Open a Procreate file without an iPad
Procreate only runs on iPad and iPhone, so a .procreate file is hard to use anywhere else:
templates and brush-practice sheets from other artists, files from a collaborator or a student,
your own drawings after moving to a Windows or Android tablet, or backups of an iPad that no
longer works. This converter reads the file itself, rebuilds the canvas and every layer, and
gives you files that open everywhere.
| You get | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Layered Photoshop file (PSD) | Every layer and group with its name, opacity, blend mode, visibility and lock; clipping masks and layer masks; the background colour as the bottom layer; the colour profile and resolution |
| PNG and JPEG, full size | The whole picture as Procreate shows it, with a transparent background when the background is switched off (JPEG: white) |
| Every layer as a PNG (ZIP) | One canvas-size PNG per layer, groups as folders, numbered from the bottom layer up |
| Time-lapse video (MP4) | The recording Procreate made while the drawing was painted, when the file has one |
How to use it
- On the iPad, share the drawing as a Procreate file (Actions → Share → Procreate), or copy
the
.procreatefiles out of your backup. Several files, or a ZIP of them, can be converted at once. - Upload them here and click Convert.
- Check the picture and the list of layers on the result page, then download what you need.
What is kept
- Layers and groups, in the same order, with their names (any language), opacity, blend mode, visibility, lock and alpha lock. Groups stay open or closed as they were.
- All 26 of Procreate's blend modes, each set to the matching Photoshop mode (Procreate's Add is Photoshop's Linear Dodge (Add)).
- Clipping masks and layer masks. A layer mask stays editable in Photoshop.
- Hidden layers stay in the PSD, switched off.
- Colours: the canvas colour profile (sRGB or Display P3) is embedded in the PSD, PNG and JPEG, together with the resolution (DPI).
- Canvas orientation: a canvas that was turned or flipped in Procreate comes out the way Procreate shows it.
The PNG and JPEG are the finished picture Procreate saves inside the file, so they look exactly as in the app. When a file doesn't hold that picture, it is drawn from the layers instead, and the result page says so.
Good to know
- Text layers become pixel layers: they look the same, but the text can't be edited in Photoshop.
- A few blend modes look slightly different in Photoshop. Photoshop draws Add, Lighten, Darken, Subtract, Hard Mix, Exclusion, Hue and Saturation a little differently from Procreate at soft edges and over transparent areas. The layers themselves are the same; the result page warns you when a file uses these modes in a way that shows.
- Animation Assist: the frames are kept as layers and groups in the PSD, but no animated GIF or video of them is made.
- Damaged files: if a few parts of a layer can't be read, the rest is still converted and the result page tells you which layer is affected. Files cut off during copying can't be opened.
- Versions: files saved by Procreate 5.3 and later (the current format) and by earlier versions, as far back as the 2014 format without layer groups. Procreate Dreams projects are a different format.
- Size: canvases up to 300 megapixels, files up to 2 GB.
Your files are only used for the conversion: uploads are deleted as soon as the job is done, and the results are deleted after 30 minutes.