Why a .procreate file won't open on a computer
A .procreate file is the working file of Procreate, which only exists for iPad and iPhone.
Windows, macOS, Android and Chromebooks have no program for it, so the file shows up blank or
as an unknown type. Renaming it to .zip lets you look inside, but you only find a small
preview picture and folders of compressed tiles, not the drawing.
This page opens the file for you: it reads the canvas and every layer and turns them into files any computer, tablet or phone can open.
How to open it
- Upload the
.procreatefile (or several, or a ZIP of them). - Click Convert.
- Look at the picture and the list of layers on the result page. Download the PNG or JPEG to view or print it, or the PSD to keep working with layers in Photoshop and other editors that open layered PSD files.
What you can do with the result
- See the full-size picture: the PNG and JPEG are the finished picture Procreate saved in the file, at full resolution with the canvas colour profile.
- Keep editing on a PC or Android tablet: the PSD has every layer and group, their blend modes, opacity, clipping masks and layer masks.
- Reuse single layers: the ZIP has each layer as its own PNG, the size of the canvas, so the layers still line up when you stack them in another program.
- Watch how it was drawn: if time-lapse recording was on, the video comes out as an MP4.
Common questions
- The file came from an iPad backup. Backups keep the same
.procreatefiles, so they convert the same way. If a file was cut off during copying, the result page says it is incomplete; copy it again from the source if you can. - It is a brush set or a colour palette.
.brushset,.brushand.swatchesfiles are Procreate resources, not drawings, and can only be imported into Procreate. - It is a Procreate Dreams project. Dreams uses a different format, which isn't supported.
More about what this tool reads and writes: Procreate File Converter.