To use the paint bucket in Procreate, drag the color circle from the top-right corner onto the area you want to fill. This feature is called ColorDrop. Keep holding after the color floods in, then slide left or right to adjust the Threshold, which controls how far the fill spreads. Lift your Apple Pencil or finger to commit, then tap Continue Filling to fill more areas with the same color.

How ColorDrop Works

Procreate has no tool labeled "Paint Bucket." ColorDrop does the same job. You drag the current color into the canvas instead of tapping with a tool.

1. Pick a color in the Colors panel.
2. Drag the color circle from the top-right corner into a closed area of your artwork.
3. Keep your Pencil or finger down. The color floods the area and a blue Threshold bar appears at the top of the canvas.
4. Still holding, slide left to fill less or right to fill more. The percentage shows at the top.
5. Lift to commit.

Procreate remembers the last Threshold you used, so you rarely need to retune it between fills unless your line weight or edge softness changes.

Continue Filling for multiple areas

After a ColorDrop, a Continue Filling option appears. Tap it and every subsequent tap on the canvas fills with the current color, so you no longer need to drag from the corner each time. You can also tap, hold, and drag to adjust the Threshold on any individual fill.

To leave the mode, tap the checkmark at the top or switch to another tool, such as the Paint brush.

If you use an iPad that supports Apple Pencil hover, you can hover over your current color swatch and double-tap the side of the Pencil. This turns on Continue Filling with that color immediately, which saves time when flatting large sets of shapes.

Fill Onto a Separate Layer with a Reference Layer

Many people hit the same problem: they put line art on one layer, create a new layer underneath for color, and ColorDrop floods the entire empty layer. This happens because ColorDrop samples the layer you're painting on. A blank layer is one big open area.

The fix is to set the line art layer as a Reference:

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Tap the thumbnail of your line art layer to open Layer Options.
3. Tap Reference.
4. Select your empty color layer and use ColorDrop as usual.

Now the fill follows the boundaries of your line art but lands on the layer you've selected. This is the standard setup for flat colors under ink lines. It also keeps your color and line work separate, which matters if you plan to recolor, animate, or hand off layers later.

Use Recolor from the QuickMenu

Recolor is an older fill method that Procreate brought back. It's hidden by default, but some artists prefer it to ColorDrop because it works as a simple tap-to-fill mode with a slider.

To enable it:

1. Open Actions, then Prefs, then Gesture Controls, then QuickMenu.
2. Choose how you want to trigger the QuickMenu.
3. Assign one of the radial slots to Recolor.

To use it:

1. Open the QuickMenu and tap Recolor.
2. Choose your color in the top-right corner.
3. Tap the areas you want to fill.
4. Adjust the Flood slider to control how aggressively the fill spreads.

Flood plays the same role as ColorDrop's Threshold. If your fills either stop short of the line or spill through it, adjust this value first.

Fill with Selections and Color Fill

When ColorDrop's flood logic doesn't give you the shape you want, selections give you more deliberate control. Color Fill makes a selection fill with your current color as soon as you finish making it.

1. Tap Selections at the top.
2. Choose a method from the bottom tabs: Automatic, Freehand, Rectangle, or Ellipse.
3. Tap Color Fill so it highlights blue.
4. Choose a color.
5. Make your selection. The fill applies when the selection completes.

Color Fill stays on between sessions, so turn it off when you're done. Otherwise your next selection will fill unexpectedly.

One limitation: Color Fill works on a single layer, not on a group. If you've organized your artwork into groups, select an individual layer inside the group first.

Selections also give you Feather, which softens the edges of a selection and can be used to frame a piece.

Fill an Entire Layer

If you want a solid color across a full layer, such as a background, use Fill Layer instead of ColorDrop:

1. Choose your color.
2. Open the Layers panel.
3. Tap your target layer to open Layer Options.
4. Tap Fill Layer.

This replaces the layer's content with the color. Do this on a new layer so you don't overwrite artwork. If you need only part of the layer filled, make a selection first.

Troubleshooting Common Fill Problems

The color fills the whole canvas

The Threshold is probably too high, or you're filling a blank layer with no Reference set. Lower the Threshold by holding after the drop and sliding left. If you're filling on a separate layer, set the line art layer as Reference as described above.

The fill leaks past the lines

Procreate's ColorDrop doesn't offer a gap-closing setting like some dedicated inking and flatting apps. If there's even a small opening in your outline, the fill can escape into the neighboring area. Zoom in and look for breaks, then close them with a brush stroke on the line art layer. Lowering the Threshold can sometimes help but won't reliably fix real gaps.

The edges look rough or have a light halo

Anti-aliased line edges contain partially transparent pixels, and a fill that stops short of them leaves a visible fringe. Nudging the Threshold higher usually makes the color extend further under the line. Filling on a layer beneath the line art helps hide leftover fringing, since the lines sit on top.

The fill only works on the same layer as the line art

This is the Reference layer issue. Without Reference enabled, ColorDrop only reads the active layer's pixels.

I need a magic wand

Procreate doesn't have a dedicated magic wand, and artists have asked for one. The closest alternatives are Automatic Selection, which selects by tapping, and ColorDrop with a Reference layer. If your process depends on selecting an entire exterior region, shrinking or expanding it, and inverting it, expect to work around the limits or do that step in another app.

Where Procreate Fits in a Motion Pipeline

For motion designers, animators, and VFX artists, Procreate usually isn't the final destination. It's where you draw boards, character flats, texture passes, matte paintings, and style references that move on to After Effects, Nuke, Blender, or Cinema 4D. A few habits make that handoff cleaner:

• Keep color on its own layer. Flats under line art let you recolor in compositing or regenerate variations without redrawing.
• Name layers clearly. Clean naming saves time for whoever opens the file.
• Fill with a slight overlap. A tiny overlap under the lines avoids hairline gaps when you scale or transform the art in a comp.
• Export at the resolution you'll need. Painting at a larger canvas size gives you room to scale in your compositor.

Quick Reference

Final Tips

Start with ColorDrop and a Reference layer, since that covers most flatting work. Reach for Selections when you need a specific shape, and use Fill Layer for backgrounds. When a fill misbehaves, check three things in order: whether the line art has gaps, whether the Threshold is set too high, and whether the Reference layer is set.

To use the paint bucket in Procreate, drag the color circle from the top-right corner onto the area you want to fill. This feature is called ColorDrop. Keep holding after the color floods in, then slide left or right to adjust the Threshold, which controls how far the fill spreads. Lift your Apple Pencil or finger to commit, then tap Continue Filling to fill more areas with the same color.

How ColorDrop Works

Procreate has no tool labeled "Paint Bucket." ColorDrop does the same job. You drag the current color into the canvas instead of tapping with a tool.

1. Pick a color in the Colors panel.
2. Drag the color circle from the top-right corner into a closed area of your artwork.
3. Keep your Pencil or finger down. The color floods the area and a blue Threshold bar appears at the top of the canvas.
4. Still holding, slide left to fill less or right to fill more. The percentage shows at the top.
5. Lift to commit.

Procreate remembers the last Threshold you used, so you rarely need to retune it between fills unless your line weight or edge softness changes.

Continue Filling for multiple areas

After a ColorDrop, a Continue Filling option appears. Tap it and every subsequent tap on the canvas fills with the current color, so you no longer need to drag from the corner each time. You can also tap, hold, and drag to adjust the Threshold on any individual fill.

To leave the mode, tap the checkmark at the top or switch to another tool, such as the Paint brush.

If you use an iPad that supports Apple Pencil hover, you can hover over your current color swatch and double-tap the side of the Pencil. This turns on Continue Filling with that color immediately, which saves time when flatting large sets of shapes.

Fill Onto a Separate Layer with a Reference Layer

Many people hit the same problem: they put line art on one layer, create a new layer underneath for color, and ColorDrop floods the entire empty layer. This happens because ColorDrop samples the layer you're painting on. A blank layer is one big open area.

The fix is to set the line art layer as a Reference:

1. Open the Layers panel.
2. Tap the thumbnail of your line art layer to open Layer Options.
3. Tap Reference.
4. Select your empty color layer and use ColorDrop as usual.

Now the fill follows the boundaries of your line art but lands on the layer you've selected. This is the standard setup for flat colors under ink lines. It also keeps your color and line work separate, which matters if you plan to recolor, animate, or hand off layers later.

Use Recolor from the QuickMenu

Recolor is an older fill method that Procreate brought back. It's hidden by default, but some artists prefer it to ColorDrop because it works as a simple tap-to-fill mode with a slider.

To enable it:

1. Open Actions, then Prefs, then Gesture Controls, then QuickMenu.
2. Choose how you want to trigger the QuickMenu.
3. Assign one of the radial slots to Recolor.

To use it:

1. Open the QuickMenu and tap Recolor.
2. Choose your color in the top-right corner.
3. Tap the areas you want to fill.
4. Adjust the Flood slider to control how aggressively the fill spreads.

Flood plays the same role as ColorDrop's Threshold. If your fills either stop short of the line or spill through it, adjust this value first.

Fill with Selections and Color Fill

When ColorDrop's flood logic doesn't give you the shape you want, selections give you more deliberate control. Color Fill makes a selection fill with your current color as soon as you finish making it.

1. Tap Selections at the top.
2. Choose a method from the bottom tabs: Automatic, Freehand, Rectangle, or Ellipse.
3. Tap Color Fill so it highlights blue.
4. Choose a color.
5. Make your selection. The fill applies when the selection completes.

Color Fill stays on between sessions, so turn it off when you're done. Otherwise your next selection will fill unexpectedly.

One limitation: Color Fill works on a single layer, not on a group. If you've organized your artwork into groups, select an individual layer inside the group first.

Selections also give you Feather, which softens the edges of a selection and can be used to frame a piece.

Fill an Entire Layer

If you want a solid color across a full layer, such as a background, use Fill Layer instead of ColorDrop:

1. Choose your color.
2. Open the Layers panel.
3. Tap your target layer to open Layer Options.
4. Tap Fill Layer.

This replaces the layer's content with the color. Do this on a new layer so you don't overwrite artwork. If you need only part of the layer filled, make a selection first.

Troubleshooting Common Fill Problems

The color fills the whole canvas

The Threshold is probably too high, or you're filling a blank layer with no Reference set. Lower the Threshold by holding after the drop and sliding left. If you're filling on a separate layer, set the line art layer as Reference as described above.

The fill leaks past the lines

Procreate's ColorDrop doesn't offer a gap-closing setting like some dedicated inking and flatting apps. If there's even a small opening in your outline, the fill can escape into the neighboring area. Zoom in and look for breaks, then close them with a brush stroke on the line art layer. Lowering the Threshold can sometimes help but won't reliably fix real gaps.

The edges look rough or have a light halo

Anti-aliased line edges contain partially transparent pixels, and a fill that stops short of them leaves a visible fringe. Nudging the Threshold higher usually makes the color extend further under the line. Filling on a layer beneath the line art helps hide leftover fringing, since the lines sit on top.

The fill only works on the same layer as the line art

This is the Reference layer issue. Without Reference enabled, ColorDrop only reads the active layer's pixels.

I need a magic wand

Procreate doesn't have a dedicated magic wand, and artists have asked for one. The closest alternatives are Automatic Selection, which selects by tapping, and ColorDrop with a Reference layer. If your process depends on selecting an entire exterior region, shrinking or expanding it, and inverting it, expect to work around the limits or do that step in another app.

Where Procreate Fits in a Motion Pipeline

For motion designers, animators, and VFX artists, Procreate usually isn't the final destination. It's where you draw boards, character flats, texture passes, matte paintings, and style references that move on to After Effects, Nuke, Blender, or Cinema 4D. A few habits make that handoff cleaner:

• Keep color on its own layer. Flats under line art let you recolor in compositing or regenerate variations without redrawing.
• Name layers clearly. Clean naming saves time for whoever opens the file.
• Fill with a slight overlap. A tiny overlap under the lines avoids hairline gaps when you scale or transform the art in a comp.
• Export at the resolution you'll need. Painting at a larger canvas size gives you room to scale in your compositor.

Quick Reference

Final Tips

Start with ColorDrop and a Reference layer, since that covers most flatting work. Reach for Selections when you need a specific shape, and use Fill Layer for backgrounds. When a fill misbehaves, check three things in order: whether the line art has gaps, whether the Threshold is set too high, and whether the Reference layer is set.