved swatches you can build for a project.

For production work, build a palette before you start drawing. Name it after the project and add the colors from the style guide. Every stroke then comes from a fixed set of swatches, so you rarely need to hunt down stray colors later.

Recolor existing line art with Alpha Lock

Alpha Lock is the most reliable way to recolor linework. It restricts painting to pixels that already exist on a layer, so transparent areas stay transparent and the edges stay clean.

1. Choose the new color in the Color panel.
2. Tap the layer that holds your drawing, then tap Alpha Lock. You can also swipe right on the layer with two fingers. A checkerboard pattern appears on the thumbnail.
3. Tap the layer again and choose Fill Layer.

Every pixel on the layer now uses the new color, so there are no black pixels left behind. Fill Layer replaces the whole layer, which is what you want when turning black lines to white or red.

You can also leave Alpha Lock on and paint with any brush. Strokes only land where the layer already has content, so you can add gradients, textured color, or several hues inside the same linework without touching the transparent areas. Switch Alpha Lock off when you want to draw new marks on that layer.

Use ColorDrop for flat fills

ColorDrop fills a region with a color you drag onto it. Drag from the color dot onto the canvas and release over the area to fill. Sweep straight from the dot to the area rather than pausing on the dot.

ColorDrop works well for closed shapes such as flat character fills or background blocks. Its limits matter if you work with line art:

• Gaps in lines. If a shape isn't fully closed, the fill leaks into neighboring areas. Close the gap or use a reference layer.
• Edge fringing. Recoloring a soft or anti-aliased boundary can leave odd edges. If that happens, Alpha Lock with Fill Layer is the cleaner route.
• Single objects only. ColorDrop recolors the shape you drop onto. It won't recolor everything on a layer, which is why Alpha Lock suits whole-layer changes better.

A common pattern is to keep line art on one layer, put fills on a layer underneath, and use a reference layer so ColorDrop reads the lines but writes to the fill layer. Changing a color later then means filling one region on that layer.

Shift a whole layer with Adjustments

When you want to move a layer's color rather than replace it, use the Adjustments menu (the magic wand icon).

• Hue, Saturation, Brightness: the quickest option. Drag Hue to change the overall color tone of the layer, then tweak Saturation and Brightness. A brown can become green in one gesture.
• Color Balance: pushes the layer toward red, green, or blue (or cyan, magenta, yellow), and lets you target shadows, midtones, or highlights separately. Midtones are the default and give the most even result.
• Curves: the most advanced option. You bend a line that represents the tonal values of your layer, which works for both correction and stylization.
• Recolor: recolors parts of your image. Check the result carefully, since one user reported it changed the whole canvas rather than just the word they had written.

Adjustments apply to the active layer only, so the habit of keeping elements on separate layers pays off here. Hue shifts on a flattened image change everything at once, including skin tones, backgrounds, and highlights you wanted to keep.

Adjustments are destructive once committed. If you might want the original colors back, duplicate the layer first and hide the copy.

Recolor non-destructively with a clipping mask

If the client is likely to ask for color changes, use a clipped layer instead of editing pixels:

1. Add a new layer directly above the artwork.
2. Tap it and choose Clipping Mask, so it only affects the layer below.
3. Change its blend mode to Color (tap the N on the layer).
4. Paint with any color on the clipped layer.

The original pixels are unchanged. Delete or hide the clipped layer to go back, or paint over it again to try another palette. Other blend modes such as Multiply or Overlay give different results, so try them when Color looks flat.

Troubleshooting common problems

The color changed for the whole canvas. The wrong layer was active, or the artwork was flattened. Check the layer panel before you adjust anything.

Old-color fringes remain around the lines. You probably used a fill or brush on an unlocked layer. Undo, turn on Alpha Lock, and use Fill Layer.

Paint covers the line art. Put your color on a separate layer above the lines and set it to Multiply, or place it below the line layer.

Strokes won't go where you expect. Alpha Lock may still be on. The checkerboard thumbnail is the sign. Turn it off to draw freely.

Keep your colors flexible for motion work

Procreate often supplies hand-drawn elements, textures, and character designs that end up in After Effects, Cinema 4D, or Nuke. A few habits make recolors easier downstream:

• Separate by function. Keep line art, flat color, shading, and texture on different layers, and keep them separate when you export.
• Export lines in white or black. A clean, single-color line layer can be tinted in your compositing app, so you don't need to go back to the iPad for each color note.
• Name layers before export. Procreate's default names make for a messy composition. Rename them first.
• Save your palette. Keep a record of your swatches' hex values so the same colors are used in your compositing and 3D tools.

Where Styleframe fits

Procreate is where many artists draw frames and style references. Styleframe is a tool for taking that kind of artwork into motion work.

It's meant to fit existing pipelines rather than replace them. You keep your compositing workflow, and the final color call stays in your comp.

Quick recap

For new strokes, use the color dot. For existing line art, use Alpha Lock with Fill Layer. Use ColorDrop for closed flat shapes and Adjustments to shift a whole layer's color. When revisions are likely, use a clipping mask with the Color blend mode so you can change it again without redrawing.

To change the color of what you draw in Procreate, tap the color dot in the top-right corner and pick a new color, which applies to every new stroke. To recolor existing linework, select the layer, turn on Alpha Lock, pick a color, and choose Fill Layer. You can also drag the color dot onto a shape with ColorDrop, or shift a whole layer's color through Adjustments > Hue, Saturation, Brightness.

Which method is best depends on what you're recoloring and how much you'll need to revise it later. The sections below cover each approach, its limits, and how to keep your colors editable once the artwork moves into a motion pipeline.

Pick the right method first

Change the color of new strokes

The color dot in the top-right corner of the canvas shows your active color. Tap it to open the Color panel, which has several modes:

• Disc
• Classic
• Value
• Harmony
• Palettes: saved swatches you can build for a project.

For production work, build a palette before you start drawing. Name it after the project and add the colors from the style guide. Every stroke then comes from a fixed set of swatches, so you rarely need to hunt down stray colors later.

Recolor existing line art with Alpha Lock

Alpha Lock is the most reliable way to recolor linework. It restricts painting to pixels that already exist on a layer, so transparent areas stay transparent and the edges stay clean.

1. Choose the new color in the Color panel.
2. Tap the layer that holds your drawing, then tap Alpha Lock. You can also swipe right on the layer with two fingers. A checkerboard pattern appears on the thumbnail.
3. Tap the layer again and choose Fill Layer.

Every pixel on the layer now uses the new color, so there are no black pixels left behind. Fill Layer replaces the whole layer, which is what you want when turning black lines to white or red.

You can also leave Alpha Lock on and paint with any brush. Strokes only land where the layer already has content, so you can add gradients, textured color, or several hues inside the same linework without touching the transparent areas. Switch Alpha Lock off when you want to draw new marks on that layer.

Use ColorDrop for flat fills

ColorDrop fills a region with a color you drag onto it. Drag from the color dot onto the canvas and release over the area to fill. Sweep straight from the dot to the area rather than pausing on the dot.

ColorDrop works well for closed shapes such as flat character fills or background blocks. Its limits matter if you work with line art:

• Gaps in lines. If a shape isn't fully closed, the fill leaks into neighboring areas. Close the gap or use a reference layer.
• Edge fringing. Recoloring a soft or anti-aliased boundary can leave odd edges. If that happens, Alpha Lock with Fill Layer is the cleaner route.
• Single objects only. ColorDrop recolors the shape you drop onto. It won't recolor everything on a layer, which is why Alpha Lock suits whole-layer changes better.

A common pattern is to keep line art on one layer, put fills on a layer underneath, and use a reference layer so ColorDrop reads the lines but writes to the fill layer. Changing a color later then means filling one region on that layer.

Shift a whole layer with Adjustments

When you want to move a layer's color rather than replace it, use the Adjustments menu (the magic wand icon).

• Hue, Saturation, Brightness: the quickest option. Drag Hue to change the overall color tone of the layer, then tweak Saturation and Brightness. A brown can become green in one gesture.
• Color Balance: pushes the layer toward red, green, or blue (or cyan, magenta, yellow), and lets you target shadows, midtones, or highlights separately. Midtones are the default and give the most even result.
• Curves: the most advanced option. You bend a line that represents the tonal values of your layer, which works for both correction and stylization.
• Recolor: recolors parts of your image. Check the result carefully, since one user reported it changed the whole canvas rather than just the word they had written.

Adjustments apply to the active layer only, so the habit of keeping elements on separate layers pays off here. Hue shifts on a flattened image change everything at once, including skin tones, backgrounds, and highlights you wanted to keep.

Adjustments are destructive once committed. If you might want the original colors back, duplicate the layer first and hide the copy.

Recolor non-destructively with a clipping mask

If the client is likely to ask for color changes, use a clipped layer instead of editing pixels:

1. Add a new layer directly above the artwork.
2. Tap it and choose Clipping Mask, so it only affects the layer below.
3. Change its blend mode to Color (tap the N on the layer).
4. Paint with any color on the clipped layer.

The original pixels are unchanged. Delete or hide the clipped layer to go back, or paint over it again to try another palette. Other blend modes such as Multiply or Overlay give different results, so try them when Color looks flat.

Troubleshooting common problems

The color changed for the whole canvas. The wrong layer was active, or the artwork was flattened. Check the layer panel before you adjust anything.

Old-color fringes remain around the lines. You probably used a fill or brush on an unlocked layer. Undo, turn on Alpha Lock, and use Fill Layer.

Paint covers the line art. Put your color on a separate layer above the lines and set it to Multiply, or place it below the line layer.

Strokes won't go where you expect. Alpha Lock may still be on. The checkerboard thumbnail is the sign. Turn it off to draw freely.

Keep your colors flexible for motion work

Procreate often supplies hand-drawn elements, textures, and character designs that end up in After Effects, Cinema 4D, or Nuke. A few habits make recolors easier downstream:

• Separate by function. Keep line art, flat color, shading, and texture on different layers, and keep them separate when you export.
• Export lines in white or black. A clean, single-color line layer can be tinted in your compositing app, so you don't need to go back to the iPad for each color note.
• Name layers before export. Procreate's default names make for a messy composition. Rename them first.
• Save your palette. Keep a record of your swatches' hex values so the same colors are used in your compositing and 3D tools.

Where Styleframe fits

Procreate is where many artists draw frames and style references. Styleframe is a tool for taking that kind of artwork into motion work.

It's meant to fit existing pipelines rather than replace them. You keep your compositing workflow, and the final color call stays in your comp.

Quick recap

For new strokes, use the color dot. For existing line art, use Alpha Lock with Fill Layer. Use ColorDrop for closed flat shapes and Adjustments to shift a whole layer's color. When revisions are likely, use a clipping mask with the Color blend mode so you can change it again without redrawing.