Saturday 22nd of August 2020
How to Copy Layers to a New Canvas
Procreate is one of the greatest apps for digital drawing. And while most of the features and tools are pretty intuitive and easy to understand, others might take some time to figure out.
In this tutorial, we will go over one of the least obvious gestures in Procreate – how to copy already existing layers and add them to a new canvas in Procreate.
Step-by-step process
1. Create a new canvas
The first thing you would need to do is create a new canvas – to make sure that you have a canvas to bring your copied layers to. Or if you have an existing canvas where you would like to move the layers to – that is totally fine, and then you can skip this step.
2. Select the layers you want to copy
Now, go to the canvas with the layers you want to move and open the Layer menu. Select as many layers as you wish – there is no limit on how many layers you can copy and move at once.
Also, note that the layers you copied and moved won’t be deleted from the original canvas.
3. Move copied layers out of the Layer panel.
Now, when we select all the layers we want to move, you would need to press on one of the selected layers with your pointer finger. You will notice that the selected layers will pop out of the Layers panel. Now, drag them out of the Layer panel. DON’T LET GO AND KEEP HOLDING YOUR LAYERS.
So, still holding down the layers you selected, tap Gallery in the upper left corner with another finger.
4. Place layers in the new canvas
Remember to keep holding down the layers. And when you are in the Gallery, tap on the canvas you want to move the layers to open it.
Once the new canvas is open, tap on the Layers panel to open it, and then drop the copied layers in the panel.
5. Make the edits
Now, when you move the layers from another canvas to the new one, you can go ahead and make any necessary edits. Work with the copied layers just like with any other layers.
Conclusion
I truly that being able to move the existing layers between different canvases is one of the greatest Procreate features. It lets you be creative and combine different illustrations and art elements into something new. Plus it saves so much time.
I hope you liked this tutorial, and if you did, please consider checking out my other Procreate tutorials and subscribing to Procreate Member Area, where you will find the biggest Procreate Resources Library.
Why Transfer Your Drawing?
Having a traced design of your drawing (on canvas) before you start painting serves as a guideline of where your colors should go and what your shapes should look like.
That way you can focus on the painting part- without worrying if your proportions of your subject are too big or too small.
This makes painting process less stressful and more enjoyable – especially for beginners.
And you won’t be any less of an artist- even experienced artist use these methods!
Let’s look at the most popular and fastest method first…
Full Length Step-by Step Video Tutorial on YouTube
Click the image below for the full video tutorial
You can get an inexpensive pack of transfer paper and use a sheet between your paper sketch and canvas (or wood) to etch in your design.
This is the quickest method, that doesn’t require prepping your paper. It also provides the sharpest transfer.
Instructions
1.Place the transfer paper onto canvas (or wood)
2. Put your paper sketch (or printable stencil) on top of the transfer paper
3. Using sharpened pencil (or mechanical pencil) trace over your paper design.
4.Lift away the tracing paper and printable stencil and yours canvas should now have an outline of your drawing
5. Paint / color / fill in as desired.
Method 2: Transfer A Drawing Without Transfer Paper (pencil method)
This method requires a simple unleaded pencil (which you probably have at home). This method works similarly to the tracing paper method above, but it requires prepping your paper before hand.
Check out the step by step instructions below.
