Graphic Design & Illustration · Guide
How to make custom Procreate brushes
A Procreate brush is a shape, a grain and a set of behaviors. Change those three and you have made a brush. Here is the fast route to one you will actually use.
The Nextversity teamGraphic Design & Illustration schoolUpdated August 10, 20265 min read
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The short answer
A Procreate brush is three things: a shape (the outline of the stamp), a grain (the texture inside it), and behaviors (how it responds to pressure, speed and tilt).
To make one: open the brush library, tap the plus in the top right, and Brush Studio opens. Set shape, set grain, adjust a few settings, save.
The fastest useful route is not from scratch, though. Duplicate a brush that is close to what you want and change three settings.
Start by duplicating
Swipe left on any brush and choose Duplicate. Now edit the copy.
This matters for two reasons: the default brushes are well built, so you start from something that works, and you keep the original intact.
The settings that actually matter
Brush Studio has a dozen panels and you need four of them.
Stroke Path > Spacing. How far apart the stamps are. Low spacing makes a continuous line, high spacing makes a dotted or stamped effect. This is the single most transformative slider.
Stroke Path > Streamline. Smooths shaky input. A little helps line art enormously. Too much makes the brush feel like it is lagging.
Shape. The stamp outline. Tap Edit to import your own, or pick from the source library.
Grain. The texture inside the stamp. Set Movement to Rolling for a texture that scrolls with the stroke, or Stamped for one that stays fixed relative to the canvas. Rolling suits painting; stamped suits paper texture.
Apple Pencil > Pressure. What pressure controls: size, opacity, or both. This is what makes a brush feel responsive rather than mechanical.
Change those and you have a genuinely different brush.
Making a texture brush from a photo
The most satisfying beginner project:
- Photograph a texture: concrete, tree bark, watercolor paper, fabric.
- Convert it to high-contrast black and white. Grain works from luminance, so contrast is what gives you texture.
- In Brush Studio, open Grain > Edit > Import > Photo.
- Set Grain Movement to Rolling and adjust the scale.
- Set the Shape to a soft round.
- Test on the canvas as you go. The preview area in Brush Studio is live.
Now you have a brush that carries a texture from your own world, which is a genuinely nice thing to own.
The brush you make yourself is used more than the two hundred you downloaded, mostly because you know what it does.
Three brushes worth building
A sketch pencil. Textured grain, pressure controlling opacity, medium streamline. The one you start every drawing with.
A hard inker. No grain, pressure controlling size, high streamline. For clean line art.
A blender. Duplicate a soft brush, reduce opacity, use it with the Smudge tool for controlled blending. There is a guide to blending that covers when to reach for it.
Three brushes cover most illustration work. Professionals often work with fewer brushes than beginners, not more.
The brush-hoarding trap
It is easy to spend more time collecting brush packs than drawing. A hundred brushes does not make better work, and it does make choosing harder every time you start.
Pick five. Learn what each one does at different pressures and speeds. Add a sixth only when you have a specific need the five cannot meet.
Sharing and licensing
Brushes export as .brush files and sets as .brushset. Tapping one on an iPad installs it.
If you sell or share brushes made from other people's textures or purchased packs, check the licence. Most commercial brush packs allow you to use the brushes and not to redistribute them.
Procreate's help site documents Brush Studio panel by panel, and its main site covers the app.
Where to learn the rest
The Procreate certificate covers brushes, texture, color and finishing pieces, and there is a beginner walkthrough if you are earlier than this.
One subscription opens the whole Graphic Design & Illustration school.
Duplicate, change spacing, change grain, save. Five minutes to your first brush.
Questions people ask
How do I create a new brush in Procreate?
Open the brush library, tap the plus icon in the top right, and the Brush Studio opens. Set the shape and grain sources, adjust the settings, then name and save it.
What is the difference between shape and grain?
Shape is the outline of the brush stamp, and grain is the texture inside it. A round shape with a rough grain gives a chalky brush, and a leaf shape with a smooth grain gives a leaf stamp.
Can I make a brush from a photo?
Yes. Import an image as the grain source in Brush Studio. High-contrast black and white textures work best, such as concrete, paper or fabric.
How do I duplicate an existing brush?
Swipe left on the brush in the library and choose Duplicate. Always edit a duplicate rather than a default brush, so you can go back to the original.
How do I share or install Procreate brushes?
Brushes export as .brush files and sets as .brushset. Tap a file on your iPad and it opens in Procreate. Check the licence before using purchased brushes in commercial work.