PROCREATE  ·  QUICK-REFERENCE

CHEAT CODES.

Every gesture and shortcut you need — organized beginner to expert, and tuned for jewelry design work: metals, gemstones, settings & presentation.
HOW TO READ THIS SHEET
Number of dots = number of fingers used in the gesture
→ ↓ ↑ Arrows show swipe / drag direction where relevant
Each card also tells you why the shortcut matters for jewelry work, not just what it does
BEGINNER  →  INTERMEDIATE  →  ADVANCED  →  EXPERT
LEVEL 1 · BEGINNER

Canvas & Navigation

2-FINGER
Pinch In / Out
Zooms your canvas. Zoom in tight when setting individual facets or prongs, zoom out to check the whole piece reads well at a glance.
2-FINGER
Pinch + Twist
Rotates the canvas while you zoom. Angle the ring band toward your hand for more natural, comfortable strokes — just like turning paper.
2-FINGER
Quick Pinch In
Snaps instantly to "fit canvas on screen." Fast reset after zooming deep into a diamond facet.
2-FINGER
Reverse Quick Pinch
Jumps back to your previous zoom level. Great for hopping between a detail shot and the full-piece view.
4-FINGER
Tap Anywhere
Hides all menus and sliders for a clean, full-screen view — useful when photographing your screen or presenting a design to a client.
GESTURE CONTROLS
Actions → Prefs → Gesture Controls
Every gesture on this sheet can be reassigned here. Once you know the defaults, this is where you make Procreate feel like your tool.
LEVEL 1 · BEGINNER

Undo, Redo & Clipboard

2-FINGER TAP
Undo
Your most-used gesture, period. No need to reach for a toolbar button while your other hand holds the Pencil.
2-FINGER HOLD
Rapid Undo
Steps back through several actions at once — perfect for backing out of a facet-shading experiment that didn't work.
3-FINGER TAP
Redo
Brings back what you just undid. Undo/Redo together let you A/B compare two shading choices instantly.
3-FINGER SWIPE ↓
Cut / Copy / Paste Menu
Pulls up Cut, Copy, Copy All, Duplicate & Paste. Duplicate is huge for jewelry — draw one prong, duplicate it around the stone.
3-FINGER SCRUB
Clear Layer
Wipes the active layer instantly — like rubbing a whiteboard clean. Faster than select-all-delete when a sketch layer goes wrong.
PENCIL, HOLD AT END
QuickShape
Draw a rough circle, oval or line and hold — Procreate snaps it perfect. This is how you'll draw clean ring bands and gemstone outlines.
LEVEL 2 · INTERMEDIATE

Layers, Color & Brush Control

2-FINGER SWIPE →
Toggle Alpha Lock
Swipe right on a layer in the Layers panel. Locks transparency so you can shade metal or add sparkle without ever drawing outside your shape.
PINCH LAYERS
Merge Layers
Pinch two layer thumbnails together in the panel to merge them. Keep your file light once a section of the design is finalized.
SWIPE LEFT
Lock / Duplicate / Delete
Swipe a layer left to reveal quick actions. Duplicate before a risky shading pass so you always have a safe version to fall back to.
TAP + HOLD
Eyedropper
Sample any color on the canvas instantly — critical for keeping your gold, silver and gemstone tones consistent across a whole collection.
2ND FINGER TAP
Layer vs. Canvas Sampling
While holding the Eyedropper, tap with a second finger to switch between sampling only the active layer or the whole canvas.
DRAG SWATCH
Color Drop
Drag a color from the top-right swatch onto an enclosed area to fill it — the fastest way to block in facet colors on a gemstone.
SLIDER TECHNIQUE
Precise Size / Opacity
Drag the side slider, then move your finger away from it (not up/down) — you get much finer control for delicate highlight strokes.
SPLIT VIEW
Reference Window
Open a reference photo (real ring, real diamond) alongside your canvas so you're always shading toward believable light and reflection.
LEVEL 3 · ADVANCED

Symmetry, Masks & Precision

DRAWING GUIDE
Radial Symmetry
Actions → Canvas → Drawing Guide → Symmetry → Radial. The single most important tool for jewelry: draw one prong or one facet, it repeats perfectly around center.
DRAWING GUIDE
Vertical Symmetry
Mirrors left/right as you draw — instantly matched earring pairs, or a perfectly symmetrical pendant silhouette.
TOGGLE ON
Assisted Drawing
Once your guide is set, flip this on so your Pencil literally snaps to the guide — no freehand wobble in your band or setting.
LAYER OPTION
Clipping Mask
Clips a new layer to the one below it. Add shading, sparkle or texture to a gemstone on its own layer while it's automatically confined to the stone's shape.
ALPHA LOCK + AIRBRUSH
Metal Highlight Build-Up
Lock the metal layer, then softly airbrush light layer-by-layer for that believable gold/platinum sheen instead of one flat highlight.
BLEND MODE
Multiply / Screen Layers
A Multiply layer for shadow, a Screen layer for sparkle — both non-destructive, both adjustable in opacity after the fact.
TRANSFORM → SNAP
Precise Resize
Snapping guides appear as you resize — use this to keep matching side-stones exactly equal in size.
TRANSFORM → WARP
Wrap to Curve
Warp/Distort a pattern or texture so it follows the curve of a ring band or bangle convincingly.
LEVEL 4 · EXPERT

Studio Workflow & Speed

CUSTOMIZABLE
QuickMenu
Actions → Prefs → QuickMenu. Load it with your jewelry go-tos — Symmetry, Reference, your favorite metal brush — for one-tap access.
GESTURE CONTROLS
Build Your Own Shortcuts
As your workflow matures, remap gestures to match exactly how your hand naturally moves through a design session.
BRUSH STUDIO
Save Custom Brushes
Save a facet-sparkle brush or a metal-grain texture once — reuse it on every piece you design from now on.
COLOR PANEL
Save Palettes
Save a "Gold / Rose Gold / Platinum" palette and a "Diamond / Sapphire / Emerald" palette — instant consistency across a whole collection.
LEVEL 4 · EXPERT

Export & Presentation

SHARE → PSD
Layered Handoff
Export as a layered PSD when a CAD artist or manufacturing partner needs to see your construction, not just the final image.
SHARE → PNG
Transparent Cutouts
Hide the background layer, export PNG — instant portfolio-ready cutouts for presentation boards or your Instagram grid.
ACTIONS → VIDEO
Time-lapse Export
Procreate silently records your whole process. Export it to share your design thinking with clients or on social media.
CANVAS INFO
Check Resolution First
Actions → Canvas → Canvas Info. Confirm your DPI/size before a print catalog export — fixing this after the fact means redrawing.
QUICK INDEX

Every code,
one glance.

BEGINNER

2-finger tap = Undo  ·  3-finger tap = Redo  ·  3-finger swipe down = Cut/Copy/Paste  ·  Pinch = Zoom

INTERMEDIATE

2-finger swipe right on layer = Alpha Lock  ·  Tap & hold = Eyedropper  ·  Drag swatch = Color Drop

ADVANCED

Drawing Guide → Symmetry (Radial/Vertical)  ·  Clipping Mask  ·  Alpha Lock + Airbrush  ·  Transform → Snap/Warp

EXPERT

Custom QuickMenu  ·  Saved brushes & palettes  ·  Share → PSD / PNG  ·  Time-lapse export