How to Change Colors in Procreate- Without Starting From Scratch

Hue, Saturation and Brightness adjustment is a wonderful little Procreate tool that can completely change the look of a piece in seconds! Keep reading to learn how to change colors Procreate without starting from scratch!

The Joys of Procreate

Have I said that I love Procreate yet?? 🙂 This little wreath has changed colors a few times now! It is a simple little project that I recently adapted for a commission! And I’m needing to change the color to a different hue to match a different palette.

Watercolor wreath with lavender roses. Text reads "Ruth Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5
A recent commission for a sweet nursery!

Rather than repaint the entire thing, I put Procreate’s hue, saturations and brightness feature to use! Check out the video to see the process! I’ll explain it a little more in detail below, although this is a really simple feature to use!

The Process Video

A Few Notes on My Procreate Process

In order to keep everything organized, I try (being the operative word) to keep the layers labeled. For this wreath, I created the design on 5 different layers. I started with a circle sketch, then created the roses, then a layer with the small leaves, a layer with the berries and then a final layer for the branch connecting them together. Once I was done, I grouped all of these layers together and kept this as an original. I duplicated this layer and kept one copy untouched in case I needed to go back and edit later. And now I’m really glad that I did this!

How to Change Colors in Procreate- The Hue, Saturation and Brightness Tool

So let’s get to how I use this tool. And I will review why it is good that I had each piece of the design on a separate layer.

You can find the Hue, Saturation and Brightness adjustments in the magic wand section as illustrated below:

Image with "Hue, Saturation, and Brightness" tool in Procreate selected. Showing how to change colors in procreate.
Hue, Saturation, and Brightness Tool Location

If I had created my whole wreath on one layer, I would not have been able to use the HSB tool to recolor the flowers without affecting the leaf color- which I’m quite happy with. But! Since I did leave my original with separate layers, I was able to combine my roses and berries onto one layer and then make my adjustments from there. I could have made this adjustment twice (once on each layer), but it was easier to do it all at once and also for consistency of color.

So on to the very simple process. Choose the layer with the element you want to recolor. Tap the magic wand and choose Hue, Saturation and Brightness. Use the sliders at the bottom to play around with the color until you’re happy. And then voila! All done!

HSB adjustments located at the bottom of the page

Finishing the Piece

In this video, I am completely changing all of the calligraphy, so I start from scratch there. I typically import my favorite set of guidelines (from Lan). I try to lock this layer, because I’ve written directly on it so many times and had to start over hehe. This piece is also for a nursery and consists of the baby’s name and the meaning of her name beneath.

I start with a large size of calligraphy and scale down typically in Procreate. I don’t really know all the technical terms, but if you scale things up in Procreate, they tend to get fuzzy. This doesn’t happen as much when you make them smaller, so that’s my go to :). Once I have my lettering completed and centered, I add a watercolor effect to it so it doesn’t stand out so starkly within the design.

Here is the completed project!

Framed photo with watercolor wreath reading "claire: Bright, clear" (name meaning).
The final product!

Are you interested in having a print like either one of these for your nursery? I will be adding these to the shop soon, or you can always shoot me an email to discuss any potential design!

Let me know what you think in the comments!

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