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
77 months ago
Meanwhile over at Adobe......


Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sfwalter Avatar
77 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
77 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
77 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
77 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
77 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

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Finder Siri Feature

Apple's New Siri Will Be Powered By Google Gemini

Wednesday November 5, 2025 11:57 am PST by
The smarter, more capable version of Siri that Apple is developing will be powered by Google Gemini, reports Bloomberg. Apple will pay Google approximately $1 billion per year for a 1.2 trillion parameter artificial intelligence model that was developed by Google. For context, parameters are a measure of how a model understands and responds to queries. More parameters generally means more...
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
airtag purple

Apple's Website Lists AirTag 4-Pack at Shockingly Low Price [Updated]

Friday November 7, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple's online store in the U.S. is suddenly offering a pack of four AirTags for just $29, which is the same price as a single AirTag. This is likely a pricing error, and it is unclear if orders will be fulfilled. Apple has not discounted the AirTag four-pack in any other countries that we checked. Delivery estimates are already pushing into late November to early December, suggesting...
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
ikea smart home devices

IKEA Debuts 21 HomeKit-Compatible Smart Bulbs, Sensors, and Controls

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:08 pm PST by
IKEA today announced the upcoming launch of 21 new Matter-compatible smart home products that will be able to interface with HomeKit and the Apple Home app. There are sensors, lights, and control options, all of which will be reasonably priced. Some of the products are new, while some are updates to existing lines that IKEA previously offered. There are a series of new smart bulbs that are...
Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple's 2026 Smart Home Revamp: All the Rumors

Wednesday November 5, 2025 3:54 pm PST by
It's been over a decade since Apple's HomeKit smart home platform launched, and it is overdue for an update. HomeKit and the Home app can no longer keep up with AI-powered solutions from other companies like Google and Amazon, but that's set to change with a smart home revamp that Apple has planned for 2026. Home Hub Apple is working on a home hub or "command center" that will serve as a...