How to Copy and Paste in Procreate

Final product image — What You’ll Be Creating

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Today, I’m going to show you how to copy and paste in Procreate—anything from one element to an entire layer—in a few simple ways. And if you’re looking for the best Procreate add-ons, don’t forget to visit Envato Elements. You’ll find Procreate brushes, palettes, and more.

What You’ll Learn in This Tutorial on How to Copy and Paste in Procreate

How to copy and paste in Procreate (the easiest and the fastest method)
How to copy and paste a single element in Procreate
How to copy a layer in Procreate
How to copy and paste a single element to an existing or new canvas in Procreate
How to copy and paste a layer to an existing or new canvas in Procreate
How to copy a color in Procreate
How to create a vibrant floral artwork using the copy and paste technique in Procreate

1. How to Copy and Paste in Procreate With a Shortcut (The Easiest and Fastest Method)

To access the three-finger swipe gesture in Procreate, you need to ensure that you have this option selected in the Copy & Paste section in Gesture controls.

Wondering how to copy in Procreate? Navigate to Actions > Prefs > Gesture Controls > Copy and Paste. Turn on the Three-finger swipe option. Click on Done to exit the Gesture controls menu. Now, when you swipe down with the three fingers on your selected object, it will invoke the copy and paste menu in Procreate. You can then click on Copy. And this is how to copy in Procreate.

Also, if you are wondering how to cut and paste in Procreate, you can use the same gesture and then, from the available options, you can select Cut and then choose Paste.

How to access Copy Paste Shortcut in Procreate

2. How to Copy and Paste a Single Element in Procreate

Wondering how to copy something in Procreate? Select a single element from a layer, using the Selection tool. With the Selection tool, you will get four options—Automatic, Freehand, Rectangle, or Ellipse. Here, I have used Freehand. When you are done selecting the object, you can either use the above method of three-finger swipe or go to Actions > Add > Copy or Paste.

Here I have used Solid Ink 1 from Pro Painters Procreate Brushes to create the elements. Feel free to use any brush of your choice.

How to copy paste a single element in Procreate

3. How to Copy and Paste an Entire Layer in Procreate

Wondering how to copy a layer in Procreate? There are two ways in which you can copy and paste an entire layer in Procreate. The first one is by clicking on the layer and selecting Copy. Now, you have the option of either using the copy/paste shortcut to paste or going to Actions > Add > Paste. And this is how to paste in Procreate.

The second method is by duplicating the layer in Procreate. This will create another copy of the selected layer.

4. How to Copy and Paste a Single Element to an Existing or New Canvas in Procreate

You can copy and paste a single element by again making use of the Selection tool. When you have selected and copied the object, then go to a new or an existing canvas. Click on Actions > Add > Paste to paste the selected element to a new canvas.

How to copy paste a single element to a new canvas

5. How to Copy and Paste a Layer to an Existing or New Canvas in Procreate

Choose the layer in the Layers panel and click on Copy. You can then go to the existing/new canvas and click on Actions > Add > Paste to paste the selected layer to the new canvas.

How to Copy Paste a Layer to a new Canvas in Procreate

6. How to Copy a Color in Procreate

Go to Gesture controls, and under the Eyedropper section, select the last option. If you touch and hold anywhere on the canvas, it will select the color. In this way, you can copy a color in Procreate from any artwork.

7. How to Copy and Paste in Procreate: Walk-Through

Let’s create a vibrant floral artwork in Procreate using everything we’ve learned so far.

Step 1

Go to Procreate > + and you’ll get a drop-down menu. Click on the Custom Canvas icon at the top.

How to create a custom canvas in Procreate

Step 2

Create a Custom Canvas with these settings:

Width: 1700 px
Height: 1000 px
DPI: 300
Color Profile: sRGB

How to create custom dimensions in Procreate

Step 3

Fill the background layer with a dark blue color. And on layer 2, you can create a rough sketch of your artwork using a sketch pencil or ink brush. Here, again, I have used the solid ink 1 brush from Pro Painters Procreate Brushset.

Step 4

We will create a new layer between the background layer and the sketch layer. With the textured ink 3 brush from the same brushset, create one flower. Then you can copy and paste this flower by using any of the methods explained above. Since we have only one element, I will duplicate the original layer three times. Always duplicate the original layer to avoid pixelation in Procreate. You can then move around the floral element while ensuring that Bicubic is selected.

How to copy and paste an element in Procreate

Step 5

With the solid ink 1 brush selected, we can then add leaves and background floral elements that will complement our piece.

Step 6

Lastly, we will add details with the same brush to make it a bit more interesting. Create a new layer and clip it to the leaves layer.

How to add details to an artwork in Procreate

That’s It! Now You Know How to Copy and Paste in Procreate

Congratulations, you have succeeded! You’ve learned a few ways to copy and paste in Procreate. We even made a vibrant floral artwork to showcase our newly acquired skills. Here is our final result: