How to Invert Colors in Procreate: A Comprehensive Guide
As a digital artist or designer, you know that experimenting with color is a crucial part of the creative process. Choosing unexpected color palettes can lead to striking, original work that stands out from the crowd. But coming up with fresh color schemes isn‘t always easy, especially if you find yourself relying on the same old hues again and again.
That‘s where color inversion comes in. This powerful digital effect instantly generates complementary color palettes by flipping your existing colors to their opposites on the color wheel.
Apple‘s Procreate for iPad and iPhone has quickly become one of the most popular digital art apps, with over 30 million downloads as of 2021. And it‘s easy to see why – with its responsive pencils, smudge-able brushes, and intuitive layer system, Procreate makes digital art and design feel more natural than ever.
But even long-time Procreate users may not know that you can invert your colors in just a few quick taps using blend modes. Once you see how easy and useful it is, you‘ll want to make color inversion a regular part of your creative workflow.
In this article, I‘ll show you exactly how to invert colors in Procreate, explain how blend modes work, and share some of my favorite ways to use inverted colors in digital art and design. Whether you‘re an illustrator, graphic designer, UI designer, or hobbyist, you‘ll find tips and inspiration you can apply to your own creative projects. Let‘s get into it!
What is color inversion?
First, let‘s make sure we‘re on the same page about what color inversion is and how it works. Take a look at the color wheel below:
[Insert color wheel image with inverted color pairs labelled: yellow-blue, red-green, orange-teal, etc.]As you can see, every color has an opposite, or complementary color, on the other side of the wheel. Yellow is opposite blue, red is opposite cyan, and so on. These are the colors you get when you invert an image.
Color inversion is a digital effect that takes an image and flips all the colors to their opposites. Whites become black, black becomes white, and all the colors in between are replaced with their complements.
Here‘s a famous example of color inversion in action:
[Insert example of Mona Lisa color inversion. Original on left, inverted on right]Leonardo da Vinci‘s Mona Lisa is known for its subtle earth tones and warm shading. But the inverted version looks like an alien landscape, with glowing purples, blues, and greens. See how much the mood and "temperature" of the piece changes?
Inverting colors is a bit like seeing in negative. It takes the familiar and makes it strange. The effect can be shocking, otherworldly, even humorous. But it can also uncover hidden tonal relationships and suggest unexpected color harmonies.
How to invert colors in Procreate
So how exactly do you apply color inversion to your own art in Procreate? It‘s a simple 3-step process using blend modes:
Step 1: Create a new layer at the top of your layer stack and fill it with solid white. Tip: An easy way to do this is tap-and-hold the white color swatch, then drag it onto the layer.
[Screenshot of dragging white onto layer]Step 2: With the white layer selected, tap the blend mode icon (the N in a circle) and change the mode to "Difference".
[Screen recording of changing blend mode to Difference]Step 3: That‘s it! The white layer disappears, leaving your colors inverted. You can toggle the effect on and off by tapping the checkmark next to the Difference layer.
[Screenshot of layers panel with Difference layer, colors inverted]Pro tip: Adjust the opacity of the Difference layer to control the intensity of the color inversion. At 100% opacity you get a full inversion, but at lower opacities you‘ll see a mix of the original and inverted colors.
[Screen recording demonstrating opacity change]This process works exactly the same whether you‘re using Procreate on an iPad or iPhone. And it doesn‘t alter your original layers, so you can freely edit your art without worrying about messing up the inverted colors.
How does color inversion work in Procreate?
You might be wondering how the "Difference" blend mode is able to flip your colors like that. Blend modes are mathematical formulas that determine how the colors on two layers interact. There are over 25 blend modes in Procreate, each with different effects.
Here‘s what the Procreate Manual has to say about Difference mode:
"This blend mode looks at the color information in each channel and subtracts either the base color or the blend color depending on which is brighter. This blend mode is useful for inverting the base color. Blending with white inverts the base color values."
In other words, Difference mode compares the colors of the two layers and outputs the difference between them. Whites are inverted to black, and colored areas become their opposite hue.
If that sounds a bit technical, don‘t worry – you don‘t need to understand the math to use blend modes effectively. Just experiment with different modes to see what they do! Color Dodge, Linear Burn, and Exclusion are a few other modes that can drastically change the look of your colors.
Creative ways to use inverted colors in Procreate
Now that you know how to invert colors in Procreate, let‘s explore some creative and practical applications. Here are a few ways I like to use inverted colors in my own work:
Evaluate values and composition
It‘s easy to get caught up in details and lose sight of the "big picture" when you‘ve been working on a piece for a while. Inverting the colors can reveal problems with composition, contrast, and value structure that you may have missed.
For example, say you‘re working on a landscape painting and you want to check if your values are reading correctly. By inverting the colors, you can instantly see if your darks and lights are balanced and if the overall composition is solid.
Tip: Create two versions of your art, one with inverted colors, and compare them side by side. Make a new file the same dimensions as your original, create a white layer in Difference mode, then drag in your artwork and lower the opacity to see both versions at once.
[Example of landscape painting original and inverted to check values]Generate complementary color palettes
If you‘re struggling to come up with a fresh color palette, inverting your colors is a great way to discover unexpected schemes that still harmonize. The inverted colors will automatically be complementary to your original palette.
You can use the inverted colors as-is, or tweak them further using hue, saturation, and brightness sliders. I like to make swatches of my inverted palettes so I can easily come back to them later.
Here‘s an example of a muted, vintage palette and its inverted complement:
[Example of muted palette and inverted bright palette]See how the vintage shades of brown, tan, sage, and mustard become vivid blues, pinks, and purples? The inverted palette feels modern, electric, and playful in comparison.
Create eye-catching graphic effects
Inverted colors are a staple of psychedelic and surreal art styles, where the goal is to warp perception and create dream-like atmospheres. You can incorporate color inversion into your illustrations, designs, and UI elements for striking, memorable visuals.
For example, you could invert the colors on certain layers of your illustration to make them glow or pulse with unnatural hues. Or invert the colors in a certain area of your design to draw attention and add contrast.
[Example of illustration/design using inverted colors for special effects]Experiment with different ways of incorporating inverted colors into your work. A little goes a long way, so start subtle and adjust to taste. Remember, you can always dial back the effect by lowering the opacity of your Difference layer.
Color inversion and accessibility
It‘s worth noting that inverting colors is more than just an artistic technique – it‘s an important accessibility feature for many users.
People with visual impairments or color vision deficiencies may use color inversion to improve the legibility of text and images. For example, someone with low vision might find it easier to read light text on a dark background than the default dark-on-light.
In fact, both iOS and Android offer system-wide color inversion settings to help users with visual needs. As designers, we should keep this in mind and make sure our work remains usable and readable in inverted colors.
A good rule of thumb is to choose color schemes with high contrast ratios (aim for at least 4.5:1 for normal text). That way, your colors will still have enough contrast when inverted.
You can check your color contrast ratios using online tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker or Contrast app. Just enter your text and background colors to see if they pass accessibility guidelines.
FAQ
Still have questions about inverting colors in Procreate? I‘ll answer some of the most common ones below:
Q: Does inverting colors work the same on iPad and iPhone?
A: Yes, the steps for inverting colors in Procreate are exactly the same on both iPad and iPhone. The interface may look slightly different due to screen size, but the functionality is identical.
Q: Can I invert colors on only one layer?
A: Yes, you can! Just make sure the layer you want to invert is visible and all other layers are hidden when you add your Difference layer. Then you can unhide the other layers afterward.
Q: Will color inversion change my original artwork?
A: Nope, color inversion is totally non-destructive in Procreate. The Difference layer doesn‘t alter your original layers at all, so you can toggle the effect on and off or delete it completely without losing any work.
Q: Can I invert colors in other drawing apps like Photoshop?
A: Absolutely. While the exact steps may be different, most raster image editing programs have a color inversion or "negative" effect you can apply. In Photoshop, for example, you‘d go to Image > Adjustments > Invert.
Go forth and invert!
Color inversion may seem like a small feature, but I think it‘s one of the most powerful creative tools you can have in your digital art arsenal. Once you start incorporating it into your process, you‘ll wonder how you ever worked without it.
Remember, there are no rules when it comes to using inverted colors in your art. It‘s all about experimenting, playing, and discovering what works for you. Invert with abandon! The more you do it, the more possibilities you‘ll see.
I hope this guide has given you a solid understanding of how to invert colors in Procreate and why you might want to do it. But don‘t just take my word for it – open up the app and try it for yourself!
I‘ll leave you with some final bits of inverted inspiration. Here are a few examples of stunning digital art and designs that use inverted colors to great effect:
[3-4 examples of inverted color art/designs]Now go make something strange and beautiful! And as always, feel free to leave any questions or ideas in the comments. Happy inverting!