Procreate Organisation Tips to Speed Up Your Workflow

1. Intro: Whether you're a surface pattern designer, graphic designer, illustrator, or artist. If you use procreate, and you're looking for ways to speed up your workflow, this might just be the class for you. Hi, I'm Chelsea. As a surface pattern designer and creative entrepreneur, I am a huge fan of simplifying my life in any way that I can. Have you ever heard the idea that small, 1% improvements can really compound to create huge results over time? Shaving a few seconds off your processes here and there might not seem like a lot in the moment, but even small, simple changes can really add up and save you a whole heap of time and energy in the long run. In this class, I'm excited to share with you my very best tips to help you organize, optimize, and streamline your procreate workflow, to set yourself up for future success. Be covering three main areas. Canvases, how to organize them for efficiency and how to create your own custom templates, brushes, how to customize and organize them to quickly access all of your favorite settings, and color palettes. How to decluter your color palettes, to save yourself time, and feel more inspired. Of course, there's no one size fits all approach to creativity. So whether you're a procreate beginner or an experienced user, my hope is that you'll be able to take away the tips and strategies that resonate with you the most and implement them into your own creative workflow in whatever way feels the best for you. So, if you're ready to optimize your appropriate workflow so that you can spend less time setting up and searching and more time actually creating artwork, go ahead and grab your iPad, and I'll see you in class. 2. Name Your Canvases: Let's dive right in. Tip number one is to name and organize your preset canvases as you create them. I know this is a super simple tip and you might be thinking that it couldn't possibly make that much of a difference. However, taking an extra few seconds to name a new Canvas as you create it will save you both time and brain space whenever you want to use that preset. It's a hell of a lot faster to find a canvas that you've intentionally named, than it is to sift through a long list of untitled canvasses, always trying to remember the right dimensions. Here's how you do it. To name a brand new Canvas. All you have to do is click where it says titled Canvas and type a new name before you hit Create. Then when you go back to the plus again to add a new Canvas, you'll see that your new Canvass is at the bottom of the list. If you want to rename an existing preset Canvas, you just swipe to the left, click, edit, tap where it says Untitled Canvas, give it a new name and click save. You can also rearrange the order of your Canvas list by simply clicking and dragging on a canvas to move it around. I would recommend moving your most used Canvas presets to the top for easy access, and then maybe grouping similar or related canvasses together so that they're easy to find. Now it's your turn. Take the time to go through your list of preset canvasses one by one. If you know what the canvass is for and you want to keep it, swap to the left, click edit, and give it a name. If you have no idea what the canvass is for, chances are you're probably never going to use that size again. Swap to the left and delete it instead. Arrange your list of preset canvasses in an order that's going to be the most efficient for you. Starting right now, get in the habit of naming and organizing your preset canvasses as you create them. I'm pretty sure future you is going to thank you for it. Join me in the next lesson for Tip number two. 3. Create Custom Templates: Tip number two is to create your own custom Canvas templates. This one is my absolute favorite workflow tip. Creating your own custom templates will speed up your workflow by allowing you to cut out all of the repetitive steps that you would normally take to set up a canvass before you can even start creating. You can just go through the process once and then save your canvas as a template so that you don't have to repeat the steps over and over again. Here's how you do it. Create a new canvas in whatever size you want your template to be. And then think about the first steps that you would usually take as soon as you open your canvas. Is there anything that you would normally have to do before you can actually start creating? For example, maybe you always like to turn on the drawing guide, or maybe you like to start with a pink background color every time. Whatever it is, carry out the steps that you would usually take to set up your canvas and then pause. I'm going to set up the radiosymmetry tool because I often like to use that to help me create my floral motifs. Once you've got your Canvas set up to the point where you're actually ready to start creating your artwork, click on gallery to head back out to the Procreate gallery. Tap where it says Untitled artwork and give your Canvas a name that's going to make sense to you. It's probably pretty obvious, but I'll say it anyway. I would definitely recommend including the word template somewhere in your title. Click done, and there you have your first custom template. Now, the next time you want to create a project using those settings. All you need to do is swipe to the left and duplicate the canvas. Before you open up the copy, I would recommend that you just quickly rename it. I tend to just get rid of the word template to save myself from confusion later on. Then you can open it up and it's all set up and ready to go so that you can get straight into creating without having to waste time setting up your canvas again. The beauty about this process is that you can create as many custom templates as you like to suit your own unique workflows. If you do end up creating multiple templates, I would recommend saving them all in a stack that you can keep right at the top of your procreate gallery for easy access. A final note is that you can also update your template anytime you like by simply going back into the template, making whatever changes you want, and then going back out to the gallery again. Then the next time you'll duplicate your template, you'll be opening up the updated version. Now it's your turn. Go ahead and experiment with setting up a template that fits in with your own workflow and then test it out to see how much time it saves you. You might not notice the difference so much with just one single use, but remember that the time you save will compound each and every time you use that template. Join me in the next lesson for Tip number three. 4. Organise Your Brushes: Number three is to group together your favorite brushes by adding them into a custom brush set at the very top of your brush library. Keeping all your favorites together like this, will save you from having to search through your entire brush library, each and every time you want to find one of your most used brushes. Here's how you do it. Scroll to the very top of your brush library, and click on the Blue plus to create a new brush set. Give it a name and then hit return. Then go ahead and locate one of your favorite brushes. I'm going to find the monoline brush from the calligraphy section. Now, I personally like to keep the original brush in its original set, just as a backup brush in case I ever need it. Instead of moving the original brush, I'm going to swipe to the left and duplicate it, and then move the copy of my brush into my new set by clicking and dragging it up, and then hovering it over the new set until it flashes and opens. Then I can just drop it right in. Then I'll just go back and repeat that exact same process for any of my other favorite brushes that I want to add to new set. Now it's your turn. Create a new brush set and then go through your brush library and add copies of all your favorite brushes to your new set, and then join me in the next lesson for TIP number four. 5. Save Brush Settings: Tip number four is to save multiple different settings of your favorite brushes. If you ever find yourself constantly going into one of your brushes to adjust the settings back and forth. You might be better off saving multiple different versions of that brush instead. As an example, I like to create my artwork using a mix of some really rough hand drawn looking lines and then some other really smooth looking lines. I used to have to go into my brush settings and adjust the amount of stream line for my brush every time I wanted to change between the two different styles. But then I realized I could just save two different versions of that same brush instead and skip having to go into the settings altogether. Here's how you do it. Click into one of your brushes and adjust the settings however you like. I'm going to bring the stream line right up high for this one. Once you've got the settings, how you want them, come down to the bottom to about this brush section. Click in here to rename your brush. I'm just going to add the word smooth to mine so that I know that this is the brush I want to use when I want to make smooth lines. Click done and done, and you'll be back out into your brush library. Now, make a copy of your brush by swiping to the left and clicking duplicate, and then go into the new brush settings and make whatever adjustment you like. I'm going to drag the stream line way down the other end for this one. Head back to the about this brush section and rename this brush so that it makes sense for these settings. I'm going to write the word natural instead of smooth. Click De and done. Then you can click and drag to rearrange the brushes, however you like. And now, whenever I want to change between the two different brush settings, all I need to do is click onto the other brush, instead of having to go back into the settings and play around with the slider again. Now it's your turn. Go ahead and make a duplicate copy of one of your favorite brushes. Adjust the settings, and then rename the brushes to something that makes sense for you. Then join me in the next lesson for Tip number five. 6. Save Brush Sizes: TIP number five is to save preset sizes for your favorite brushes. If you have a couple of common sizes that you like to use for a certain brush, you can save up to four sizes as presets so that you can jump super quickly between the sizes instead of having to menually adjust the size slider each time. Here's how you do it. Pick one of your brushes and then set the slider to the size that you would like to save. Click once right on top of the slider, and then click on the Little plus icon. You'll see this little line marker appear, which means that your size has now been saved. Now, if you adjust the slider and then want to go back to your saved size, all you have to do is click on the little marker, and it will jump straight back into that exact size. You can save up to four different sizes for every single brush. If you want to remove one of the sizes, you just click on the little marker, click again to bring out the box, and then click on the minus symbol, and that size will be removed. Saving your sizes also has the added benefit of keeping your work more consistent because you'll be able to know that you're using the exact same size across your artwork. Instead of running the risk of being off by a percentage compared to if you were manually moving the slider and trying to eyeball it each time to find the right size. Now it's your turn. Go ahead and add a preset size to one of your favorite brushes, and then join me in the next lesson for Tip number six. 7. Organise Your Colour Palettes: Number six is to declutter and organize your color palettes. If you've got a whole heap of color palettes that you're no longer using. Chances are you're wasting a whole lot of time scrolling through, trying to find the palette that you actually want to use. If you're anything like me, you might also find it pretty overwhelming rather than inspiring. If you're always having to pick through a bunch of colors that you're no longer using. If this resonates with you, it might be time to declatter your color palettes. Here's how you do it. Go through all of your color palettes one by one and delete any palettes that you no longer want or need. To delete a palette, you just click on the three dots, and then click Delete. If you're worried about deleting a color palette in case you might want to use it again in the future. You could always back it up before deleting it by clicking on the three dots and then clicking share. This will export it as a Procreate palette file that you can save wherever you want and then import back into Procreate later if you need it. Keep in mind that the file will export as whatever it is named in Procreate. You'll probably want to make sure that your palette has a name before you export it. Otherwise, you'll just export it as an untitled color palette. To rename a color palette, you just click on the name, type a new name, and then click done. Once you've been through all of your color palettes and you're left with only the ones that you want to keep, you can click and drag to reorder them in whatever way that's going to be the most efficient for you. For example, maybe you want to drag your most used color palette up to the very top. Now it's your turn. Take some time to declutter and organize your own color palettes. B them up if you like, delete what you don't need, and then rearrange the ones that are left into an order that's going to work the best for you. See how much of a difference it can make to your own workflow when you're only seeing the colors that really inspire you, instead of scrolling through a sea of unused colors. Join me in the final lesson where we'll talk about the class project and the next steps. 8. Project and Next Steps: So there you go. Six simple ways that you can optimize your Ptate setup to help speed up and streamline your creative workflow. I've created a checklist that you can download from the class resources section. You can use it as a reference to give you a quick overview of each tip that we covered in the class. We talked about naming and organizing your canvasses, creating custom templates, organizing your favorite brushes, saving your favorite brush settings, saving your favorite sizes as presets, and decluttering and organizing your color palettes. Your project for this class is simply to implement at least one of the tips that resonates with you the most and then create any new piece of artwork using your new and improved workflow. Upload an image of your finished artwork into the project gallery and write a brief description to let us know which tips you applied and what sort of impact it has had on your creative process. I can't wait to hear your thoughts and see what you create. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via the class discussion board. I read the questions regularly and I'd love to be able to help. If you enjoyed this class, it would be really amazing if you could take a moment to leave a quick review. And if you'd like to learn more from me, you can visit my profile page to see all my other classes. Thanks so much for joining me. Happy creating. 9. Looking for more?: Hi, everyone. I'm super excited to announce that I'm now offering one on one sessions ia Skillshare. If you've been enjoying my classes and want to dive even deeper into Surface Pattern Design in Procreate, this is your chance to get some personalized one on one guidance. These sessions will be all about helping you grow and elevate your pattern design skills within Procreate. If you're ready to take your creative journey to the next level, I'd love to work with you. You can find all the specific details and book your session via the link below or through my skill share profile. I hope to work with you soon.