How To Color Inside Lines Procreate

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In preschool, I recollect that one of the all-time compliments yous could get was near successfully coloring inside the lines. Maybe I was a weird kid, but I was into art and a perfectionist, and then it makes sense. Luckily, with applied science, coloring inside the lines has never been easier. Here'due south how to color inside the lines with Procreate.

To color inside the lines with Procreate, use ColorDrop to fill your shape with white. Turn on alpha lock or create a clipping mask, which will stop you from coloring outside of the lines of that shape. Some other method is to apply the automatic selection tool, clicking on the shape you wish to color.

If you want the always-prestigious preschool award for beingness the all-time at coloring within the lines, continue reading. It's really adequately simple to do with Procreate, though getting at that place isn't always intuitive. And so, keep reading to learn two ways to colour inside the lines with Procreate.

Important notation: the methods nosotros're going to discuss require coloring one layer at a time. If all of the elements you want to colour aren't on the same layer, just switch between whichever layers yous need.

Colour in the Lines with Procreate's Clipping Masks

Procreate'southward clipping masks allow you to color inside the lines of your shapes without permanently making changes to your shape. Instead, your coloring stays on a new and separate layer. This makes it easier to change the coloring you've applied to your shapes.

The clipping mask feature is my personal favorite way to color within the lines. Information technology's quick, piece of cake, and gets the job done without making permanent changes to your shapes and art. There's an of import caveat though, and then Iet's dig into that a little deeper.

With clipping masks, you can ONLY color over pre-existing brush strokes. This means that if your chemical element is just an outline that isn't filled in, you will not be able to color inside of it. Y'all could recolor the outline, but nothing that isn't already painted.

You lot're probably thinking that this negates the whole do good of a clipping mask, simply it doesn't. Information technology just adds another step that yous'll accept to keep in mind. Here's how to color in the lines with a clipping mask, step-by-step:

i. Draw your elements.

ii. Use ColorDrop to fill in your element with paint. Choose whichever color makes sense for your piece of fine art.

3. Open up the layers console and create a new layer. Brand sure this layer is right above the layer that contains the elements you want to color.

iv. Click on the new layer to open up its settings.

5. Click on Clipping Mask.

6. Utilize all of your coloring on this new clipping mask layer.

Clipping masks are neat tools to use because they give y'all a lot of liberty. Everything is on a split up layer, which makes your life a LOT easier if you desire to make whatsoever changes.

That said, there is another, more permanent, fashion to color inside the lines. Let's talk about it!

And if y'all're looking for a deep dive into procreate masks, check out my full guide on procreate clipping masks and layer masks.

Color in the Lines with Procreate's Blastoff Lock

Procreate's alpha lock characteristic makes it so that y'all tin just color on the elements on that given layer. Blastoff lock will only allow you to color on pre-existing brush strokes, so information technology'due south important to utilise ColorDrop to employ a colored base to your elements ahead of time.

Similar to the clipping mask, the alpha lock feature only allows yous to color over pre-existing brush strokes. So, we still need to make certain that a base color has already been applied to our shapes. If no color is there, fill it with white, or the same colour every bit your groundwork.

There's likewise a VERY important feature of alpha lock part that differentiates information technology from clipping masks. With alpha lock, your changes are applied directly to your shape. They are Not on a separate layer. This makes your changes more than permanent. Be careful with that!

Let's look at this stride-by-pace:

one. Depict your elements.

2. Employ ColorDrop to fill in your element with paint. Cull whichever color makes sense for your piece of art. This is important. If you don't exercise this, it volition seem similar alpha lock isn't working once you plough it on.

3. Open the layers panel and click on the layer that has the elements yous want to color in on information technology. This volition open the layer settings.

iv. Turn on blastoff lock.

5. Leave alpha lock on for the entirety of your coloring.

Only plow the alpha lock off when you need to color outside of the lines, and plough it back on when y'all do. Echo this procedure for whichever layers you need.

While this is my preferred method, you might discover that y'all need a way to color inside the lines of your elements without filling them in with color beforehand. Is in that location a way to ditch the ColorDrop pace, while still getting the perks of staying within the lines?

Luckily, aye. That said, there's a VERY important difference between these two methods, so be sure to keep reading all the way through.

Colour in the Lines with Procreate's Select Tool

Click on the Select tool in Procreate'southward top toolbar. Brand sure that automatic is selected. Tap inside of the element you want to color. Select your paintbrush, and outset coloring. With your element selected, you won't be immune to color outside of it.

If you don't want to fill your elements with ColorDrop beforehand, this is the manner to color in the lines. Here's how to do it, step-by-step.

1. Make sure the layer that contains the elements you want to colour is selected.

two. Click the select tool in the top toolbar.

iii. Choose automated in the select settings.

iii. Click within of the chemical element you want to color.

iv. Utilise your finger and slide it to the right of your screen to increment the pick threshold. Go as high as you lot tin without information technology flipping over to the background.

Of import note: y'all have to slide your finger within the element you but selected. If you exercise it outside of it, it will create some other selection of what you but touched.

iv. Click the paintbrush and start painting your elements.

5. When yous're done, click the Select tool once more to deselect it.

Simply echo this process for any elements that yous need to color. Even though it's a multistep process for each element you want to colour, it's pretty quick once yous go the hang of information technology.

Alright, so we just talked about two strategies for coloring in the lines. Why would yous option ane over the other?

In that location's a REALLY important difference betwixt these two methods:

The blastoff lock coloring pick will let you color over your outline. The selection coloring option won't. Choose your method based on whether you lot want to colour over your outline or not.

In that location are other reasons why y'all'd want to utilise i or the other, so here'due south a summary:

Alpha Lock Selection

-Yous desire to color over your outlines.

-You already have your elements filled with color, or you don't heed filling them.

-You accept a number of different, separate elements you need to color and you desire to color them all at once without selecting and deselecting them over and over again.

Select Tool Option

-You don't desire to colour over your outlines.

-Your elements aren't filled with color yet, and y'all don't desire to fill up them.

-You have a modest number of elements that you lot need to color.

Depending on what you're creating, it's possible that you'll apply both coloring methods within the same art piece. As you lot can run across, one is more efficient than the other depending on the circumstances and what you're planning to color.

Given technology these days, we don't need to worry near coloring inside of the lines anymore. Simply click a few buttons, and Procreate has it covered for y'all. Have fun experimenting with these coloring techniques and how they can brand your fine art cleaner, crisper, and more than efficient.

Whatever you exercise, brand sure to have fun with Procreate!

Diana has been an artist for over 26 years and has training in drawing, painting, digital drawing and graphic design. Diana's latest obsession is digitally drawing with Procreate and creating t-shirt designs with Canva. Diana has feel selling her art beyond a number of platforms and loves helping other artists learn how to brand money from their art every bit well.

Source: https://adventureswithart.com/color-inside-lines-procreate/

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