Procreate is a popular digital art making app which is loaded with tons of features to make your digital art journey more streamline. “Alpha Lock” is one such feature. Wondering what it does? Let us discuss “Alpha Lock” in detail.
What is Alpha Lock in Procreate?
Any digital image or art is made of multiple small colored squares called pixels. Devices make the colors of any image by mixing three color channels (Red, Green, Blue), along with an additional channel which is called “Alpha.” This Alpha channel represents the transparency or opacity of each pixel.
Alpha Lock is a mask in Procreate Windows and iPad apps that locks the alpha channel of a particular layer, which means all the transparent (unpainted) pixels on that layer are locked. Once the Alpha Lock is enabled for a layer, you can only paint over the colored parts and hence, you will be unable to paint on the transparent parts. It’s like making an invisible outline that keeps you from painting outside of it.
How to Use Alpha Lock in Procreate?
To use Alpha Lock in Procreate, follow the given steps-
- Open your art in the Procreate app.
- Click on the “Double Page” icon present at the top right corner, to open the “Layers” menu.
- Now, select the particular layer in which you want to use the “Alpha Lock.”
- Tap on your selected layer and after that a menu will pop up on your screen. Here, choose the “Alpha Lock” option.
- After enabling the “Alpha Lock,” background of that particular layer will be turned into a checkerboard (transparent) in the “Layers” menu which ensures that “Alpha Lock” has been enabled for that particular layer.
- Then check and use it for your layer on the canvas.
- You can undo your edits by clicking on the “Arrow” (Left side facing) present at the left side of your canvas.
- To turn off Alpha Lock, go back to the “Layers” menu, select that layer, tap on it and click on “Alpha Lock” in the pop up menu.
Pro Tip
Every change that you make under the Alpha Lock is going to be on the original art layer, (and it is destructive in nature), meaning that once you exit out of the file the changes are irreversible and you will not be able to undo the changes that you have made. The only way to revert the changes will be by redrawing that particular layer.
So, before using the Alpha Lock, always make a duplicate copy of that layer, in which you want to use the Alpha Lock.
When to Use Alpha Lock in Procreate?
You may need to use the Alpha Lock in the following scenarios:
- Shading and highlighting an object without worries of spreading paint outside the outline.
- Blending and smudging in a layer without spreading the color outside the boundary of the element.
- To add another color or texture within the painted areas of a layer.
- Adding effects to one layer.
Alpha Lock is a powerful Procreate tool, which can simplify certain time consuming and fine tasks such as shading, blending, highlighting, etc, and save a lot of time. There are hundreds of possibilities in which you can use the Alpha Lock and make your tasks a lot easier, so, whether you are a beginner or an experienced artist, the Alpha Lock feature can be useful to you in multiple ways.
FAQs
Can I use Alpha Lock with multiple layers in Procreate?
Yes, you can use the Alpha Lock with multiple layers in Procreate, but you have to turn on “Alpha Lock” individually on each layer and each layer will behave individually to your edits under Alpha Lock.
Why is Alpha Lock not working in Procreate?
If Alpha Lock is not working on your Procreate app then take the following checks-
- Make sure you have turned on the Alpha Lock on the right layer.
- If you are trying to color your outlined sketch or fill any new colors to an empty space, Alpha Lock will not work, because it has already locked the empty or unpainted (transparent) parts of the canvas.