How to Vectorize and Colorize Your Procreate Drawings With Adobe Illustrator
Procreate is a great digital drawing tool. You can create realistic illustrations entirely digitally, but what if you need to vectorize or scale your work? Recreated drawings use pixels that make vectoring impossible and make scaling up or down unsightly.
By pairing Adobe Illustrator with Procreate, you can create a great drawing and turn it into a vector that you can also add color to. Here’s how.
Can you create vectors in Procreate?
The short answer is no, you cannot create vectors natively. This is because Procreate is a raster-based program that uses pixels instead of mathematical equations like vector graphics. If you are confused, we have written a detailed guide to explain the differences between raster and vector images. Luckily, you’re about to learn how to create vectors from your Procreate drawings.
If you want to create vectors natively in similar software, check out this guide on Raster vs Pixel vs Live Brushes in Adobe Fresco. Adobe Fresco is a tablet-based app similar to Procreate, except it’s an Adobe product and not an independent company like Procreate.
How to convert Procreate drawings to vectors using Illustrator
If you haven’t already, make sure to download Procreate ($9.99) on your iPad. You will also need an Adobe Illustrator subscription. You can use the desktop app or the tablet app, and there’s a 7-day free trial for new users if you don’t want to pay yet.
Step 1: Draw on Procreate
Using your Apple Pencil, draw your drawing on Procreate. For this technique to work, your drawing should be black or solid color and drawn with a smooth brush like Monoline. Using a textured brush is difficult to convert to vector because the pixels themselves add texture and opacity to the brush that cannot be easily replicated in vector format.
Since you want your drawing to be one color, it’s a good idea to only draw the outline. Too much fine detail could be lost when converting to vectors. Once you’ve created the vector in Illustrator, you can add a color fill or multiple colors.
Step 2: Release the Procreate canvas
Step 3: Open the file in Illustrator
After moving your file to your computer, open it directly in Illustrator. Do not resize the image as this will result in a loss of quality as it is a raster.
Quality loss can affect how tracing works. If the image becomes too pixelated, the trace will follow the pixelation rather than the original linework.
Step 4: Image Track
Choose selection tool (v) and select your image by clicking on it. Then you can use the Image Trace function.
Choose Characteristics Window (window > Characteristics) and scroll to Fast Actions > image track. Select from the drop down options Sketched Art. This step vectorizes the drawing.
Step 5: Expand your traced image
Although Image Trace provides a transparent background for your black line art, it still preserves the original image’s marquee. As you expand your traced image, the larger selection area is removed from the line art.
Select the black line art and go to Characteristics > Fast Actions > Extend. This gives you a simple black vectorized line art with a transparent background. Blue paths outline all of your black line work and the selection border is tight to the outside edges.
Step 6: Clean Up with the Pen Tool
Depending on the detail of your original drawing, Image Trace may change line shapes or thicknesses. You can correct or edit your line work with the Pencil tool.
Use of Direct Selection Tool (A), choose your lines. Switch to pencil Tool (N) and double-click the pencil tool icon on the toolbar. Check the box for Fill in new pencil strokesthen select OK.
With this setting you can add something to your drawing. With the Pen tool, click and drag from one anchor point and reconnect the pen to another anchor point.
To remove parts of your line work, open the pen tool settings again and uncheck that Fill in new pencil strokes Crate. Then draw from an anchor point into your line work and connect it to another anchor point. The drawn shape is removed from the path.
Use this technique to clean up lines, add or remove thickness, or add or remove elements in your artwork.
You can also use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select individual anchor points to drag, delete, or add curves to change the shape of your line work.
How to colorize your vector in Illustrator
First set the color channels to make sure you can add the color palette you want. If you want to use this vector for print design, you need CMYK. However, if you only use it for screen design, choose RGB. Go to To edit > Edit Colors > Convert to RGB or Convert to CMYK.
To add color, the vector must be converted into a Live Paint object. Select the line work and then go to object > live painting > Make. Press K or choose the live painting Bucket Toolbar icon.
Choose your favorite color in the background Swatch, and then hover over the area you want to add color to until the inner line turns red. Then select it with Living Paint Bucket Tool to add color.
If the space is not a closed loop, you cannot add color with Live Paint Bucket. However, there is a way around this: use the pencil, brushor Pen Tools to draw a line to close the gap. Select the line and then set the Stroke and the To fill too transparent.
Use of selection Tool, click and drag across the drawing to select everything – including the transparent line – and turn it back into a Live Paint object. You can do this as many times as you like.
Once you’ve edited the linework and added any color you like, your vector drawing is complete.
Save it as a PNG to ensure a transparent background, or save it as an AI file to edit again in the future. Here’s how to save different file types in Illustrator if you need more help.
You can vectorize an image in Illustrator instead of creating line art, and you can also vectorize an image in CorelDRAW if you don’t have access to Adobe Illustrator.
Convert your Procreate drawings from raster to vector
If you follow these steps, you’ll see how easy it is to create a vector from your Procreate drawing with Illustrator. You can also clean up or edit edges and color your vector drawing easily.
With this technique, you can create a logo, illustration, or scalable drawing using your favorite program with just a little help from Illustrator.
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