*disclaimer: links marked with an asterisk (*) are affiliate links. Click to read my full disclosure.
Procreate lettering guides are a great way to get consistent lettering in your work.
Step 1: Download the Lettering Guides
Start by downloading the lettering guides to your iPad. In this tutorial I am using the lettering composition grids*, but there are tons of other great Procreate lettering grids available on Design Bundles!
If you’ve purchased from Design Bundles as well then you will hit the little person icon in the top right corner, click on My Purchases and then scroll down to the lettering guides. Click on the Download Files button, then open in the Files app.
If you’ve purchased from a different site you can skip to step 2.
Step 2: Import the Lettering Guides to Procreate
After downloading, you may have received a Zip folder. In the Files app all you need to do to unzip is click on the file and it will create a new folder for you. Click on that folder and tap on the .brush file. This will automatically import the brushes to Procreate!
Related: How to Make Wobbly GIFs in Procreate
Step 3: Open the Guides in Procreate
Once you’ve opened Procreate and click on the brush icon in the top right menu, you should see the recently imported Procreate brushes. You can scroll through to pick out the composition grid that you want to use. For this tutorial I’m using Composition 10, and I’m tapping on it with my finger instead of the Apple Pencil.
You can use the sliders on the right to adjust the sizing and opacity. These sliders will most likely they’ll be on your left if you’re a righty!
Resize the Grids:
To resize the grids, press the arrow icon in the top left menu bar. Make sure Uniform is selected to keep the proportions the same. Click on the arrow button again to save those changes.
This is optional: I noticed that for these particular Procreate lettering guides the arcs of the two pieces don’t exactly match. So I wanted to change that! To do that, click on the direct selection tool and circle around the top section. With three fingers drag down and then click on cut and paste. Then press the arrow icon again, and click on Warp. Then I’ve moved the nodes around to line up with the bottom arc a little better.
Change the Opacity:
Click on the layers menu and then click on the N icon of the layer you want to edit. If you slide the bar down it will lower the opacity of that layer. Make sure to create a new layer for your lettering!
Step 4: Start Lettering
I’m using the Narinder Pencil to start sketching the design. Some helpful hints: if you tap with two fingers you can quickly undo your last stroke. If you hold down while drawing a line it will make it a perfectly straight line. which is helpful for letters like I and E!
If you need to adjust the sizing of the lettering to fit the boxes, use the direct selection tool again and select over all the letters. Then with Freehand selected you can drag the letters over to fit into the lettering guides.
Related: Hand Lettering Mistakes to Avoid
Step 5: Finalize Your Lettering
After sketching out your composition, create a new layer and draw over the sketch layer. I’m using another sketchy looking brush, but you can use any Procreate brush you have!
Add Color to Your Letters:
Open the layers panel and drag with two fingers to the right. This will turn on Alpha Lock. Or you can click on the layer and press Alpha Lock from the menu.
Pop Out the Color Palette:
Click on the circle icon in the top right, then pull down on the color palette menu. This will pop out the color menu and bring it into your screen so you can quickly recolor your lettering!
Use the Smudge Tool:
If you want to blend your colors together, you would use the smudge tool. For my example, if I drag from the darker pink to the lighter pink it will bring more of the dark pink color over. Whatever color you start dragging with is the color it’s going to “push” the most.
Using Procreate lettering guides can really help speed up the process of creating new designs. Let me know in the comments what tutorial you’d like to see next!
