To change font color in Procreate, select the text layer, tap the text so it enters edit mode, double-tap a word and choose Select All, then pick a new color from the color circle in the top-right corner. If the text has already been rasterized, it is no longer live type. Use ColorDrop to fill it with a new color, or use a clipping mask to recolor it non-destructively.

Most failures come from one mistake: the layer is selected, but the text itself is not highlighted. This guide covers both methods, plus gradient and pattern fills and how to prepare lettering for After Effects.

Why Procreate Text Color Doesn't Change

Procreate treats a text layer and the text inside it as two separate selections. Tapping the layer in the Layers panel only makes it active. Picking a color at that point changes your brush color and nothing else.

To recolor live text, you have to be inside the text editor with characters highlighted. The color circle then applies to the highlighted characters.

A second cause is rasterization. Once a text layer has been rasterized, it is a pixel layer, and the text editor will not open on it. You can spot live text by the small "A" icon on its thumbnail in the Layers panel. If you don't see it, use the rasterized method below.

Method 1: Change Color on Live Text

Use this method while the text is still editable. It is the cleanest option because you can still change the wording, font, and spacing afterward.

1. Tap the Actions icon (wrench), choose Add, then Add Text. Type your copy.
2. Make sure the text layer is active in the Layers panel.
3. Tap the text on the canvas to put it in edit mode.
4. Double-tap a word to highlight it, then tap Select All to highlight everything in the block.
5. Tap the color circle in the top-right corner and choose a color.
6. Tap Done to confirm.

The color applies to the highlighted characters, so you can also highlight only part of a text block. This lets you color a single word or letter without splitting the text across layers.

Choosing the right color

The color panel has several modes:

• Disc is quick for exploring hues.
• Classic is another way to pick a color.
• Harmony helps when you're building a scheme around a base color.
• Value is another option when you want more precise control.
• Palettes stores swatches you can reuse.

If you're matching a brand color or a color from an After Effects comp, choose it carefully instead of eyeballing it. This keeps your lettering consistent with the rest of the project.

Method 2: Recolor Rasterized Text

Rasterizing is often unavoidable. You may have done it to apply a filter, smudge the letterforms, or paint on the same layer. Once it's done, you recolor pixels rather than type.

Option A: ColorDrop

Drag the color from the top-right circle and release it on the letters. To adjust the fill threshold, hold the color over the letters before releasing, then slide left or right until the text is filled satisfactorily.

Option B: Clipping mask (non-destructive)

This is the most flexible option and the one to use if the client might ask for another color tomorrow.

1. Add a new layer directly above the text layer, whether it is live or rasterized.
2. Tap the new layer and choose Clipping Mask.
3. Fill the clipped layer with any color, gradient, texture, or pattern.

Because the color lives on its own layer, you can swap it, change its blend mode, or repaint it without touching the letterforms. This also works on live text, so you can keep the text editable and still apply complex color.

Gradients, Textures, and Blend Modes

Flat color is only one case. For more designed lettering, the clipping mask approach scales well:

• Gradient text: Clip a layer to the text and paint a gradient with a soft brush.
• Textured text: Clip a paper, grain, or paint texture layer and set it to Multiply or Overlay for a printed look.
• Lighting: Add another clipped layer set to Add or Soft Light and paint highlights and shadows over the letters.

Common Problems and Quick Fixes

The color changes the brush, not the text. You haven't highlighted any characters. Re-enter edit mode, double-tap, and Select All.

The text editor won't open. The layer is rasterized. Use ColorDrop or a clipping mask instead.

Only part of the text changed. Only part of the text was highlighted. This is useful on purpose, but if you wanted the whole block, use Select All.

Getting Colored Lettering Into After Effects

Many motion designers use Procreate to draft titles, hand-lettered logos, and styleframes before building the animation elsewhere. A few habits make the handoff easier.

Export with a transparent background where you can. Hide the background color layer so the lettering arrives without a backdrop. Treat any exported text as pixels, since you shouldn't count on live type surviving the trip.

Work at the resolution you'll need. Raster lettering can't be scaled up cleanly in After Effects. If the title will be punched in on a 4K timeline, create the Procreate canvas large enough that you won't be enlarging it.

Keep color on separate layers. The clipping mask method pays off here. If the art director changes the palette, you re-export one layer rather than repainting letterforms.

Match color management. Confirm the color settings in Procreate and in After Effects, so your colors read the way you intended.

Consider vector for logos. If a title needs to scale or be recolored in the comp, rebuild it as a shape or text layer in After Effects, using the Procreate version as reference. Procreate is strongest when the hand-made quality of the lettering is the point.

Using Procreate Lettering as Reference for AI-Assisted Motion

Once you have a colored lettering frame you like, it can serve as a starting point for motion work rather than a final asset. This is where Styleframe can fit into a pipeline built around After Effects or Nuke.

Styleframe is an AI video and motion tool. You keep your compositing, color management, and finishing where they already are, and Styleframe handles the generative step upstream.

As with any generative tool, check the results against your palette before you commit them to a comp.

Quick Reference

Final Notes

Recoloring text in Procreate comes down to knowing whether the text is live or rasterized. If it's live, highlight the characters before choosing a color. If it's rasterized, use ColorDrop or a clipping mask. When you plan to bring the artwork into After Effects, keep color on separate clipped layers, export with a transparent background, and make sure your canvas is large enough for the final resolution. That way, a late color change means swapping one layer instead of redrawing the lettering.

To change font color in Procreate, select the text layer, tap the text so it enters edit mode, double-tap a word and choose Select All, then pick a new color from the color circle in the top-right corner. If the text has already been rasterized, it is no longer live type. Use ColorDrop to fill it with a new color, or use a clipping mask to recolor it non-destructively.

Most failures come from one mistake: the layer is selected, but the text itself is not highlighted. This guide covers both methods, plus gradient and pattern fills and how to prepare lettering for After Effects.

Why Procreate Text Color Doesn't Change

Procreate treats a text layer and the text inside it as two separate selections. Tapping the layer in the Layers panel only makes it active. Picking a color at that point changes your brush color and nothing else.

To recolor live text, you have to be inside the text editor with characters highlighted. The color circle then applies to the highlighted characters.

A second cause is rasterization. Once a text layer has been rasterized, it is a pixel layer, and the text editor will not open on it. You can spot live text by the small "A" icon on its thumbnail in the Layers panel. If you don't see it, use the rasterized method below.

Method 1: Change Color on Live Text

Use this method while the text is still editable. It is the cleanest option because you can still change the wording, font, and spacing afterward.

1. Tap the Actions icon (wrench), choose Add, then Add Text. Type your copy.
2. Make sure the text layer is active in the Layers panel.
3. Tap the text on the canvas to put it in edit mode.
4. Double-tap a word to highlight it, then tap Select All to highlight everything in the block.
5. Tap the color circle in the top-right corner and choose a color.
6. Tap Done to confirm.

The color applies to the highlighted characters, so you can also highlight only part of a text block. This lets you color a single word or letter without splitting the text across layers.

Choosing the right color

The color panel has several modes:

• Disc is quick for exploring hues.
• Classic is another way to pick a color.
• Harmony helps when you're building a scheme around a base color.
• Value is another option when you want more precise control.
• Palettes stores swatches you can reuse.

If you're matching a brand color or a color from an After Effects comp, choose it carefully instead of eyeballing it. This keeps your lettering consistent with the rest of the project.

Method 2: Recolor Rasterized Text

Rasterizing is often unavoidable. You may have done it to apply a filter, smudge the letterforms, or paint on the same layer. Once it's done, you recolor pixels rather than type.

Option A: ColorDrop

Drag the color from the top-right circle and release it on the letters. To adjust the fill threshold, hold the color over the letters before releasing, then slide left or right until the text is filled satisfactorily.

Option B: Clipping mask (non-destructive)

This is the most flexible option and the one to use if the client might ask for another color tomorrow.

1. Add a new layer directly above the text layer, whether it is live or rasterized.
2. Tap the new layer and choose Clipping Mask.
3. Fill the clipped layer with any color, gradient, texture, or pattern.

Because the color lives on its own layer, you can swap it, change its blend mode, or repaint it without touching the letterforms. This also works on live text, so you can keep the text editable and still apply complex color.

Gradients, Textures, and Blend Modes

Flat color is only one case. For more designed lettering, the clipping mask approach scales well:

• Gradient text: Clip a layer to the text and paint a gradient with a soft brush.
• Textured text: Clip a paper, grain, or paint texture layer and set it to Multiply or Overlay for a printed look.
• Lighting: Add another clipped layer set to Add or Soft Light and paint highlights and shadows over the letters.

Common Problems and Quick Fixes

The color changes the brush, not the text. You haven't highlighted any characters. Re-enter edit mode, double-tap, and Select All.

The text editor won't open. The layer is rasterized. Use ColorDrop or a clipping mask instead.

Only part of the text changed. Only part of the text was highlighted. This is useful on purpose, but if you wanted the whole block, use Select All.

Getting Colored Lettering Into After Effects

Many motion designers use Procreate to draft titles, hand-lettered logos, and styleframes before building the animation elsewhere. A few habits make the handoff easier.

Export with a transparent background where you can. Hide the background color layer so the lettering arrives without a backdrop. Treat any exported text as pixels, since you shouldn't count on live type surviving the trip.

Work at the resolution you'll need. Raster lettering can't be scaled up cleanly in After Effects. If the title will be punched in on a 4K timeline, create the Procreate canvas large enough that you won't be enlarging it.

Keep color on separate layers. The clipping mask method pays off here. If the art director changes the palette, you re-export one layer rather than repainting letterforms.

Match color management. Confirm the color settings in Procreate and in After Effects, so your colors read the way you intended.

Consider vector for logos. If a title needs to scale or be recolored in the comp, rebuild it as a shape or text layer in After Effects, using the Procreate version as reference. Procreate is strongest when the hand-made quality of the lettering is the point.

Using Procreate Lettering as Reference for AI-Assisted Motion

Once you have a colored lettering frame you like, it can serve as a starting point for motion work rather than a final asset. This is where Styleframe can fit into a pipeline built around After Effects or Nuke.

Styleframe is an AI video and motion tool. You keep your compositing, color management, and finishing where they already are, and Styleframe handles the generative step upstream.

As with any generative tool, check the results against your palette before you commit them to a comp.

Quick Reference

Final Notes

Recoloring text in Procreate comes down to knowing whether the text is live or rasterized. If it's live, highlight the characters before choosing a color. If it's rasterized, use ColorDrop or a clipping mask. When you plan to bring the artwork into After Effects, keep color on separate clipped layers, export with a transparent background, and make sure your canvas is large enough for the final resolution. That way, a late color change means swapping one layer instead of redrawing the lettering.