Quick overview
The Procreate gestures worth learning first
You do not need every shortcut on day one. Start with the gestures that solve a problem you hit while drawing, then add the rest when they become useful.
I use undo, canvas movement, and QuickShape constantly. The layer gestures took longer to stick because several of them look almost the same until you connect each motion to a specific job. This guide keeps the useful ones together so you can learn a few now and return when another shortcut would actually help.
Keep this nearby
Procreate gesture cheat sheet
A compact reference for the gestures covered below.
- Two-finger tap
- Undo. Hold to step backward through several actions.
- Three-finger tap
- Redo. Hold to move forward through several undone actions.
- Pinch and twist
- Zoom, move, and rotate the canvas view.
- Quick pinch
- Fit the artwork on screen and reset the canvas rotation.
- Four-finger tap
- Hide or restore the interface.
- Three-finger swipe down
- Open Cut, Copy, and Paste.
- Two-finger swipe right on a layer
- Toggle Alpha Lock.
- Two-finger tap on a layer
- Open the on-canvas opacity control.
- Draw and hold
- Activate QuickShape for a line or recognized shape.
1. Undo and redo without opening a menu
Tap the canvas with two fingers to undo and three fingers to redo. Hold either gesture to move through several actions. Procreate can cycle through up to 250 recent changes, so the hold gesture is useful when one mark turned into a longer detour.
A three-finger scrub clears the active layer. That is fast when you mean to do it and a surprise when you do not. If it happens by accident, use a two-finger tap to undo it.
2. Move, rotate, and reset the canvas view
Pinch to zoom, twist while pinching to rotate, and drag with two fingers to move around the canvas. A quick pinch fits the artwork back on screen and resets the rotation.
These gestures change your view, not the artwork. If you need to move, resize, or rotate part of the drawing itself, use the Selection and Transform tools.
3. Hide or restore the interface
Tap with four fingers to hide the interface and give the canvas the whole screen. Tap again to bring the controls back. If you lose track of the shortcut, tap the Full Screen indicator in the top-left corner to restore the interface.
4. Make precise size and opacity changes
Touch the size or opacity slider and keep your finger down. Pull sideways away from the slider, then move up or down to make the adjustment. The farther your finger is from the slider, the finer the control becomes.
This is most useful when the normal slider feels too jumpy. I use it for small brush-size and opacity changes where a tiny movement would otherwise overshoot the setting I want.
5. Use layer and selection gestures
In the Layers panel, swipe left on a layer to reveal Lock, Duplicate, and Delete. Swipe right to select several layers. Tap a layer with two fingers, then slide on the canvas to adjust its opacity. Swipe right across a layer with two fingers to toggle Alpha Lock, or hold it with two fingers to select its painted contents.
If you need more than a quick layer selection, the Procreate Selection and Transform guide covers the full selection and editing workflow.
6. Open Cut, Copy, and Paste
Swipe down with three fingers anywhere on the canvas to open the Cut, Copy, and Paste menu. The gesture brings the commands to your hand instead of making you leave the canvas to look for them.
Make a selection first when you only want part of a layer. Copy and Paste duplicates the selected artwork onto a new layer without deleting the source. Cut copies the selected pixels and removes them from the original layer.
7. Finish shapes and use supported Pencil shortcuts
Draw a line or shape and hold at the end of the stroke. Procreate straightens the line or snaps the mark to the closest recognized shape. Keep holding and touch the canvas with a second finger when you want the constrained version, such as a circle instead of an ellipse.
Apple Pencil double tap, squeeze, and hover depend on your Pencil and iPad. I treat them as optional controls, not gestures everyone needs to memorize. If your hardware supports them, double tap can swap tools, squeeze can open a shortcut menu, and hover can preview or adjust supported brush behavior.
How to Make the Gestures Stick
Do not try to memorize the whole list at once. Start with undo, redo, pinch and rotate, quick pinch reset, and QuickShape. Each one solves a problem you will hit repeatedly, so the shortcut starts to feel attached to the drawing rather than to a study guide.
Once those are automatic, add layer opacity, Alpha Lock, selection, copy and paste, and supported Apple Pencil controls. The point is not to collect clever gestures. It is to remove small interruptions and keep your attention on the artwork. For a broader starting path, use the learn Procreate fast guide to choose what to practice next.
Download the Procreate Gesture Cheat Sheet
A one-page illustrated reference for the gestures and shortcuts covered above.
Recommended Procreate Gesture Control Changes
Open Actions → Prefs → Gesture Controls to make these changes.
Sample colors with your finger: Open Eyedropper, enable Touch and Hold, then set the delay. You can then press and hold the canvas with your finger to sample a color.
Use the Modify button for QuickShape: Open QuickShape and enable Tap Modify Button. This lets the on-screen Modify button trigger QuickShape without making you hold down the Apple Pencil at the end of every stroke.
Keep touch for gestures instead of drawing: Open General and turn on Disable Touch Actions. Your Apple Pencil stays responsible for drawing while your fingers remain available for gestures and shortcuts.
Keep learning Procreate
The quick video is a broader tour of Procreate. The two lessons after it show how these everyday controls lead into frame-by-frame animation and water movement.
Video
Learn Procreate Fast: Everything You Need to Know in 11 Minutes
A fast tour of the essential Procreate interface, settings, layers, gestures, drawing guides, and everyday tools.
Video + Guide
How Frame-by-Frame Animation Works in Procreate
A beginner Procreate animation guide covering Animation Assist, frame layers, onion skins, hold duration, playback modes, frame rate, and export settings.
Video + Guide
How to Animate Water in Procreate With Frame-by-Frame Timing
A frame-by-frame Procreate water animation guide covering timing, spacing, squash and stretch, droplets, and final shading polish.
Procreate Gesture Questions
01How do I undo and redo in Procreate?
Tap the canvas with two fingers to undo and three fingers to redo. Hold either gesture to repeat it.
02How do I reset the Procreate canvas view?
Use a quick pinch with two fingers. It fits the artwork on screen and resets the canvas rotation.
03How do I turn on Alpha Lock with a gesture?
Swipe from left to right across a layer with two fingers. Repeat the gesture to turn Alpha Lock off.
04Where are Gesture Controls in Procreate?
Open Actions, choose Prefs, then Gesture Controls. You can enable, disable, or reassign many touch and Apple Pencil shortcuts there.
05Why is an Apple Pencil gesture missing?
Double tap, squeeze, and hover depend on your Apple Pencil and iPad model. Check hardware support, then review your Pencil settings and Procreate Gesture Controls.