3D Painting in Procreate, what is it and how do I do it?

Procreate allows you to import and paint on 3D models. You can import USDZ or OBJ files to paint on, and you can paint color, roughness and metallic on any given model.

Download the 3D model pack

This video demonstrates how to download the 3D Model Pack in Procreate. You must be using a compatible iPad (iPad 5th Gen and above, except iPad mini 4 and iPad Air 2) running at least Procreate 5.2:

1. Open up any canvas and head to Actions

2. Tap the Help tab on the far right of the top tabs

3. Tap Download Model Pack and wait patiently

4. Once downloaded, the models will appear in your Gallery

Paint on a 3D model

The below video shows how to paint on a 3D model in Procreate:

1. Open a model by tapping on it in the Gallery

2. Tap on a section of the model, we use the helmet proper in the video

3. Select your brush , then color from Colors in the top right

4. Paint on your model with Apple Pencil

5. Rotate the model by dragging a single finger across it, and use two fingers to pinch, zoom and pan

6. Select different parts of the model with a singular tap to ready them for painting

Brushes in the ‘Materials’ set can be used to paint on color, roughness and metallic textures. Any custom brushes that have options set in the Materials tab of the Brush Studio can also be used to apply roughness and metallic.

You can also open Layers and tap on the arrow next to a mesh, then the cube, to show its color, roughness and metallic ‘maps’. Tap on one of these to paint only that texture type. Roughness and Metallic use the greyscale value of your brush to apply roughness and metallic texture - the hue doesn’t matter here. Darker values mean less roughness or metallic effect, and brighter values mean more effect.

Navigating in 3D Painting with Apple Pencil

If you have an Apple Pencil connected, you can paint with the pencil and rotate the model by dragging a single finger across/around it. You can pinch and zoom like normal, too:

Painting and navigating in 3D without an Apple Pencil

This video shows how to enable 3D Painting with a finger, and how to paint and navigate in this mode:

1. Head to Actions and select the Prefs tab

2. Tap Gesture Controls → General and toggle on ‘Enable 3D painting with a finger’

3. Tap a mesh and paint with your finger

4. Rotate the model by holding the modify button (square between the Sidebar sliders) with one finger and dragging across the model with another

5. Pinch and zoom as normal with the two-finger pinching gestures

Edit Lighting and Environment in Actions → 3D

This video shows how to enable and use the Lighting Studio feature in Procreate’s 3D Painting:

1. Head to Actions and select the 3D tab

2. Tap Edit Lighting & Environment

3. Once in Lighting Studio, drag with a finger to rotate the camera

4. Tap on a light to adjust its value sliders, like the color and how bright it is

5. Drag the lights around in realtime, and add more using the Add Light button at the top

Tap on Environment to bring up a menu that allows you to turn off the environment all around the model (its effects will still be visible on the model). You can also change the exposure of the environment, and select from some presets we have made.

Work with a Reference of your model

This video shows how to use Actions → Canvas → Reference to view a realtime representation of your model as you paint on it:

1. Head to Actions and tap on Canvas

2. Tap on the Reference option to toggle it on

3. Drag the Reference Companion using the grey bar at the top of the small window

4. Resize it by dragging any of its corners

Work with a model's 2D Texture

This video demonstrates how to access and work with a model’s 2D texture representation. You’ll see this used with Reference and ColorDrop to quickly apply color to large areas of the model:

1. Turn on Reference (check the section above)

2. In Actions , select the 3D tab

3. Toggle on Show 2D Texture to reveal the 2D representation of the current mesh you're working with

Other options in Actions → 3D

Paint through mesh:

This option allows you to paint through the current mesh you have selected onto surfaces behind it. This can be tricky to use, and in some cases can paint through meshes without being toggled on. There are a few variables that can cause this, and it’s something we’d like to improve in the future.

View in AR:

Have your model represented in real space using Apple’s AR technology - you must allow the camera to be used by Procreate, then after a moment, it will construct the model in the viewport of your camera, so you can see it placed on a real surface. You can tap and drag the model with a finger, and scale it up and down with two fingers, as you would zoom and pan the canvas. For best results ensure you are in a well-lit area with clear surfaces.

Importing 3D models

For now, models must be in the USDZ (Universal Scene Description [zipped]) or OBJ formats. If it’s a USDZ file, simply drag and drop it into the Procreate Gallery, or use the Import button and navigate to the file.

Check out this video for a quick demo of USDZ import:

1. Tap hold on your USDZ file in Files

2. Select Share → Procreate

3. Wait for the model to import into Procreate's Gallery

4. Wait for the model to load, then tap on a mesh to ready it for painting

If you have a singular OBJ file, you can also bring this in with Import, but if you have a folder that contains an OBJ file, an MTL file and the associated materials, drag the entire folder from Files into Procreate’s Gallery to import it.

Check out this video for a demo of OBJ import:

1. Tap and hold a folder that contains your OBJ, MTL and textures, and move it slightly to 'pick it up'

2. Continue holding down, and use another finger to swipe up from the bottom of your screen

3. Tap on Procreate with the second finger

4. Hover your first finger 'holding' the file over the Procreate Gallery until you see a small green plus icon appear

5. Release your finger to import the model into your Gallery

6. Tap on the model to load it, then tap on a mesh after it loads to ready it for painting

Exporting a 3D model from Procreate

This video shows you how to export a 3D model from Procreate. It shows export as OBJ, and also an animated rotating GIF representation of the model:

1. Swipe left on a 3D model in your Gallery

2. Tap Share, then select your desired format

3. Wait for the export, then choose your desired location

Texture Maps

For OBJ and USDZ files, the texture maps (materials) we currently support are:

1. Colour (Albedo)

2. Metallic

3. Roughness

4. Normal maps (we can import but cannot edit inside Procreate)

5. Ambient Occlusion (we can import but cannot edit inside Procreate)

Technical Troubleshooting

Missing textures:

If you import a USDZ file and notice you’re missing a map, you will have to use a software like Reality Converter to ensure that the maps are linked correctly in the file.

If you import an OBJ and you’re missing a map, ensure the MTL file inside the OBJ folder is linking the image files with exactly the following text followed by a space and their filename:

1. For color maps use: ‘map_Kd’

2. For metallic maps use: ‘map_metallic’

3. For roughness maps use: ‘map_roughness’

4. For ambient occlusion maps use: ‘map_ao’

5. For normal maps use: ‘map_tangentSpaceNormal’

Incorrect resolution - 2K (2048 * 2048) instead of 4K (4096 * 4096):

If you import an OBJ and the painting resolution is too low, it’s likely that the image files inside your model folder are not ordered in such a way that Procreate is interpreting them correctly. Ensure your MTL file is correctly referencing the images using the conventions above. Also, ensure each material image is exactly the same resolution.

Check out 3D Painting in the Handbook if you'd like to read more about it. If you are encountering issues with a 3D model, first try another model to see if the problem is there, too. If you have an issue that is occurring on every model, please reach out to us .