Hi guys, I’m back today to talk about something that helps speed up my workflow on iPad: gestures! Here’s a partial list of my go-to gestures in Procreate that I find helpful, plus a bonus iPad OS gesture.

  • 2-finger tap on the canvas to Undo. This is a default gesture in the app and indispensable. Definitely my most frequently used gesture.
  • 3-finger tap on canvas to Redo.
  • Pinch to merge layers
Pinch to merge layers

Don’t forget to look at your preferences and set up custom gestures. Here are a few custom shortcuts I’ve chosen. Go to Actions (wrench icon) > Prefs > Gesture Controls. Find what works for you!

Open Gesture controls in Procreate
  • Draw and Hold under QuickShape can be very useful to me when I want to create a perfect geometric shape. You can set the delay on this gesture to your liking. I discussed a little more about making QuickShapes here .
  • Clear Layer with Four-finger tap. This is handy when something goes awry on my layer. Which is frequent!
  • Three-finger swipe down for the Copy and Paste Menu
A custom gesture – three-finger down swipe for Copy & Paste menu
  • Touch and hold on the canvas to open QuickMenu. I can quickly touch and swipe one direction for a specific task.
QuickMenu in Procreate
  • Make your QuickMenu action buttons match frequently-used tasks. I have one set to Previous Color, so when I’m masking, I can quickly switch between black and white. To change any QuickMenu item, long-tap on one of the buttons, and select from a wide variety of actions on all six buttons.
Edit QuickMenu items in Procreate

Adding a shortcut to a brush has been useful to me on QuickMenu. If you frequently use one brush during portions of your workflow (like a good masking brush), this is handy. When a brush is set as a menu item, tap and hold, and you can navigate to your other brushes.

Setting brushes in QuickMenu
  • Finally, an iPad OS gesture that I use: swipe up for Floating Apps / Slideover. I find it a little easier to browse images in Files this way when I don’t know exactly what element I want. To invoke, swipe up a tad from the bottom of the iPad. Look for the little gray tab with a wide arrow. Swipe that up to reveal the menu bar (where I have the Files app docked). Drag the Files icon to the right of the Procreate screen. From there, browse and drag-and-drop. When you’re done, swipe to move it off the screen (in this screenshot below, where the floating app is on the right, swipe right).
Using Floating Apps and Slide Over on iPad
by Ann Morton, using the Happier bundle by Lara’s Digi World

I created this layout with Lara’s Digi World Happier bundle.

Happier by Lara’s Digi World

Do you have favorite gestures or custom gestures you’ve set up? Let me know in the comments. I’m always curious about other workflows.