Brush Texture Overlaps In Procreate


 

UPDATE:

Procreate 5 addresses this issue and a free update to all affected brushsets was released on the 8th of January 2020 at 4pm.

You can download the latest update to your Procreate brushes here



 

 

 

 

Earlier Version Of This Article:


If you're using our Halftone or Lithotone brushes for Procreate you've probably noticed that if you lift your pencil before continuing your stroke, the textures don't align perfectly, creating an overlapping 'moire' pattern as shown below.

This is especially noticeable if you're used to using our brushes in Photoshop and unfortunately there’s currently no quick fix in Procreate to prevent this issue. However with a little extra forethought and an understanding of how Procreate works, you'll be able to avoid obvious overlap like a boss.

Brush-Overlap1.gif

 

 

 

So what's the difference between Photoshop and Procreate?

Photoshop and Procreate’s brush engines work in significantly different ways, particularly with regard to the embedded brush textures, or 'grain' as it is known in Procreate.


Photoshop:

The position of a brushes texture is absolute and is locked to the x/y grid of your canvas so that with every brush stroke the halftone texture is revealed in exactly the same location allowing you to fill an area with texture in multiple strokes.


Procreate:

The position of a brushes texture (grain) is fluid and is relative to the position of your pencil. This means every time you lift your pencil the texture texture moves with it causing an overlap effect as shown above when you make a stroke in two parts.

 

Update 28 Mar 2019:

Procreate have announced that absolute grain position is a planned feature for an upcoming Procreate release.

 

Workarounds:

Zoom Out, Plan Your Strokes.
In general, your technique with Procreate requires a little more forethought. For example, when you fill an area with halftone, you need to be prepared to fill an entire area without lifting your brush once so be ready for that in advance by zooming out or planning your stroke in your head before beginning.

Layer Up.
To layer a darker halftone on top of a lighter halftone you need to brush in the textures on different layers first, then move them into place so that they line up. 

Pre-Fill Layers.
Try pre-filling separate layers with various different halftone brushes in different tonal values then align them manually. Add a layer mask to each halftone layer and use a solid inking brush on the layer mask to reveal the halftones on each layer. 


Scaling Tip:

Keep in mind that if you have changed the scale of the the a brushes grain/texture, Procreate permanently saves the change to the brush so you’ll need to check that the grain scale % matches before trying to layer multiple brush shades.

By default, each brushes grain scale is identical when you first install our brushes. You may even like to duplicate your brushes before changing the grain scale or load a copy of the entire brush set that you use with scaled grain whilst keeping the default set in tact. 

 

 

 

 

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