Procreate 5 for iPad got its official release today, introducing a completely rebuilt graphics engine and several notable new features.

procreate 5 animation assist
Under the hood, the new Valkyrie graphics engine takes full advantage of Apple's Metal architecture and is designed to get maximum performance out of ‌iPad‌, utilizing new sophisticated shaders and running at 120fps on supported devices.

On the feature front, an all-new Animation Assist toolset aims to make the creation of animatics, looping GIFs and storyboards an easier process for newcomers and more streamlined for experts. Meanwhile, the same applies to custom brush creation thanks to the powerful new Brush Studio, which allows finer control over every aspect of how brushes look, react and behave.

procreate 5 brush studio
Procreate 5's new Clone tool allows you to use any brush style to give a cloned area the look of that brush, or to lock the clone area in place to plaint with a multicolored brush based on your selection. The Color Panel can also now be detached and minimized into a new Mini Color Panel, for moving it out of areas that you want to work on.

Elsewhere, new Color Dynamics offer tactile control of hue, saturation, brightness and more to a brush, through the tilt or pressure of the Apple Pencil. There are also 18 individual sliders to allow for more control.

This version also includes new importable CMYK and RGB ICC profiles for print-based users, a new Photoshop Brush Import feature for using Photoshop brushes in the app, a new Color Harmony section in the Color Panel for easily picking complimentary colors, and a new 10-step Color History palette.

procreate 5 interface
Lastly, the Procreate 5 interface has been refined and improved to make it more accessible and unobtrusive, while retaining the familiarity of previous versions.

Procreate 5 for ‌iPad‌ can be purchased on the App Store from today for a one-time payment of $10. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

jonnyb098 Avatar
68 months ago
Meanwhile over at Adobe......


Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sfwalter Avatar
68 months ago
It really puts Adobe to shame. To add insult to injury it can import Photoshop brushes. Plus it cost less than a single months subscription to Alfresco.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrono1081 Avatar
68 months ago

I'm curious what they mean by 'sophisticated shaders'. Shaders here seems to me an ambiguous word. Well understood in 3D applications of course, but in a 2D painting app, I'm not sure what they mean by it.

In the past, shaders meant one thing (how light is calculated on the surface of a 3D object), now they can mean multiple things. In modern graphics pipelines there are "compute shaders" that exist solely to perform complex calculations on the GPU that don't necessarily have to do with graphics, they could be using these to generate texture data used by the brushes (like wet edges, etc).


Seeing this post (and one on MacStories) made me wonder, how does Procreate compare to Pixelmator? I already have Pixelmator as an attempted PS substitute, but I find it to be designed somewhat awkwardly and counterintuitively.

My iPad Pro is my primary device, but I learned most of my image editing on PS. I tried the PS app, but Adobe continues to suck, full stop, and releasing a beta with what, a quarter of the full features is brain meltingly awful.

Most of what I need this kind of application for is resizing, editing, and light design (making components for flyers and sometimes assembling posters and such.) Frequently it involves finding something online to use as a template to build off of. Canva gets some of the job done, but not all of it. I can usually get the job done with Pixelmator but it takes twice as long as it would with Photoshop.

Loooong story short, opinions as to Pixelmator v Procreate?
Do you have Pixelmator or Pixelmator Pro? Pixelmator Pro for iPad is really good for image editing, the regular Pixelmator on iPad, not so much. Procreate isn't an image editor but rather a drawing/painting software.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
68 months ago
Procreate 5 for iPad can be purchased on the App Store from today for a one-time payment of $10. [Direct Link]
The only link I see in that sentence, in the original article, is "App Store", which just explains what the App Store is. No link to Procreate itself.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mansu944 Avatar
68 months ago
I have procreate but if this is not an update I might buy it just because it’s NOT a subscription.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sfwalter Avatar
68 months ago

Seeing this post (and one on MacStories) made me wonder, how does Procreate compare to Pixelmator? I already have Pixelmator as an attempted PS substitute, but I find it to be designed somewhat awkwardly and counterintuitively.

My iPad Pro is my primary device, but I learned most of my image editing on PS. I tried the PS app, but Adobe continues to suck, full stop, and releasing a beta with what, a quarter of the full features is brain meltingly awful.

Most of what I need this kind of application for is resizing, editing, and light design (making components for flyers and sometimes assembling posters and such.) Frequently it involves finding something online to use as a template to build off of. Canva gets some of the job done, but not all of it. I can usually get the job done with Pixelmator but it takes twice as long as it would with Photoshop.

Loooong story short, opinions as to Pixelmator v Procreate?
ProCreate is more of a painting program, and the the line gets blurred sometimes. You won't find curves, levels, etc. If your primary goal is to edit photos then I would stick with Pixelmator.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2

iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Monday February 17, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker. In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Apple Maps 2024

Apple Maps Might Start Showing Ads

Sunday February 16, 2025 7:22 am PST by
Apple is "exploring" the idea of showing search ads in the Apple Maps app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Back in 2022, Gurman said software engineering was "already underway" to display ads in the Apple Maps app, but Apple did not move forward with the idea at the time. Today, he said Apple is "giving this notion more thought" again. This time around, he said Apple has yet to...
Tim Cook Apple Park

10+ Announcements Apple Could Have Rolled Into a February Event

Saturday February 15, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have enough upcoming product announcements to justify a full event this month, yet all signs indicate these reveals will be handled through a series of press releases instead. There are a multitude of rumors from reliable sources about specific announcements in the coming weeks, so here's everything that Apple could have feasibly included in a hypothetical February event: ...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
m2 pro mac mini

Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

Saturday February 15, 2025 9:58 am PST by
A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note. Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal. That's no longer...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

Apple's Next iPhone SE Launching on Wednesday - Here's What We Know

Friday February 14, 2025 4:04 pm PST by
Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an Apple announcement that's coming on Wednesday, February 19, and it's looking like that mystery announcement will be the next-generation iPhone SE. We've been hearing about the iPhone SE 4 for quite some time now, and we essentially know everything to expect. If you want a sneak peek at what's coming, read on. Naming Apple first introduced the iPhone SE in...