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If you’ve been lettering on paper for a while and you’re curious about Procreate — but the thought of actually opening that app feels a little overwhelming — welcome! You’re in the right place.
Digital hand lettering can feel intimidating at first, especially when you’ve spent years getting comfortable with your favorite pens and practice sheets. But your skills carry over. You’re not starting from scratch. You’re just picking up a different tool!
These 5 tips will help you feel confident on Procreate, so let’s get started!
What You Need to Get Started with Digital Hand Lettering
Before we dive into the tips, here’s the short version of what you need:
- An iPad or touchpad
- An Apple Pencil (1st or 2nd generation, depending on your iPad)
- The Procreate app ($12.99, one-time purchase — no subscription)
That’s it. You don’t need a $1,500 setup to start. A basic iPad and Pencil will do everything you need.
Tip #1: Don’t Let the Tech Intimidate You
Procreate has a LOT of buttons. The first time you open it, you’ll see brushes, layers, gestures, color palettes, settings, and about a dozen things you’ve never heard of.
You don’t need to know all of this on day one.
Honestly, you can make beautiful lettering using maybe 10% of what Procreate offers. Give yourself permission to learn slowly. Tap things to see what they do. Mess up. Undo. Try again. That’s how everyone learns.
A few gestures worth knowing right away:
- Two-finger tap = undo
- Three-finger tap = redo
- Pinch = zoom
- The wrench icon = actions menu (where you’ll find imports and exports)
That’s enough to start.
Tip #2: Trust Your Muscle Memory
Muscle memory is a funny thing. If you’ve been lettering on paper, your hand already knows how to form letters. The shapes haven’t changed. The pressure, the upstrokes and downstrokes, the rhythm of your favorite alphabet — all of it lives in your hand, not in your tools.
Procreate just gives that muscle memory a new surface to work on. So think about it like this – you’re still hand lettering, just using a different surface and a different tool to do it.
When you first pick up the Apple Pencil and the screen feels a little slippery, give yourself a couple of practice sessions before you decide it’s not for you.
Within an hour or two, your hand will adjust to the glass and you’ll start feeling the same flow you feel on paper.
Tip #3: Start with Just One or Two Brushes
Procreate has hundreds of brushes (think of them like lettering pens, but for the iPad). It’s easy to fall into a rabbit hole of searching for the best ones, but while you’re practicing, it will be MUCH easier to choose a solid few.
Two beginner-friendly Procreate brushes to start with:
- Monoline: Great for sans-serif and modern lettering
- Script or Brush Pen: Gives you that brush lettering feel without needing extra downloads
Master these two before you start collecting more.
Tip #4: Use Traceable Templates to Skip the Blank Canvas
The blank canvas is just as intimidating in Procreate as it is on a wood sign. Maybe more so, because the screen feels so empty, and you can’t physically see the paints, pens, etc. in front of you.
The good news? The same traceable templates you’ve been using on paper work beautifully in Procreate. Just import the PNG or SVG into a new canvas, drop the opacity down to about 30%, and trace over the top on a new layer.
This is how I recommend most of our Template Library members start their digital lettering practice. You get to focus on how the lettering feels in the new medium without also having to design from scratch. Templates are a confidence builder, not a shortcut.
Tip #5: Let Layers Be Your Safety Net
Layers are the biggest gift Procreate gives you. You’ve spent years being careful on paper because one slip meant starting over. Digital takes that pressure off completely!
Here’s an example of how to use them:
- Layer 1: Your reference or template (set to low opacity)
- Layer 2: Your rough sketch
- Layer 3: Your final lettering
- Layer 4: Flourishes, swashes, or accents
Don’t love the flourishes you’ve just created? Delete that layer. Want to change the background color? You can do it without interfering with the rest of the design.
Layers let you experiment without consequences. You can letter the same word ten different ways in ten minutes, side by side, and actually compare them. It’s the same drills and repetition you’d do on paper.
Ready to Really Learn Procreate? Start Here!
These 5 tips will get you moving, but if you want someone to actually sit with you and walk you through Procreate from the very beginning, I made something just for that!
Procreate Basics for Beginners is a self-paced course built specifically for letterers making the jump from paper to iPad.
What you’ll learn inside:
- How to set up your first canvas
- The brushes worth knowing
- How to use layers, gestures, and palettes without the overwhelm
- How to bring the lettering skills you already have over to digital
It’s built for crafters, lettering artists, and door hanger lovers…not pro graphic designers. And because it’s self-paced, you can work through it whenever it fits your schedule — no live calls to keep up with!
I can’t wait to see what you create!
