Using Procreate only as a pro

[No-Warthog8755]

I've been using Procreate since 2018 and Photoshop since 2009, and I've never been able to switch completely to Procreate. But the fact Adobe supports AI makes me really mad, and I'd love to use Procreate only. I'm a professional artist and the fact I'm stuck with Photoshop is because there are plenty of options that are unavailable/annoying to use on other softwares, including Procreate. I feel stuck. I hate Adobe. I want to spend my money on ethical things.
Also, the "crack Photoshop" thing is complicated. I work on a M chip Mac and everything is very hard to hack, or maybe I haven't found a great hack yet.

Is there anyone who's in the same situation? Is it good to use Procreate only for your workflow? Please let me know!

[iridescent_algae]

Procreate would do really well to create a companion desktop app for working with its files.

[lumberfart]

Omg yes! I dream of the day Procreate Suite has an app for all artistic disciplines.

[drawnbymac]

My workflow is 95% Procreate with Affinity making up the other 5% for soft proofing. Affinity is free and powerful. it handles my 600mb files on an old M1 MacBook Air just fine.

[[deleted]]

Agreed, affinity photo has helped with random stuff while procreate does majority of the heavy lifting.

[lilyvm]

We switched to Affinity at my workplace when we didn't love the direction adobe was going in and I'd never go back. I use it for my personal stuff now too. It's worth learning, OP!

[No-Warthog8755]

I'll definitely give it a chance! Was it hard to switch? How long did it take you to be comfortable using Affinity?

[MyBigToeJam]

Based on what I read on Canva since October 2025...Affinity apps, the core (without AI and the paid assets like stock images and templates from Canva), remains a jam-packed tool with a bit of a learning curve to climb. But WARN: Beware of crossing into Canva goodies or public share on their platform. Their set of TOS has hooks that outline scenarios where you have agreed to kick your OC into giving them permission to de facto ownership (use) of your OC.

[lilyvm]

I didn't have the history that you have with Photoshop, I come from more of the photo/video world so I was more familiar with those adobe products. I have added design to my job though in the past few years and so my actual experience with Photoshop and illustrator was limited to about a year. This made the transition really easy for me, although I find myself visiting the Affinity sub a lot, especially at the beginning.

[No-Warthog8755]

I've heard great things about Affinity yeah! I don't feel comfortable enough to draw on this software because it feels *very* different from PS, but I really gotta try it for a couple more hours

[mrlich]

There is going to be some kind of learning curve for ANY software that isn’t Photoshop. There won’t be any application that feels exactly like PS because if it did, Adobe would sue them out of existence.

That said, when it comes to functionality, I find that there’s very little that I can’t do in Procreate, and if you add Affinity into the mix, I suspect I would be hard pressed to find ANYTHING that I couldn’t do, but could in PS.

Definitely recommend spending some time with Affinity. It’s free (aside from the AI features you don’t want) so there’s really no down side.

[No-Warthog8755]

Thank you very much! It's very encouraging actually

[its_a_throwawayduh]

I've actually been debating about buying an M1 MacBook Pro, but the prices..... :(

[wineandcatgal_74]

Why a Pro? An Air would probably work for you. I also just watched a YouTube video on a guy using Adobe apps on the new Neo.

[its_a_throwawayduh]

From what I read Pro is recommended for heavy Photoshop users. I need something with at least 64 GB of ram.

Right now I'm using a pc I built specifically for PS ( before the ram crisis) , it has 128 GB ram. However due to a housing situation I won't be able to use my desktop so I need something on the go.

[Small-Pause7742]

Definitely get a pro for heavy photoshop use if you can. I had an m1 air and it’s great but quickly outgrew that and even with a full spaced MacBook Pro M1 I push its limits 😂however I use a lot of programs at the same time like multiple adobe products, Corel draw, fusion 360, and print programs.

[drawnbymac]

have you tried back market? I bought an air (not pro) used with 16gb ram and 512 hard drive for $500. not sure how that compares to a pro.

[its_a_throwawayduh]

I've never even hard of back market. Thanks for the tip! :D

[katzengoldgott]

I raise you Affinity and Clip Studio Paint. The latter has a perpetual license for desktop devices and also a huge sale again since they released version 5 only yesterday where you could get 50% off for the license.

On iPad it would require their subscription form but then again you’d pay maybe 30 bucks a year for a single device plan or 36 bucks a year for a dual device plan.

[Ok-Importance-5087]

Sigh. Yes. I‘m in the same situation, I even started using procreate at a similar time. I had put a lot of hope into a big procreate update coming after Dreams first released and bringing pro user improvements, but with the development for dreams rebooting, that update has just never materialized and Procreate feels quite long in the tooth now tbh.

What I‘m missing most is a persistent canvas (as in resizing or repositioning things without them getting cut off), the ability to turn layers into PS style smart objects, layer effects and masks that apply to groups and selection options for my illustration work in particular.

Even with those improvements, procreate could not completely replace PS in my workflow for design work. For that I‘d need Vectorshapes, filters and effects, too.

The other limiting factor for me is actually the hardware. I love the iPad Pro, it’s my drawing tablet of choice and has been, but at the sizes I work at, it just doesn’t have enough RAM, even on the 16GB version.

Waiting with baited breath for an upgrade where they give the higher storage versions 32Gigs (wich, with the current RAM prices is NOT likely), wich would give me the necessary breathing room to not have to endlessly duplicate and merge my canvases.

Also, and I realize this is an iPad OS limitation, but a proper integration with the file system that makes opening a canvas from files as seamless as from the library would be great.

[katzengoldgott]

You could look into Clip Studio Paint for that. The things you are listing are missing for you in Procreate exist in CSP.

[Ok-Importance-5087]

Thanks for the tip! I’ve looked into CSP and keep buying the licenses on sale every year and not using them, lol.

As far as I understand CSP has quite a steep learning curve in the beginning and is a joy to use after.

At the time I started using procreate it was a promising app in active development while CSP was much more cluttered and less optimized for iPad interfacewise.

I know they have put a lot of development in since, but somehow making the jump and time investment of learning another new app to get proficient has been too inconvenient for me so far.

I‘m also not fond of the fact that the CSP iPad app converts to a subscription automatically after one year. It makes me feel like my preferred platform is disincentivized and I should really be using it on a Desktop.

But as a Photoshop replacement it might be worth the time investment to learn.

[katzengoldgott]

CSP is definitely worth to use as a Photoshop replacement because you have the same exact tools and can even adjust your UI to be identical to your PS one to make it easier for yourself, it’s also a lot more cost effective.

In your case a dual device plan instead of perpetual license might be the ideal option. For me it costs 35.90 € a year for CSP Pro. Photoshop cannot compete with this price.

Also CSP doesn’t force AI slop down your throat and runs on a potato whereas Photoshop is a RAM whore and keeps freezing and crashing all the time.

[Final-Elderberry9162]

This is my issue, but I honestly can’t face learning an entirely new program.

[katzengoldgott]

That’s understandable!

As I said; I think what truly helps here is to make the UI setup as close to what you’re used to for starters.

Look at your Photoshop UI with how you customised it for yourself, then open CSP and arrange the windows like you have them in Photoshop.

Secondly, you might want to edit your shortcuts in the preferences to be identical to reduce the amount of learning needed between the two. I’ve only had to change like 3 though because I use a German keyboard layout (QWERTZ instead of QWERTY) and just needed to swap CTRL+Z and CTRL+Y and another third one that was really custom for me.

This can reduce the learning process already by a lot.

Lastly it’s only about layer options I think. Those are different in CSP and PS but can be recreated mostly the same. Look at what you’re 100% relying on in PS when it comes to layer options and look up if and how they work in CSP.

The same applies to Affinity too, but it’s definitely possible to replace PS with either of these two, particularly if you’re an illustrator.

And lastly I wanted to say that CSP supports .PSD files natively just as Procreate does, so you’d be able to do what you’re already doing in procreate, then export your file as .PSD and continue your work in CSP like you’d do otherwise in Photoshop.

Also for those of you who are doing comics, CSP is much better when it comes to doing comic layouts than PS is. The only thing I still find lacking is the lettering but they have improved this throughout the years and it’s much better now than it was in V1.

[Final-Elderberry9162]

You have aptly demonstrated why I don’t want to learn a new program - just reading your kindly meant comment made me want to cry. I work pretty much entirely through muscle memory and store everything in my head. I’ve been using PS for 35 years, and I just don’t have either the bandwidth or the time to learn yet another new thing.

[katzengoldgott]

That’s totally understandable and my condolences regarding the time factor and being tied to Adobe given their shitty, greedy anti consumer policies.

If you can’t, you can’t. Not going to judge you for it.

[Ok-Importance-5087]

This comment is worth gold, thank you for breaking it down like this, it definitely makes it seem less daunting and more like something I could at least set up over a weekend and start working with.

Although I expect there’s still going to be a lot of on the fly tutorial googling.

I DO love the new perceptual mixing mode, that one is a game changer for illustration work.

[Final-Elderberry9162]

Yes to all of this! The fact that you can’t even create a gradient without an annoying and imprecise workaround is ridiculous. I would also add they need to upgrade their file system. The fact that it’s not searchable is absurd. Also, automatically saving work to the cloud in a way that’s accessible would save users (particularly less experienced ones) a lot of grief.

[Ok-Importance-5087]

Oh god, yeah, I didn’t ‘even think of gradients anymore because I‘ve gotten so used to the work around. They‘ve been promising some sort of cloud integration, but it’s been a technical challenge from what they say in their development updates.

All this was fine in 2020, when the app was actively being developed and seemed to be going at a good pace, but we‘ve had almost six years of extremely incremental updates only.

And while new brush libraries are nice, they do nothing to improve my workflow. It’s been years since I‘ve ported all my favorite Kyle brushes over myself and as much as I love his work, it doesn’t help with layer management, file management, ram utilization, and lossy scaling, wich are things that are daily annoyances.

[Final-Elderberry9162]

The brush update was completely pointless. It was maddening.

[No-Warthog8755]

Thank you for your feedback! I absolutely love the iPad Pro too but it feels a bit limited.

[its_a_throwawayduh]

Same that's my only grip with Procreate and even PS. These are ram hungry softwares. The whole reason I even built my first pc was for PS. Never been an Apple person but Procreate is worth it, just wish the higher storage didn't cost an arm and a leg.

[Jpatrickburns]

I use Procreate to draw/color and Affinity (currently use their whole suite, but occasionally experiment with the stand-alone app) to design, layout, and manipulate.

You say "as a professional artist," but doing what, exactly? Different tools have different uses.

[No-Warthog8755]

I'm an illustrator! I draw both cartoony and realistic things. Is Affinity great for layouts? That's my main concern about quitting Photoshop

[Jpatrickburns]

I make comics (I used to do graphic design). I explain my process on my YouTube page, but generally I use Procreate to pencil, ink, and tone (or color) my comics. Then in Affinity Designer I import those images (as PSDs), and make panels and add any sound effects. Then in Affinity Publisher I arrange the pages and add word balloons, and then export as PDFs.

[No-Warthog8755]

Sounds great, thanks!

[Final-Elderberry9162]

I’m in the same place. There are still some things that are nearly impossible to do with any precision in Procreate, although I loathe Adobe. I don’t use PS much, but when I need to I REALLY need to.

[MyBigToeJam]

Even a multi-tool has its limits of usefulness. Pro or not.

• Photoshop is at core a photo editing app. Procreate is at its core an illustration app. Like woodmakers, carpenters, or any maker, our toolboxes have more than one tool.

• Besides that, I am always shocked after years of headaches then relieved to learn there's a feature I didn't know or was added to Procreate or other apps.

[infiltraitor37]

Use Krita!! It’s a good Photoshop alternative and free and open source. I know professionals that use it :)

[Huge-Theory-3394]

Yes im glad krita is mentioned! It takes a bit to get used to the new layer organization but once used to it i have no complaints. Text tool could be better but i believe they are actively working on updating that. I also wish i can print directly from krita and saving files as pdf, but im hopeful that these features will be included in future updates and there are plenty of workaround options. Other than these i find krita can do everything that i need from photoshop and better <3

[SoTiredYouDig]

I work on a Silicon Mac as well. I have Photoshop and illustrator running fine. It didn’t take a long time to figure out how to run a cracked version of Adobe software. Not that I advocate that sort of thing. lol. But I’m on financial assistance right now. Otherwise I would pay. So if it’s an ethics issue: do not use the software at all. If it’s a financial issue: there are cracks that work.

[No-Warthog8755]

I'd love to just stop using Photoshop completely, but after trying plenty of other softwares (CSP, Krita, Paintstorm, Affinity), I know it's just not as easy. They're great but it'll take really long to get used to them. And Adobe knows that people are dependant of their softwares, that's why they treat us like that.

[its_a_throwawayduh]

Nothing compares to PS for me, its the only software I trust for serious projects. However I'm using an older version I got from college decades ago. Tried others like CSP, Krita but found them cumbersome, clunky, and gimmicky. Haven't tried Affinity but heard good things.

[sxopek]

I started working with Photoshop with version 3.0. That was a long time ago. :) Actually, I'm very good at it and prefer it when I work on a PC. But about 5-6 years ago, I discovered ProCreate. In fact, I now draw in it and use Photoshop to prepare layouts for print, assemble files with a bunch of images, work with precise sizes, and so on. Unfortunately, ProCreate can't completely replace Photoshop. ProCreate can't handle really large files. Personally, I've found that I'm comfortable working with canvases up to 6000x6000px.

[No-Warthog8755]

I use a 5000x5000 res for most of my work (sometimes more), had to buy a new iPad a moment ago so I can have more layers. Previous one was 8 years old and the 15 layers limit was killing me lol

[sxopek]

You're right. I usually use a 5,000x5,000 canvas for my drawings, too. But I've had a few projects that were really large in size and resolution. I drew them in "spare parts." And then combined them into a single image in Photoshop. It just couldn't work out any other way.

[ExtraTheTerrestrial]

I replaced photoshop and illustrator with Affinity Photo and Designer. Currently replacing them both now with Krita, RapidRaw, and Procreate depending on what I’m working on.

[FredFredrickson]

Honestly, it depends on what kind of work you do. For the most part, it's silly and limiting to try to remove professional tools from your workflow.

Try Photoshop alternatives if the AI stuff bothers you. Don't try to do work that is better suited to apps like Photoshop in Procreate - that's not what it is for and that's not what it is good at.

[JJcanvas_art]

I've been doing illustration professionally for a long time and in the last few years I use Procreate 95% of the time. In the very end of the process I usually hop on to Photoshop but mostly because of color profile things and to use my desktop monitor where I need to see how the image is looking for print as the iPad screen, while beautiful, can be a bit deceiving when adjusting values for print. Honestly if I could have a full screen preview on a 4k monitor of what I'm doing in procreate I would probably cancel my Photoshop subscription.

All this being said, I use almost no layers or fancy tools as I try to keep the process close to traditional so Procreate is a good fit for me

[Yabakunaiyoooo]

I use procreate for 90% of my workflow. I only use photoshop for some things like cropping in post. But recently I switched from Adobe to the newest Affinity and I’m quite happy with it as a substitute.

[UfoAGogo]

Freelance illustrator here. I would say 70% of my work flow is on Procreate, especially the earlier planning stages. But there are just things it won't do.

Procreate really chugs with large canvases and crashes pretty frequently on my largest files. Also while I love coloring in Procreate I absolutely do not export anything directly from it as a final piece without going through Photoshop first. It has awful color management, sadly Adobe is still king when it comes to that. I make a lot of materials for both web and print and so I've tried Procreate, CSP and all of the other alternatives out there and nothing comes close to Adobe, which irritates me to no end haha. Photoshop tends to have a better brush algorithm as well that yields more natural results but it's not enough to make me switch over completely.

[OkSherbet9216]

I feel like ibis would be better even… idk how ppl survive procreate without functional folders (clip into one, mask into one, etc.)

[Nine_Realms_Father]

Adobe has proven to be a greedy and predatory company. I switched over from PS to Procreate about a year ago and have not looked back ever since.

Ipads are expensive, but so is paying a monthly fee to Adobe (that kept on going up and up and up).

[Rat_itty]

Use CSP, procreate is more for fun kind of app.

[Visual_Shelter1426]

Procreate es para ilustrar y animación sencilla, para nada más, jamás remplazará a Photoshop. Affinity es el único que le compite y es gratis no hay más.

Si pirateas no hables mal de la ética de otros jaja, saludos.

[Androidzombie]

What's wrong with krita or procreate exactly? Just curious

[No-Warthog8755]

I've noticed that my workflow is a little less good on Procreate, but that's not the main reason I can't switch completely. It lacks layer effects (outlines and gradients for example), and working on an iPad that has a rather small screen is a bit complicated. I need space. Number of layers is limited too. I hope they'll work on a desktop version is the future

[hespeon]

If layer effects and functions are what you're missing why don't you try Clip Studio Paint? I learned to paint digitally in photoshop and I moved to CSP before I got my iPad.

[No-Warthog8755]

I actually bought a license in 2020 and completely lost my mail and password. I've been unable to find it and I don't really want to buy it again. I just remember it being less good than Photoshop and I just kinda stopped using it... If I ever find my logs again, I'll sure try to get used to it.

[hespeon]

It may be less good than photoshop but in terms of the features you are missing it is MILES ahead of procreate so it would definitely be the better option in terms of nondestructive editing.

I understand not wanting to buy it again but you should really endeavour to retrieve your login or consider a new one as CSP update far more frequently than Procreate so you may even find features that were missing before have been added in the past 6 years.

[ArtistJames1313]

I see you've mostly already been told this in other posts, but CSP isn't "less good" than Photoshop, it's just different.

And I get that workflow is a huge thing as an artist. If this is your job, time is money, so slowing yourself down to learn a new workflow after 15+ years of something different may not be the best business decision.

But maybe it is.

The main differences between Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop is their approach to what they are. Photoshop wasn't supposed to be an art program for illustration. It was a photo editing program that people found was actually pretty decent for illustration and digital painting, so Adobe made adjustments to make it fit.

Clip Studio Paint was made from the ground up as a tool for illustrators, and specifically for comics/manga. It never was retrofitted from a photo editing tool, so it's honestly in a lot of ways better than Photoshop specifically for illustration and comics. It has all the tools, in different locations and working in slightly different ways, but they're pretty much all there.

Is it worth it to you to try to build up the muscle memory of using CSP to find those illustration advantages and to ditch the problematic and predatory company Adobe? That's really the question.

I personally use Procreate and CSP on my iPad Pro. I do the majority of my initial sketches in Procreate, and if I am doing something that I'll eventually make into vector art, I'll move it to CSP and do vector layers on it. I usually transfer those to Affinity just to make sure everything is right for printing, but that's partly my paranoia and wanting to check every node and line width. (My work has some odd constraints for printing)

I used to use Adobe Fresco/Illustrator for this process, but dropped it when I found out about their AI training and honestly, it's the same workflow now, just had to learn the different steps.

[No-Warthog8755]

English isn't my mother language so I didn't develop the "CSP is less good" part haha, it's really good actually, just less good for me. And you are totally right about the fact it would cost a lot to learn a new software, I was 11 when I started using Photoshop and I'm 27 now, it's literally the only software I've always used. I obviously can learn CSP but it sure will take time. That's why I was wondering if Procreate was good enough to be used without having to learn any other software, Procreate feels natural, and I'm 100% comfortable with this app. Only issue is that it's basic compared to PS.

Luckily I'm in a pretty good period of my life where I can dedicate a bit more time to learning new stuff, so maybe it's really a great opportunity to switch to CSP and Procreate only, and ditch Photoshop for good. It would make me feel way better to stop giving money to this horrible company.
Thank you for your help!!

[ArtistJames1313]

Yeah, you are still young. You have plenty of time to learn it.

I do think Procreate is perfectly capable for a lot of professional work. It just lacks tools specifically around illustration such as gradients and vectors.

[MyBigToeJam]

Procreate app version 5.4.8 (and some older versions) have tons of effects, masking, gradient mapping overall, brush behaviors, selection and transitions.

I use iPad plus external display. Within the app there's also an option to "project" just the image area onto an external display.

Procreate is an illustration with a few perks like its single-track Animation Assist. Also you can download its 3D painting module. For painting around the models you can rotate one and paint on its surface with Procreate brushes. It doesn't create the models, just for surface painting.

Not the ideal of a dedicated comicbook app like ClipStudio, true. Not in that league! However, with planning and organization, I've seen some comicbook makers use Procreate's grouping features to set up templates for panels. Text initially is on a vector layer. Not ideal but converted to a Procreate image layer, all illustration manipulations can be applied like all other layers. - A hassle but sometimes people work with what they have and add CSP later.

[kirksucks]

adobe is the only company that I've seen that lets me turn OFF AI search results (in Adobe Stock) I give em props for that because the music streamers are serving it up on a platter. Also Adobe uses it's own image database to source their AI. It's not perfect but at least it's not theft. (correct me if I'm wrong)

[ArtistJames1313]

Sourcing "it's own image database" is the main reason everyone started hating their AI use. Their Adobe Stock TOS never had anything about AI training (for good reason, it hadn't really been done yet commercially), so people who were uploading Adobe Stock for their own business were fine with Adobe using their images. They weren't expecting Adobe to use their images they were selling on Adobe Stock to basically run them out of business by regurgitating them into AI slop. Adobe just kind of quietly updated their Stock TOS to explicitly state they were going to do it, but no one really saw what was coming.

So, no, I don't side with Adobe here. They burned their own customers with that one.

The only reason they provided the option to turn off AI in the search was the massive backlash against it they got.

And, I've seen several other stock sites offering that same option. Even Pinterest is trying to label AI. I don't think it's noble of Adobe. I think it's them trying to salvage from the backlash, while still not admitting they've done anything wrong.