To make a brush thicker in Procreate, drag the Size slider up, and if it's already maxed out, raise the brush's Maximum Size in Brush Studio under Properties. If the ceiling still won't move, increase the brush's Spacing on the Stroke Path tab, because Procreate allows larger sizes at higher spacing. Always duplicate a brush before editing it so the original stays intact.

Start with the Size slider and check what's actually limiting you

Dragging the Size slider up thickens the stroke immediately. Most "my brush is too thin" problems fall into one of four categories:

• The slider is maxed out. The brush's own maximum size is the limit.
• Pressure is shrinking the stroke. Apple Pencil dynamics are making light strokes thin.
• The canvas is large. The same size percentage looks smaller on a high-resolution canvas.
• The line is already drawn. You need to thicken existing artwork rather than change the brush.

Identify which one applies before changing settings, because each has a different fix.

Raise the maximum size in Brush Studio

Every Procreate brush has a size ceiling set in its own settings. The slider you use while painting is a percentage of that ceiling, so changing the ceiling changes how thick the brush can get.

1. Open the Brush Library and find the brush.
2. Swipe left on it and tap Duplicate. Work on the copy.
3. Tap the duplicate to open Brush Studio.
4. Go to Properties.
5. Under Brush Behavior, drag Maximum Size to the right.
6. Test it on the canvas, and adjust again if needed.

Duplicating matters for a practical reason. Modifications to stock brushes can be reset when Procreate updates, while duplicates are kept. Duplicates can also be backed up, so a reinstall or device swap doesn't cost you your tuned brushes. Name your copies clearly, for example "Hard Airbrush XL," so you can find them later.

Also check Minimum Size in the same panel. If it's set high, the brush will never get as thin as you want, but if it's set low and pressure is active, light strokes will look thin even when the maximum is large.

Use Spacing to unlock bigger sizes

This is one of the least obvious fixes, and it can solve the "it still won't get big enough" problem. In Brush Studio, the Stroke Path tab has a Spacing control. Spacing determines how far apart Procreate stamps the brush shape along a stroke. Tighter spacing means smoother strokes but more work for the device, and Procreate compensates by capping the maximum size. Looser spacing lowers the processing load, which allows a larger ceiling.

That's why two stock brushes can have very different maximum sizes on the same canvas. A blending brush with wider spacing can cover far more area than an airbrush with tight spacing, even though both are at 100% on the slider.

To use this:

1. Duplicate the brush.
2. Open Stroke Path and increase Spacing.
3. Go back to Properties and see whether Maximum Size can now go higher.
4. Test a single stroke and a dab at full size.

Users who've experimented with this report that moving spacing into the low-to-mid teens (as a percentage) opens up a much bigger range, but treat that as a starting point and test it on your own brush and device.

The tradeoff

Wider spacing can make soft strokes look mottled, particularly on airbrushes used for gradients, because the individual stamps become visible. If you need a huge brush and a smooth gradient, try these workarounds:

• Use a big, wide-spaced brush for coverage, then smooth with a blending brush or the Smudge tool.
• Lower Streamline or add a bit of Jitter carefully if the edges look stamped.
• Build gradients with a large soft brush in several passes at lower opacity.
• Apply a Gaussian Blur from the Adjustments menu on the layer to smooth banding.

Control pressure so thickness is predictable

If the brush gets thick only when you press hard, the problem is pressure mapping rather than size.

In Brush Studio, open the Apple Pencil tab. Under Pressure, look at the Size setting and the pressure curve. Reducing the size response makes the stroke closer to a constant width, and raising the minimum size gives light strokes more body. If you want a uniform, marker-like line, set pressure's effect on size low and rely on the slider.

Two other places can change feel:

• Pressure curve: Procreate's global Apple Pencil pressure curve is in Actions > Prefs > Pressure and Smoothing. A softer curve gets thicker strokes with less force.
• Tilt settings: If you use a shading brush, tilt may change the footprint of the brush. Check the Tilt controls on the same tab when the width changes unexpectedly.

Account for canvas size and DPI

The same slider value doesn't look the same across canvases. A brush at 25% on a small canvas can look noticeably bolder than the same setting on a large canvas. Texture and grain can also appear more subtle on large canvases.

This matters a lot for motion work. If you're painting at 4K or larger to match a composition, a brush that felt fine on a small test canvas will seem thin and fine. Solutions:

• Raise Maximum Size on a duplicate dedicated to large canvases.
• Adjust the brush's grain scale in the Grain settings so textured brushes keep a visible texture at high resolution.
• Keep a set of "large canvas" duplicates, so you don't rebuild them for every project.
• Test the brush at your final canvas size before you start painting.

Procreate also limits brush shape and grain source dimensions, so very large custom brushes can still look soft when scaled up. If you import a custom shape, use a clean, high-contrast source at the largest size Procreate accepts.

Thicken lines you've already drawn

If the line art is done and you need it bolder, there's no need to redraw it.

• Redraw over it on a new layer. Use a thicker duplicate brush and trace the existing line. It's slower, but it gives the cleanest result.
• Use Liquify. Open Adjustments > Liquify and use the Push or Expand tool to bulk up strokes. This works best for small, local changes.
• Blur then tighten. On a line-art layer, apply a Gaussian Blur, then use Curves to push the blurred edge back toward solid. This can add weight across a whole layer, though results depend on the art and may soften fine detail.
• Fill and refine. For shapes, select with Selection, fill, and then clean up the edges with an eraser.

Keep the original layer hidden rather than deleted so you can compare or revert.

Troubleshooting common problems

The slider moves but nothing changes. Check whether you're editing a brush different from the one you're using. Confirm that you opened the duplicate in Brush Studio.

The brush is thick but looks blocky. Spacing is probably too wide. Lower it a bit and retest, accepting a smaller maximum.

The stroke thickens inconsistently. Pressure or tilt is varying it. Reduce size pressure on the Apple Pencil tab.

My edits disappeared. You may have edited a stock brush that got reset by an update. Always work on duplicates.

Lag at huge sizes. Large brushes with tight spacing are heavy for the device. Reduce canvas size where possible, increase spacing, or paint large areas with fill tools and selections instead.

Where this fits in a motion design pipeline

Many motion designers and animators use Procreate for the pre-production side: style frames, textures, matte paintings, rough animatic boards, and hand-painted elements for compositing. Getting brush thickness right at your final delivery resolution saves rework later, particularly when those elements end up in After Effects, Nuke, or Blender.

A few habits help:

• Create your Procreate canvas at the resolution and aspect ratio of the target comp.
• Keep painted elements on separate layers and export them as PNG or layered files so you can composite them with transparency.
• Use consistent, saved brush duplicates across a project so line weights match between assets.

If you want to extend painted frames into motion, Styleframe is one AI video and motion tool you could explore for carrying painted artwork into video.

This doesn't replace the work of getting your brush right. Stroke weight in the source art is part of the style, and the reference will only translate as well as it was painted. Settle the brush first, then carry that look forward.

Quick reference

Final tips

Duplicate before you edit, test at your real canvas size, and treat spacing as the lever for size limits. Save a small set of large-canvas brushes for your regular delivery resolutions. Once those are in place, thick strokes become a matter of dragging a slider, and you can spend your time on the artwork and the pipeline it feeds.

To make a brush thicker in Procreate, drag the Size slider up, and if it's already maxed out, raise the brush's Maximum Size in Brush Studio under Properties. If the ceiling still won't move, increase the brush's Spacing on the Stroke Path tab, because Procreate allows larger sizes at higher spacing. Always duplicate a brush before editing it so the original stays intact.

Start with the Size slider and check what's actually limiting you

Dragging the Size slider up thickens the stroke immediately. Most "my brush is too thin" problems fall into one of four categories:

• The slider is maxed out. The brush's own maximum size is the limit.
• Pressure is shrinking the stroke. Apple Pencil dynamics are making light strokes thin.
• The canvas is large. The same size percentage looks smaller on a high-resolution canvas.
• The line is already drawn. You need to thicken existing artwork rather than change the brush.

Identify which one applies before changing settings, because each has a different fix.

Raise the maximum size in Brush Studio

Every Procreate brush has a size ceiling set in its own settings. The slider you use while painting is a percentage of that ceiling, so changing the ceiling changes how thick the brush can get.

1. Open the Brush Library and find the brush.
2. Swipe left on it and tap Duplicate. Work on the copy.
3. Tap the duplicate to open Brush Studio.
4. Go to Properties.
5. Under Brush Behavior, drag Maximum Size to the right.
6. Test it on the canvas, and adjust again if needed.

Duplicating matters for a practical reason. Modifications to stock brushes can be reset when Procreate updates, while duplicates are kept. Duplicates can also be backed up, so a reinstall or device swap doesn't cost you your tuned brushes. Name your copies clearly, for example "Hard Airbrush XL," so you can find them later.

Also check Minimum Size in the same panel. If it's set high, the brush will never get as thin as you want, but if it's set low and pressure is active, light strokes will look thin even when the maximum is large.

Use Spacing to unlock bigger sizes

This is one of the least obvious fixes, and it can solve the "it still won't get big enough" problem. In Brush Studio, the Stroke Path tab has a Spacing control. Spacing determines how far apart Procreate stamps the brush shape along a stroke. Tighter spacing means smoother strokes but more work for the device, and Procreate compensates by capping the maximum size. Looser spacing lowers the processing load, which allows a larger ceiling.

That's why two stock brushes can have very different maximum sizes on the same canvas. A blending brush with wider spacing can cover far more area than an airbrush with tight spacing, even though both are at 100% on the slider.

To use this:

1. Duplicate the brush.
2. Open Stroke Path and increase Spacing.
3. Go back to Properties and see whether Maximum Size can now go higher.
4. Test a single stroke and a dab at full size.

Users who've experimented with this report that moving spacing into the low-to-mid teens (as a percentage) opens up a much bigger range, but treat that as a starting point and test it on your own brush and device.

The tradeoff

Wider spacing can make soft strokes look mottled, particularly on airbrushes used for gradients, because the individual stamps become visible. If you need a huge brush and a smooth gradient, try these workarounds:

• Use a big, wide-spaced brush for coverage, then smooth with a blending brush or the Smudge tool.
• Lower Streamline or add a bit of Jitter carefully if the edges look stamped.
• Build gradients with a large soft brush in several passes at lower opacity.
• Apply a Gaussian Blur from the Adjustments menu on the layer to smooth banding.

Control pressure so thickness is predictable

If the brush gets thick only when you press hard, the problem is pressure mapping rather than size.

In Brush Studio, open the Apple Pencil tab. Under Pressure, look at the Size setting and the pressure curve. Reducing the size response makes the stroke closer to a constant width, and raising the minimum size gives light strokes more body. If you want a uniform, marker-like line, set pressure's effect on size low and rely on the slider.

Two other places can change feel:

• Pressure curve: Procreate's global Apple Pencil pressure curve is in Actions > Prefs > Pressure and Smoothing. A softer curve gets thicker strokes with less force.
• Tilt settings: If you use a shading brush, tilt may change the footprint of the brush. Check the Tilt controls on the same tab when the width changes unexpectedly.

Account for canvas size and DPI

The same slider value doesn't look the same across canvases. A brush at 25% on a small canvas can look noticeably bolder than the same setting on a large canvas. Texture and grain can also appear more subtle on large canvases.

This matters a lot for motion work. If you're painting at 4K or larger to match a composition, a brush that felt fine on a small test canvas will seem thin and fine. Solutions:

• Raise Maximum Size on a duplicate dedicated to large canvases.
• Adjust the brush's grain scale in the Grain settings so textured brushes keep a visible texture at high resolution.
• Keep a set of "large canvas" duplicates, so you don't rebuild them for every project.
• Test the brush at your final canvas size before you start painting.

Procreate also limits brush shape and grain source dimensions, so very large custom brushes can still look soft when scaled up. If you import a custom shape, use a clean, high-contrast source at the largest size Procreate accepts.

Thicken lines you've already drawn

If the line art is done and you need it bolder, there's no need to redraw it.

• Redraw over it on a new layer. Use a thicker duplicate brush and trace the existing line. It's slower, but it gives the cleanest result.
• Use Liquify. Open Adjustments > Liquify and use the Push or Expand tool to bulk up strokes. This works best for small, local changes.
• Blur then tighten. On a line-art layer, apply a Gaussian Blur, then use Curves to push the blurred edge back toward solid. This can add weight across a whole layer, though results depend on the art and may soften fine detail.
• Fill and refine. For shapes, select with Selection, fill, and then clean up the edges with an eraser.

Keep the original layer hidden rather than deleted so you can compare or revert.

Troubleshooting common problems

The slider moves but nothing changes. Check whether you're editing a brush different from the one you're using. Confirm that you opened the duplicate in Brush Studio.

The brush is thick but looks blocky. Spacing is probably too wide. Lower it a bit and retest, accepting a smaller maximum.

The stroke thickens inconsistently. Pressure or tilt is varying it. Reduce size pressure on the Apple Pencil tab.

My edits disappeared. You may have edited a stock brush that got reset by an update. Always work on duplicates.

Lag at huge sizes. Large brushes with tight spacing are heavy for the device. Reduce canvas size where possible, increase spacing, or paint large areas with fill tools and selections instead.

Where this fits in a motion design pipeline

Many motion designers and animators use Procreate for the pre-production side: style frames, textures, matte paintings, rough animatic boards, and hand-painted elements for compositing. Getting brush thickness right at your final delivery resolution saves rework later, particularly when those elements end up in After Effects, Nuke, or Blender.

A few habits help:

• Create your Procreate canvas at the resolution and aspect ratio of the target comp.
• Keep painted elements on separate layers and export them as PNG or layered files so you can composite them with transparency.
• Use consistent, saved brush duplicates across a project so line weights match between assets.

If you want to extend painted frames into motion, Styleframe is one AI video and motion tool you could explore for carrying painted artwork into video.

This doesn't replace the work of getting your brush right. Stroke weight in the source art is part of the style, and the reference will only translate as well as it was painted. Settle the brush first, then carry that look forward.

Quick reference

Final tips

Duplicate before you edit, test at your real canvas size, and treat spacing as the lever for size limits. Save a small set of large-canvas brushes for your regular delivery resolutions. Once those are in place, thick strokes become a matter of dragging a slider, and you can spend your time on the artwork and the pipeline it feeds.