Try these troubleshooting steps if you are having trouble using painting tools with Procreate and closing and reopening the artwork didn't fix it.

Reset your pressure and smoothing settings

Pressure and smoothing settings can be applied globally in Procreate. These settings are applied regardless of your individual brush settings. When not anticipated, they can make brush strokes feel too restricted or behave unexpectedly. If you are having trouble with brush strokes, try resetting the global pressure and smoothing settings.

Open an artwork.

1. Tap the Actions button , then tap the Prefs tab .

2. Tap Pressure and Smoothing.

3. Tap Reset all at the bottom of the Pressure and Smoothing menu.

4. When the warning message appears, tap Reset.

Reset your gesture controls

Gesture controls are a great way to customize Procreate and develop your own workflow. But, they can create workflow problems if you make an unintended change. If you’re having trouble marking your canvas or using gestures, try resetting your gesture controls.

1. Open a canvas.

2. Tap the Actions button , then tap the Prefs tab .

3. Tap Gesture controls → General → Reset to defaults.

4. When the warning message appears, tap Reset.

Try various brushes and size, color, and opacity settings

Try different brushes to see if paint, smudge, or erase work. We recommend trying Painting → Round Brush and Calligraphy → Monoline brush. If Monoline works well with Apple Pencil, but Round Brush shows as transparent, even when you push firmly with Apple Pencil, you are likely running into a pressure issue with Apple Pencil itself. When testing any brush, check your brush color contrasts with your background color. Secondly, ensure that the size and opacity sidebar sliders are at the maximum setting.

Check or replace your Apple Pencil’s tip

Make sure your Apple Pencil tip is clean, undamaged, and firmly attached.

Reconnect your Apple Pencil

The steps required to reconnect your Apple Pencil depend on which model of Apple Pencil you own.

Before you begin, make sure your Apple Pencil is charged and check the nib is clean and firmly attached.

First, remove the Apple Pencil from your Bluetooth devices

1. In iPadOS Settings → Bluetooth, tap the Information icon  on the right-hand side of Apple Pencil.

2. Tap Forget this Device.

Then reconnect your Pencil using the appropriate method below.

Reconnect Apple Pencil (2nd generation) or Apple Pencil Pro

Attach your Apple Pencil to the magnetic connector on the side of your iPad. A pop-up with the battery level of your pencil will appear at the top of screen.

Reconnect Apple Pencil (USB-C)

1. Slide open the end of the Apple Pencil and connect the USB-C charge cable.

2. Attach the other end of the cable to your iPad.

3. Tap "Tap to Connect" on the Bluetooth pairing request pop-up.

Reconnect Apple Pencil (1st generation)

1. Plug the Apple Pencil into the Lightning port of your iPad.

2. Tap Pair on the Bluetooth pairing request pop-up.

Also, try connecting a different Apple Pencil to see if the problem is isolated to your current pencil.

Check accessibility settings are turned off

Head to iPad Settings → Accessibility → Touch . Check that AssistiveTouch and Touch Accommodations are switched off.

Force restart your iPad

There are two different ways to force your iPad to restart depending on your device model.

If your iPad doesn’t have a Home Button:

1. Quickly press and release the volume up button followed by the volume down button.

2. Press and hold the Power Button. When 'Slide to power off' appears, keep holding the Power Button until the Apple logo appears.

3. Release the button and wait for your iPad to restart.

If your iPad has a Home Button:

1. Press and hold the Home and Power buttons together until you see the Apple logo appear.

2. Release the buttons and wait for your iPad to restart.

Before force restarting your iPad, you may want to close all your apps first.

1. Enter App Switcher either by swiping up from the bottom edge and then pausing in the center of the screen or, on older iPads, double-clicking the Home button. 

2. Swipe up on the app to close it. 

3. Repeat until all the apps are closed.

Take your iPad off charge

Check whether the Apple Pencil works with Procreate if the iPad is not plugged into a charger.

Remove your iPad case and screen protector.

If you have a case or a screen protector on your iPad, this could be interfering with the performance of the hardware or Procreate. If practical, remove them and see if that fixes the problem.

Increase pressure sensitivity

In most circumstances, you shouldn’t need to adjust the Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity. However, if your Pencil is not responding as expected, this is a useful way to troubleshoot whether it is working at all.

1. Open an artwork.

2. Tap the Actions → Prefs.

3. Tap Pressure and Smoothing.

4. Move the left-hand side node upwards on the App pressure sensitivity chart (the circle on the line). Try half a grid square to begin with.

Still need help?

If these steps don’t help, please contact us through the Support Form as soon as you can. Send us an externally recorded video of yourself using different brushes. At a minimum, make a recording using Round Brush from the Painting set and Studio Pen brush from the Inking set.