It is always a good idea to adjust Procreate tools to your own preferences to have the best user experience. One of the settings that I always suggest adjusting is the Pressure Curve, which controls the way Procreate reacts to the pressure applied. And tweaking Procreate’s Pressure Sensitivity will allow you to match Apple Pencil stability and sensitivity to the way you draw and write.
Pressure Sensitivity Curve adjustment is very important for every artist but it could be a game-changer for calligraphy and lettering artists. In calligraphy, you need to have precise control of your pen to create strokes that would vary in width.
In this tutorial, I will show you how to adjust the Pressure Curve and apply Stabilization and Motion Filtering in Procreate.
Stabilization and Motion Filter Settings
Thanks to the new Procreate update, stabilization and motion filtering now can be applied to all brushes at once in the Pressure and Smoothing settings of Procreate.
To access stabilization and motion filtering settings go to Actions > Prefs > Pressure and Smoothing.
Stabilization
According to Procreate “Stabilization takes a moving average of a stroke and draws that on the canvas.” That means the higher the Stabilization, the more it will smooth out the wobbles in a stroke. Stabilization also depends on the speed of your stroke, meaning that the faster you draw, the more it will smooth out a stroke. So, if you want your strokes to be straighter and look less like it is hand-drawn, then play around with Stabilization.
In the Pressure and Smoothing menu, use the slider to set the percentage of Stabilization you prefer.
Motion Filtering
Motion Filtering is very similar to stabilization but uses more advanced algorithms. While Stabilization smoothes out wobbles by squashing them towards a central line, Motion Filtering deletes the extremities of a stroke’s wobbles without any squashing.
Use the slider to set the percentage of Motion Filtering you prefer.
Motion Filtering Expression
Motion Filtering Expression works only if Motion Filtering is on. When you use Motion Filtering it helps to average the wobbles but the problem is that it can also make your strokes too straight. And that is when you need to turn on the Motion Filtering Expression because it can put some expressive feeling back into strokes making them a bit more hand-drawn.
Just one thing to remember: the higher percentage of Motion Filtering, the less effect Motion Filter Expression can have on a stroke.
Use the slider to set the percentage of Motion Filtering Expression you prefer.
Tip Attachment
Tip Attachment works only if Motion Filtering is on and it establishes the start point of your stroke.
Tip Attachment is on by default, however, you can always turn it off by switching the toggle. When Tip Attachment is on, strokes begin where the tip of a stroke starts.
With Tip Attachment turned off, the start point of a stroke is found by taking into consideration multiple start points and finding an average between them.
App Pressure Sensitivity Curve
At the bottom of the Pressure and Smoothing menu, you will see the App Pressure Sensitivity curve graph. By default, the curve comes as a straight diagonal line. To adjust the Pressure Sensitivity, drag this line.
X-axis
The horizontal x-axis of the graph defines pressure. Moving the curve to the left will mean that your Apple Pencil will respond quicker to lighter pressure. And pushing the curve to the right will mean that you would have to press the Apple Pencil harder to get a response.
Y-axis
The vertical y-axis sets the Apple Pencil’s output. Moving the curve to the maximum value (top) will result in the brush producing the maximum thickness and opacity. Moving the curve to the minimum value at the bottom will create a thinner or more transparent line.
Add mode points
You can have more precise control of the transition between different pressure values or the thickness of the lines by simply adding more points to the pressure curve. To add a point, tap anywhere on the line, if you want to move the point simply drag along the line. If you want to delete or reset a point, tap on it and select one of the options. You can have six points maximum (that includes two that you already have at the ends of the line).
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