If you use Procreate on iPad, chances are you’ll eventually work on a project which requires the use of fonts or typeface. Procreate – and iOS – generally have a great selection of preset fonts, but we are also able to download our own and import them to Procreate; meaning you can truly personalise your digital artwork.
First of all, we’ll show you how to get to the fonts within Procreate. On your canvas, tap on the settings icon in the top left-hand corner, the one which looks like a wrench. Once in the actions menu, click on add text.
You’ll now see that you can write your own text using the on-screen keyboard. Type your chosen wording in here.
On the right-hand side of the keyboard, at the top, you’ll see an icon that looks like Aa. Tap on this to open the font menu. On the left-hand side, you can see all fonts currently installed on your iPad.
Procreate’s Preset Fonts
Let’s start by taking a look at the preset fonts included with both Procreate and your iPad’s operating system (iOS). Procreate comes pre-loaded with three default fonts, these are named Eina 01, Impact, and Jack Armstrong BB.
All of these fonts are designed to be versatile but also work well together for different sorts of typeface requirements.
Eina is a modern sans serif font that is ideal to use for general text, it’s both suitable for serious or official work, but also creative graphic design.
Our next font is named Impact, which has a quite fitting name. This font is ideal for headers, posters, and titles as it’s quite bold.
The last Procreate preset font is Jack Armstrong BB. This is a more relaxed, informal font which is designed for fun and playful digital art projects.
You may also have noticed that you have more than these three fonts installed to Procreate already; this is because they’re part and parcel with your iPad’s operating system. This list includes a whole host of fonts, and you will most likely find some very useful ones here.
To view all available preset fonts on your iPad, you can use the list in the text tool, where all fonts will be displayed alphabetically, alongside showing you what it looks like. This is a lot easier than having to create your text before finding out what the font looks like!
Note: the number of fonts available on Procreate may vary depending on the year and model of your iPad alongside which operating system you are using.
How to Install Your Own Fonts to Procreate
Once you learn how to install your own fonts into Procreate, your opportunities really are endless. There are many online resources where you can download fonts, however, it’s worth checking out Creative Fabrica’s range of downloadable fonts, which you can use on many programmes such as Procreate and Adobe Photoshop.
An important thing to note is that fonts come in various file types, and Procreate is able to import TTC, TTF, and OTF files. Usually, fonts are in these formats, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
The first step is to find a font that you want to use. So, locate this online and download it to your iPad. You can also download your chosen font to your computer and then send it (for example, using AirDrop) to your iPad too.
If you’re downloading directly from the internet onto your iPad, tap download on the pop-up box.
Then tap on the download icon (which looks like an arrow) on the top of your internet browser, next to the address bar. You’ll see your chosen font downloaded here, tap on it to open it.
Whichever way you wish to get the font onto your iPad, ensure that it’s saved into your files.
Tip: sometimes your file may download as a zip, but if you go into your files and tap to open the file, it should unzip automatically.
You should now see your downloaded font saved within your iPad’s files, and it should either be a TTC, TTF, or OTF file.
Next, open up your Procreate app, and either create a new canvas by tapping on the + in the top right-hand corner of the gallery page, or go into a project which you’re already working on.
Tap on the actions button, which is on the top left-hand side menu and looks like a wrench. Ensuring that you’re in the add section of this menu, tap on add text.
You’ll then see a keyboard appear which allows you to write in your own text. Type whatever text you want here.
Above the keyboard’s backspace button – on the far right-hand side, and on the top row – you’ll see an icon that looks like Aa (if you have an older version of Procreate, this may appear as a blue button named edit style). Tap on this.
The font styles menu will then appear, where you can amend your font, the style, the design, and its attributes. You’ll see along the top of this box, is an option named import font. You guessed it – we’re going to click this.
Once you’ve clicked on import font, you should see your iPad’s file window pop up on the screen. Use this window to navigate to the file location where you have saved your downloaded font.
Tip: if you can’t find your downloaded fonts, they will usually be in the file either called downloads or on my iPad.
Additional tip: if you’re looking for your downloaded font and it’s not showing as clickable, it may be within a zip file which needs unzipping. Navigate to your files on your iPad and then simply tap on the zip file to open it. This should then create a font file (in the TTC, TTF, or OTF format) which can be imported into Procreate.
You’ll then see a full-screen message saying importing. This means that your font is downloading into Procreate!
In the font section, you should now be able to find your newly imported one in the alphabetical list. Double tap on your text and then select your font to change the typeface.
We hope that this guide to importing fonts into Procreate was useful, and don’t forget to check out Creative Fabrica’s range of downloadable fonts here!
This article was written by
