While Procreate is known for drawing and painting, it also includes a surprisingly flexible text tool. Whether you're adding titles to illustrations, creating social media graphics, or designing custom type layouts, Procreate makes it easy to place and edit text right on your canvas.
Adding Text to Your Canvas
To insert text, tap the Actions menu (wrench icon), then go to the Add tab and tap Add Text. A text box will appear in the center of your canvas. You can immediately start typing by tapping inside the box.
Moving and Resizing
Once placed, you can move, scale, or rotate the text using the standard transform handles. To preserve proportions, pinch from a corner. Tap the cursor icon (arrow) to enter Transform Mode again if needed.
Editing Text Style
Double-tap the text to bring up the text editing options:
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Font: Choose from Procreate’s built-in fonts or import your own.
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Style: Adjust weight, italics, or all caps where supported.
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Size, Tracking, Leading: Fine-tune your text spacing and alignment.
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Alignment: Choose left, center, right, or justified text alignment.
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Color: Tap the color circle in the top-right to change the font color.
You can use this panel to create bold headlines, fine captions, or decorative labels right on your artwork.
Importing Custom Fonts
You can import any TrueType (.ttf) or OpenType (.otf) fonts into Procreate. To do this:
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Tap Actions > Add > Add Text.
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In the font menu, tap “Import Font” at the top right.
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Choose a font file from the Files app or drag one in using Split View.
Once imported, your font will appear in the font list permanently.
Rasterizing Text
Text layers remain editable until you rasterize them. To do this, tap the layer in the Layers panel and choose Rasterize. This turns the text into pixels, allowing you to paint, erase, smudge, or distort it like any other layer — but you won’t be able to edit the content anymore.
Text Effects and Masking
To stylize your text further:
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Apply clipping masks or Alpha Lock for shading, textures, or gradients.
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Use the Liquify tool for distortions or warps.
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Combine text with brush layers for hand-drawn enhancements.
Text in Procreate is both simple to use and powerful once you explore the styling options. Whether you’re adding a title or building a full lettering piece, the text tool fits naturally into your creative workflow. In upcoming posts, we’ll cover hand lettering techniques and how to mix text with illustration for posters, merch, or social media graphics.
