How to Use Procreate Drawing Guides

Have you ever wondered how to get Procreate Symmetry to make structured drawings or need a little help drawing intricate Mandalas on Procreate? Procreate offers tools to guide and assist you with your creative process. In this Procreate tutorial, we are going to have a look at how to use Procreate drawing guides with assisted drawing.

Before we get started you will need Procreate version 4.1 or higher to access the drawing guides. We will also be using the Procreate Ball Point Pen brush available in the Plus hub. For the purpose of this tutorial, we will use the square canvas (1800 x 1800px) provided by Procreate.

Enable Drawing Guides

Open your canvas and locate the Actions Panel (Wrench icon in the upper left corner), Select the “Canvas” tab, and toggle the “Drawing Guide” option. To select the type of guide you want to use tap on the “Edit Drawing Guide” option.

Using the 2D Grid

The 2D Grid can be used in two ways. The first is to use the grid to help with placement and spacing on the canvas. The second way is to use the grid and assisted drawing to draw structured shapes.

Step 1. Select the 2D Grid Drawing Guide

Open the “Edit Drawing Guide” options panel. You will see 4 drawing guide options at the bottom of your screen. Select “2D Grid” as your drawing guide.

Step 2. Adjusting your drawing guide

You will notice additional settings for the 2D Grid drawing guide. The first setting is the color bar at the top which changes the color of the grid lines. Moving to the bottom of the screen we can see 4 settings (Opacity, Thickness, Grid size and Assisted Drawing).

Step 3. Apply the 2D Grid to your canvas

Once you have made your settings and ready to start your drawing press “Done” (In the upper right-hand corner)

Step 4. Drawing on the Canvas

With the 2D Grid guide and drawing assist, you can draw block shapes with straight strokes. When we have the Drawing Assist enabled we can only draw Vertical and Horizontal strokes.

Using the Isometric Drawing Guide

The Isometric drawing guide consists of triangles that are used for 3D illustrations. It works well with simple structures and geometric designs.

Step 1. Select the Isometric Drawing Guide

Open the “Edit Drawing Guide” options panel. At the bottom of the screen select “Isometric” as your drawing guide.

Step 2. Adjust your drawing guide

There are additional settings for the Isometric drawing guide. The color bar at the top changes the color of the grid lines. Moving to the bottom of the screen there are 4 settings (Opacity, Thickness, Grid size and Assisted Drawing).

Step 3. Apply the Isometric Guide to your Canvas

Once you have adjusted your settings and ready to start your illustration press “Done” (In the upper right-hand corner)

Step 4. Drawing on the Canvas

With our Isometric guide and drawing assist, we can draw shapes with straight strokes. When we have the Drawing Assist enabled we can only draw Horizontal and diagonal strokes.

Using the Perspective Guide

Perspective guides add a vanishing point that you can place anywhere on the canvas. You can use it simply for a 2D illustration or add depth perception to your illustration.

Step 1. Select the Perspective Drawing Guide

Open the “Edit Drawing Guide” options panel. Select “Perspective” as your drawing guide.

Step 2. Set your Vanishing Point

When you select Perspective as your drawing guide you will be prompted to “Tap to create a vanishing point” on your canvas. You can place your vanishing point anywhere on the canvas.

Step 3. Adjust your drawing guide

You can move your vanishing point once placed to wherever you will need it. Press and hold on to the center blue dot and drag it into position. You will notice additional settings for the Perspective drawing guide. The color bar at the top and at the bottom of the screen we can see 3 settings (Opacity, Thickness, and Assisted Drawing).

Step 4. Apply the Isometric Guide to your Canvas

Once you have made your settings and ready to start your illustration press “Done” (In the upper right-hand corner)

Step 5. Drawing on the Canvas

We can now use our Perspective guide to draw a scene that narrows in the closer we get to the vanishing point. With the assisted drawing, our strokes will automatically snap into the direction of our perspective guidelines.

Using Symmetry Drawing Guide:

Procreate Symmetry drawing guides that mirror your illustrations on one area onto another. In Procreate we have 4 different types of symmetry guides, each offering a unique mirroring option.

Let’s open the “Edit Drawing Guide” options panel and select “Symmetry”. When you tap on “Symmetry” an additional options panel will pop up. From here you can select Vertical, Horizontal, Quadrant, and Radial. Tap on “Done” to add the drawing guide to your canvas.

Vertical

The vertical symmetry guide mirrors your illustration. If you start drawing on the left side it will mirror on the right side. Keep in mind that the “center” of your illustration is on the vertical guideline. The further you move away from the guideline the closer you are to the edge of your illustration.

Horizontal

Horizontal symmetry reflects your illustration top to bottom much like the skies reflection in a pond. Horizontal symmetry flips your illustration over the guideline.

When you are drawing on your horizontal guideline you are working in the middle of your illustration. The closer you get to the top and bottom edge of your canvas you are working on the outer edge of your illustration.

Quadrant

The Quadrant drawing guide is divided into 4 segments and uses vertical and horizontal mirroring in one. One quadrant is mirrored and reflected upside down onto the lower half. The center point of your illustration will be where your vertical and horizontal guidelines cross. Working in one quadrant and drawing towards the corner of your canvas you will find your outer edge.

Radial

Radial guides divide your canvas into 8 segments (Vertically, Horizontally, and Diagonally). When you draw in one segment it will be replicated in all other segments.

Radial symmetry can be used to create intricate illustrations. Follow along with our Procreate Mandala tutorial and see how we used the Radial symmetry drawing guide.

Using the Rotational Symmetry drawing guide

All symmetry drawing guides by default are mirrored. Mirrored Symmetry reflects and flips your strokes over the guideline.

Rotational symmetry reflects and rotates your stroke around the center point where your guidelines cross. To enable rotational symmetry go to “Edit Drawing Guide” and tap on “Symmetry”. On the symmetry, options panel locate the “Rotational” toggle and toggle on to enable.

Using Drawing Assist

Drawing assist makes your strokes automatically snap into the direction that your guide is set with 2D Grid, Isometric, and Perspective drawing guides. The drawing assist keeps your strokes straight.

Step 1.

To draw freely and disable or enable the snap to grid feature, open up your “Layers” panel (stacked squares icon in the top right).

Step 2.

Tap on your drawing layer, a layers option panel will pop up.

Step 3.

Locate the “Drawing Assist” option (3rd from the bottom) When the checkmark is displayed your drawing assist is active. To disable drawing assist simply tap on the “Drawing assist” option to remove the checkmark.

If you liked this tutorial make sure to check out our guides on using the alpha lock and creating a marble effect in Procreate.