
If Your Apple Pencil Isn’t Working in Procreate, Read This
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If your Apple Pencil isn’t working in Procreate, then that could be a problem. A BIG PROBLEM. That’s why we’re going to look at some reasons that may be why your Apple Pencil isn’t drawing in Procreate and how to fix them.
Keep in mind that it may not be your Apple Pencil; check to make sure that there wasn’t something else going on that may be affecting your Apple Pencil. (An example would be if your iPad is glitching.)
I’ve sectioned the reasons into two sections. If you’ve had your Apple Pencil for a little while and it’s been working, but not it’s not, read the next section. If you just got your Apple Pencil and haven’t used it before, check out the other section.
IF YOU’VE USED YOUR APPLE PENCIL BEFORE AND NOW IT’S NOT WORKING:
1. The Apple Pencil Tip Isn’t On Tight Enough
This happens to me ALL OF THE TIME! If your Apple Pencil isn’t working, try twisting the tip towards the left until it is tight. Now try using your Apple Pencil.
2. The Apple Pencil Isn’t Connected
For whatever reason, the Apple Pencil may have disconnected. The Apple Pencil needs Bluetooth to be used and charged, so if the Apple Pencil isn’t connected to your Bluetooth or your Bluetooth isn’t on, your Apple Pencil won’t work. You can also try turning your Bluetooth off and then on again to see if that will fix the problem.
3. No Size/Opacity
When you switch brushes in Procreate, the opacity and size change with it. It’s possible that the size or opacity of the brush is very low, making the brush strokes hard to see. This can give you the impression that your Apple Pencil isn’t working when really the size or opacity is just very low.
To check the size and opacity of a brush, find the sidebar (it is a little grey bar that is usually on the left side of the screen in Procreate. There are two sliders. The first slider is the brush size slider; if the slider is towards the top, the brush size is high. If it is towards the very bottom, it is low; raise it towards the top.
The bottom slider is the opacity slider. If the slider is towards the top, the brush opacity is high.
Another thing you could try is changing brushes; though it is not typical, a brush may not make a visible stroke, but instead will perform another function (for example, one of our brushes available for sale is a blender brush that doesn’t make a visible stroke on a blank canvas, but blends what is on the canvas).
4. The Paintbrush Tool Isn’t Selected
Make sure the paintbrush tool is the current tool. If the smudge tool or the erase tool is selected, you won’t be able to paint. It may seem simple, but sometimes this is overlooked and missed.
5. The Color of The Canvas is Selected
Again, this may seem obvious, but sometimes it’s overlooked; if the color of the canvas is selected, it would look like your Apple Pencil isn’t working. The color could’ve accidentally been changed to the canvas color without your knowledge if the eyedropper was accidentally summoned and picked up the canvas color.
6. Blend Mode
Make sure the current layer’s blend mode is set to normal.
7. Palm Support
Go to iPad’s Settings and then to the Procreate section. Make sure palm support is disabled.
8. Pressure Curve
In Procreate, go to Actions>Prefs>Pressure and Smoothing. Make sure the graph has a straight, diagonal line that starts in the bottom left corner and goes up to the top right corner.
9. Zoom
Go to iPad Settings>Accessibility>Zoom. Make sure Zoom is off.
10. Gesture Controls
In Procreate, go to Actions>Prefs>Gesture Controls. In the Smudge and Erase section, make sure the toggle (the one that says Apple Pencil will always smudge/erase) is off.
11. Alpha Lock
Is Alpha lock on the current layer? To check, go to Layers and tap the current layer (the blue one). On the menu that appears, find Alpha Lock. If there’s a check mark by Alpha Lock, it is on. Tap Alpha Lock to turn it off.
12. Update Procreate
Go to the App Store, search for Procreate, and tap on it. If it says “Update”, then you should tap it to update Procreate. This may help.
13. The Apple Pencil Isn’t Charged Or Has A Low Battery
Things happen, so for whatever reason your Apple Pencil may not be charged. Try charging the Apple Pencil and see what happens. You can also check the Apple Pencil section in Settings to find out if your Apple Pencil is charged.
Apple Pencils should consistently be kept above 5% charge. If your Apple Pencil is low on battery and stops working, charge it immediately. Don’t let your Apple Pencil sit dead or on low battery. If you let an Apple Pencil sit around for a while without being charged, the battery may fail and the Apple Pencil won’t work even when you try to charge it.
If you’ve let your Apple Pencil sit around uncharged for a while and now it doesn’t work, you will probably have to restart your iPad. Each iPad has a different way of doing this. To learn how to restart your iPad, read this.
If your Apple Pencil has a dead battery and won’t revive, you may have to get a new one.
14. Restart your iPad
As I described above, you may need to restart your iPad if the Apple Pencil had died of a low battery. Even if you don’t think that the Apple Pencil isn’t working because of a dead battery, restarting your iPad may be a good idea.
Each iPad has different way of restarting. To learn how to restart your iPad, read this.
IF YOU HAVEN’T USED YOUR APPLE PENCIL BEFORE AND IT ISN’T WORKING:
1. The Apple Pencil Isn’t Connected
The Apple Pencil needs Bluetooth to be used and charged, so if the Apple Pencil isn’t connected to your Bluetooth or your Bluetooth isn’t on, your Apple Pencil won’t work.
To pair your Apple Pencil, attach it to the side of your iPad (or plug it into the iPad if it is a 1st generation Apple Pencil). If the Apple Pencil isn’t connected to the Bluetooth, it will ask you if you want to pair the Apple Pencil.
2. The Apple Pencil Isn’t Compatible
Apple Pencils are not compatible with every device. They’re compatible with Apple iPads only. Not only that, but each version of the Apple Pencil is compatible with only certain versions of Apple iPads. To find out what version your iPad is, go to Settings>Apple ID (this section should have your name and is at the top of settings)> Device Info (the name of your iPad); here you’ll find what version your iPad is. To find out if your Apple Pencil is compatible with the version of iPad you have, take a look here. Find the version of Apple Pencil that you have, then see if your iPad version is listed as compatible.
3. The Apple Pencil Tip Isn’t On Tight Enough
This happens to me ALL OF THE TIME! If your Apple Pencil isn’t working, try twisting the tip towards the left until it is tight. Now try using your Apple Pencil.
4. No Size/Opacity
When you switch brushes in Procreate, the opacity and size change with it. It’s possible that the size or opacity of the brush is very low, making the brush strokes hard to see. This can give you the impression that your Apple Pencil isn’t working when really the size or opacity is just very low.
To check the size and opacity of a brush, find the sidebar (it is a little grey bar that is usually on the left side of the screen in Procreate. There are two sliders. The first slider is the brush size slider; if the slider is towards the top, the brush size is high. If it is towards the very bottom, it is low; raise it towards the top.
The bottom slider is the opacity slider. If the slider is towards the top, the brush opacity is high.
Another thing you could try is changing brushes; though it is not typical, a brush may not make a visible stroke, but instead will perform another function (for example, one of our brushes available for sale is a blender brush that doesn’t make a visible stroke on a blank canvas, but blends what is on the canvas).
5. The Paintbrush Tool Isn’t Selected
Make sure the paintbrush tool is the current tool. If the smudge tool or the erase tool is selected, you won’t be able to paint. It may seem simple, but sometimes this is overlooked and missed.
6. The Color of The Canvas is Selected
Again, this may seem obvious, but sometimes it’s overlooked; if the color of the canvas is selected, it would look like your Apple Pencil isn’t working. The color could’ve accidentally been changed to the canvas color without your knowledge if the eyedropper was accidentally summoned and picked up the canvas color.
7. Blend Mode
Make sure the current layer’s blend mode is set to normal.
8. Palm Support
Go to iPad’s Settings and then to the Procreate section. Make sure palm support is disabled.
9. Pressure Curve
In Procreate, go to Actions>Prefs>Pressure and Smoothing. Make sure the graph has a straight, diagonal line that starts in the bottom left corner and goes up to the top right corner.
10. Zoom
Go to iPad Settings>Accessibility>Zoom. Make sure Zoom is off.
11. Gesture Controls
In Procreate, go to Actions>Prefs>Gesture Controls. In the Smudge and Erase section, make sure the toggle (the one that says Apple Pencil will always smudge/erase) is off.
12. Alpha Lock
Is Alpha lock on the current layer? To check, go to Layers and tap the current layer (the blue one). On the menu that appears, find Alpha Lock. If there’s a check mark by Alpha Lock, it is on. Tap Alpha Lock to turn it off.
13. Update Procreate
Go to the App Store, search for Procreate, and tap on it. If it says “Update”, then you should tap it to update Procreate. This may help.
14. The Apple Pencils Battery Is Dead
If your Apple Pencil has been sitting uncharged for a while, its battery may have died. One way to revive the battery so that you can charge it is to restart your iPad. Each iPad has a different way of doing this. To learn how to restart your iPad, read this.
If your Apple Pencil has a dead battery and won’t revive, you may have to get a new one.
15. Restart your iPad
As I described above, you may need to restart your iPad if the Apple Pencil had died of a low battery. Even if you don’t think that the Apple Pencil isn’t working because of a dead battery, restarting your iPad may be a good idea.
Each iPad has different way of restarting. To learn how to restart your iPad, read this.
That’s all that I have for you in this blog post. Before you leave, I suggest signing up for our email list so that you get Procreate tips and tricks sent to your inbox (and exclusive discounts and deals!). Make sure to check out our digital brushes for Procreate and our other blog posts.
Thanks for reading!