Are you an artist or graphic designer and want a professional app for your designs/drawings? Then 9 times out of 10 Procreate is the best app for you. But say you don’t use an iPad but you can’t find any Procreate Alternatives then you have come to the right place. Owning an iPad is considered one of the best, if not the best alternative to owning a laptop but a lot of iPadOS apps like Procreate don’t have support for Windows Machines.
What is Procreate?
Procreate is a hugely popular app used by artists and graphic designers to make their imagination come to life. The app is Apple Exclusive and is only available on iPadOS with a less powerful Procreate Pocket available for iOS. Procreate comes with more than 130 types of brushes, advanced layer blending, filters, masks, and more. It has a simple and clean UI which makes it a great choice for any artist or graphic designer who has an iPad or an iPhone.
Why do you need a Procreate Alternative?
Windows isn’t seen as much of a tablet-friendly OS, yes, we do get the tablet mode in windows and there are quite a few laptops which touchscreens and a 360° hinge for you to use as a tablet but most of the apps you would want to use on a tablet are not built for a Windows Device. Here, we have gathered some best Procreate Alternatives for Windows you can use for your digital drawings.
Best Procreate Alternatives For Windows (2021)
1. Autodesk Sketchbook (Free)
Autodesk Sketchbook is a very popular app for Artists and Graphic Designers. It is regarded, by many users as the best Procreate Alternative for Windows. Autodesk Sketchbook is also available for free to anyone who creates an account (Do note that the Enterprise Edition costs $85 per year) unlike Procreate which requires a $9.99 one-time purchase. The free edition also comes with all the features without any limits unlike other apps which make you pay extra for “premium features”.
The app also supports third-party styluses and palm rejection when you are using a stylus. The app also comes with advanced features such as an infinite canvas, 140 different types of brushes that you can tweak to your liking, a curved ruler for perfect sweeps and curves, multiple tools, layers, and many more. One main issue with Autodesk Sketchbook is that it requires a learning curve and it may take you some time to get used to all the controls and features. Autodesk Sketchbook is a great app if you are looking for something which is free, and professional for you to use.
2. Krita (Free)
Krita is a free, open-source Procreate Alternative for Windows. It is a powerful app that helps you create anything from conceptual art to illustrations and comics. After the recent update, Krita got a huge design overhaul which not only made the UI much easier to navigate but also much better in terms of how the app looks. Krita supports a number of colorspaces like CMYK at 8- and 16-bit integer channels, as well as 16 and 32-bit floating-point channels.
Unlike Procreate, Krita supports Vector Graphics which means that you can create files that are not too large in size. Krita is already a top-rated app for illustrations in the Linux Community and is also well established with users on Windows. Krita also supports Raster Graphics and advanced layers amongst many other features. Like Autodesk Sketchbook, however, Krita also does require a learning curve and the features may be a little overwhelming to beginners. However, with a bit of learning, Krita can become one of the best Procreate Alternatives for Windows.
3. ArtRage ($47)
One of the most severely underrated Procreate Alternative for Windows is ArtRage. It is an amazing tool to create digital drawings with a wide variety of tools. ArtRage tries to make your drawing/painting experience on your Windows Machine much more realistic. It is a great entry point for beginners who wish to get into graphic design and digital illustrations. The tools are simple to use and understand for beginners to learn quickly and easily.
For more flexible tools, ArtRage also allows you to tune them to your liking. ArtRage has features such as tracing, custom brushes, smearing, special brushes, and many more. ArtRage is not a tool for professionals, so if you are a professional artist or graphic designer, we would suggest you look for more professional apps on this list. Another caveat with ArtRage is the fact that it costs $47 which is a little steep considering that it doesn’t come with professional tools. So, if you are a beginner and wouldn’t mind spending $47 then ArtRage is the best Procreate Alternative on Windows for you.
4. Adobe Illustrator ($240 per year)
Adobe Illustrator is a part of Adobe’s Photo Editing and Graphic Designing Suite. It is a powerful application for professional Graphic Designers. Adobe Illustrator can be used to create anything from logos or icons to advertisements on billboards. Like Krita, Adobe Illustrator also supports Vector Graphics which helps you lower the file size of your final image. Also, like Krita and Procreate, Adobe Illustrator also lets you play around with rasterization.
Adobe Illustrator also comes with Adobe Sense AI which can help you work more efficiently. Adobe Illustrator also works with other Creative Cloud apps which means you can access fonts from Adobe Fonts Plus or create portfolios using Adobe Portfolio. Like other Adobe apps, Adobe Illustrator is an expensive subscription which is its main caveat. That said, if you are a professional Graphic Designer who already uses other Adobe Creative Cloud apps, then Adobe Illustrator is for you.
5. Concepts (Free, premium plan starts at $4.99/month)
Concepts is an application that offers the same level of a touchscreen as Procreate. It is specifically optimized for the Surface Pen and the Surface Pro X but it is compatible with any type of Stylus you own. It also offers palm rejection support when using a stylus. Concepts are also optimized keeping in mind the ARM64 based Windows Machines. Concepts support features like Color Dial while using a touch-screen Windows Laptop and like Procreate, Concepts offers close to zero latency.
Concepts have support for a lot of brushes, pens, and pencils. It offers a huge Canvas for you to draw. Concepts also offer different canvas types where you can choose the texture and pattern. If you have an active stylus like Wacom then you can use its velocity feature for flexible drawing and sketching. Concepts also come with support for Tilt and Pressured modes which help you add high levels of detail to your sketches. If you have a touchscreen device or stylus then Concepts is the closest, a Procreate alternative will come to Procreate.
6. Corel Painter ($450)
Corel Painter is a professional tool for Artists and Graphics Designers, it is one of the best Procreate Alternatives for Windows. It is marketed as a “Tool for the pros, created by the pros.” It offers more than 900 types of brushes, and a variety of patterns, pens, exclusive particles, and much more. The UI is customizable due to which you can remove elements from the UI you don’t use, you can also add them back whenever you want in case you do need them.
Corel Painter also gives you in-built tutorials on how to use the app if you are a beginner. Like some other professional apps on this list, Corel Painter also comes with a Learning Curve. All the features in Corel Painter come at a price, $450 to be exact. However, Corel Painter is a great tool for you if you are a professional or even a beginner who would like to become a professional Artist or Graphic Designer.
7. Inkscape (Free)
Inkscape is an open-source software which means that it is completely free. Like some other apps on this list, it also supports vector graphics due to which you can have small file sizes. Like Procreate, Inkscape offers tools such as anchor, smart navigate and flyout. Inkscape is not the best of tools you can find for raster graphics but it is one of the best for vector designing.
Inkscape also offers you tools like Bezier, spiro curves, layers, color profiles, text tools, and many more. Inkscape also supports advanced color profiles and layers. Inkscape’s UI is clean and easy to understand. So, if you don’t do a lot of raster editing then Inkscape is the right tool for you.
What is the Best Procreate Alternative for Windows?
That ends our list of the best Procreate Alternative for Windows. You should decide on which app to download best for your needs. For example Are you a beginner? Do you want an app that focuses more on vector graphics? Do you want an app that is optimized for touchscreen machines? If you want to recommend other great apps that we might have missed, you can tell us in the comment below.
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