Throughout my career, I have made stickers, logos, GIFs, and countless other designs. Often times it's desired (or necessary) to add outlines to my work.
Let me share my best trick to add white outlines to anything in Procreate!
To add white outlines to your artwork in Procreate you will need follow these steps using Layers.
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Create a duplicate layer of your artwork.
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Set the duplicate to "Alpha Lock" and fill it with white.
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Turn off "Alpha Lock" and use Gaussian Blur at 20%.
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Use the Automatic Selection on the blurred layer to create your outline shape.
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While the selection is active, open the Layers panel and create a new layer below your artwork.
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Tap on the layer thumbnail and select "Fill Layer".
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Now delete the blurred layer.
👇🏼 Check out the video on how to add outlines!
5 Practical Uses for White Outlines in Procreate
Now you've created a white outline around your object. You can apply this to anything inside Procreate. This trick is very versatile for many different graphics and styles.
Here are my 5 practical ways to use white outlines in Procreate:
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Create a white outline for stickers
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Add outlines behind hand-lettering projects
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Add a white outline to fonts & typography
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Add a cut-line for printing
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Add outlines behind transparent GIFs
Can I Create Outlines of Any Color?
Yes, follow the steps above and use any color in step 6.
The possibilities are truly endless. You can add any color outline, to any graphic, text, or sticker in Procreate.
How to Add Shadows to Enhance Your Outlines
Adding shadows to your outlines can make them jump right off the page!
To create shadows below your outlines you only need to add 4 steps to the process.
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Duplicate the layer with your white outline and drag it to the bottom.
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Tap on the layer thumbnail and choose "Invert" to turn it black.
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Add 20% of Gaussian Blur to the layer to make it a shadow.
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Lower the Opacity of your shadow layer to make it look more realistic.
Now you've successfully added a shadow layer to your "sticker". Great job!
Final Thoughts on the Outline Trick
This is a very simple trick that you can apply to your work from here on out. You can modify, adapt, or tweak the settings to create your own unique outline style.
You could even create outlines by using Procreate's built-in Grid feature, then hand-drawing them in!
The only limit is your creativity & imagination. I can't wait to see how you apply this in your own work.
Use #VisualTimmy when sharing your artwork online so I can see it!
Enjoy creating,
Timmy
