Review of Procreate for the iPad

"Happy Ogre" created with Procreate on the iPad 

Since I first got my iPad back in 2011, I have been hooked on using it as a tool in creating art. Today I use the iPad for sketching and laying in quick color, followed by refining my art in photoshop on the computer.  My app of choice is Procreate.  Other art apps I have tried are Inspire Pro, Sketchbook Pro, ArtRage, and ArtStudio.  I won't go into any details about these other than saying Procreate is better.  Here are my reasons why Procreate rocks:

- Stability.  I should first note I have an iPad 2 with iOS 7.0.3 and the current version of procreate, so I can't speak for you if you are rocking the original iPad - I'm not even sure if Procreate works with it.   Procreate has crashed on me before but amazingly it always saves my work.  I have no idea how it does this but it's pretty nice to not lose work.   

- Ability to rotate the canvas while painting.  It's awesome and I use it constantly.  The pinch to zoom and rotate with 2 fingers works smoothly and you'll quickly be using this function without even thinking. 

- The layout and user interface.  Procreate did a great job in maximizing work space while making options easily accessible.  I really like that opacity and brush size are always there without opening any menus.  Color picking is easy.  The color wheel and layers are also easily accessible as well as anything else you may need quickly.

-  The brushes are great and I love the customizability.  I primarily just use the "painting" brushes

-  You can record your creative process! How cool is that? Check out my example below.

-  You can select and modify portions of your art.  You'll like this if you frequently  hit cmnd + t in photoshop

-  Layer controls and controllability are great. You can lock your pixels, duplicate layers, a ton of layer modes (i primarily stick with normal and occasionally multiply)   

- You can export your document as a layerd PSD.   I paint in photoshop, so this is big for me.  

Is photoshop on a computer better than procreate on an iPad for digitally painting?  If you are working professionally as an illustrator or other kind of digital artist you really wouldn't be able to get by without photoshop.  If you are a beginner or a working professional who needs a break from the shackles of your home office you really can't beat procreate on the iPad on the couch or on the go.  Working on the iPad forces you to keep it simple which is perfect for beginners and getting ideas out of the head.  With Procreate you can keep it as simple as you like or do a few fancy things you are use to doing in photoshop.