Procreate to print: a tattoo artist's guide to exact-size output
The right canvas settings, export format, and printing workflow — so your design lands on skin at the size you intended.
The problem nobody warns you about
You open Procreate, create a new canvas, type "80 cm" because that's how big the back piece should be, crank the DPI to 300 because you've heard that's what you need for printing — and Procreate gives you 4 layers. Four. For a full back piece. You either fight through it with flattening and merging, or you give up and lower the DPI, and then your print comes out blurry. This is one of the most common frustrations tattoo artists face with Procreate, and it comes from a single misunderstanding: you don't need to create your canvas at print size.
Why huge canvases destroy your layers
Procreate stores every layer as a full-resolution bitmap in your iPad's RAM. The bigger the canvas in pixels, the more memory each layer takes. An 80 cm canvas at 300 DPI is 9449 × 9449 pixels — that's 89 million pixels per layer. On most iPads, that leaves room for only 3–5 layers. But here's the thing: you don't need 89 million pixels to print a tattoo stencil. A stencil is line art, transferred to skin through carbon paper. Even a detailed design prints beautifully at 150 DPI. And you can work at a smaller canvas size and scale up at print time without losing quality — if you do it right.
| Canvas size (cm) | DPI | Pixels | Approx. layers (iPad Pro) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 × 80 | 300 | 9449 × 9449 | 3–5 |
| 80 × 80 | 150 | 4724 × 4724 | 18–30 |
| 40 × 40 | 300 | 4724 × 4724 | 18–30 |
| 30 × 30 | 300 | 3543 × 3543 | 40–60 |
| A4 (21 × 29.7) | 300 | 2480 × 3508 | 60–90 |
The recommended workflow
Step 1: Choose your canvas size wisely
Think about your final print size, but don't set the canvas to that size if it's large. For most tattoo work, create your canvas at a comfortable working size — A4 or A3 — at 300 DPI. This gives you plenty of layers and detail. You'll scale it to the final body-placement size when you print. If your design is a small piece (under 20 cm), you can set the canvas to the exact print size at 300 DPI — the pixel count will be manageable.
- Small tattoos (under 20 cm): create canvas at exact size, 300 DPI
- Medium tattoos (20–40 cm): create canvas at exact size, 150–200 DPI, or at half size, 300 DPI
- Large pieces (40 cm+): create A3 canvas at 300 DPI, scale at print time
Step 2: Design your tattoo
Work normally in Procreate. Use as many layers as you need for sketching, inking, shading references, and color notes. The key advantage of working at a reasonable canvas size is that you have full access to Procreate's layer system — no more flattening halfway through because you ran out of layers. Keep your final line work on a separate layer so you can easily isolate it for the stencil.
Step 3: Prepare for export
Before exporting, decide what you need to print. For a stencil transfer, you typically want just the line art — hide all other layers (shading, color, background) and leave only your outlines visible. If you want a full-color reference print for the client or your own use, keep everything visible. Either way, make sure the background is white (not transparent) unless you specifically need transparency.
Step 4: Export from Procreate
Tap the wrench icon (Actions) → Share → choose your format. Here's what to pick:
- PNG — Best for stencils and line art. Lossless compression preserves every sharp edge. Use this for anything you'll print.
- JPG — Acceptable for color reference prints where file size matters. Avoid for stencils — JPG compression blurs fine lines.
- PSD — If you want to continue editing in Photoshop or another app before printing.
- PDF — Built-in Procreate PDF works but gives you limited control over print size. Better to export PNG and handle sizing separately.
Step 5: Print at exact size
This is where most artists struggle. You have a PNG file — now you need it printed at exactly 35 cm wide (or whatever the body placement requires). Most printer software doesn't make this easy. You can fiddle with "scale to fit" and custom sizes in your printer dialog, or you can use a tool built for this. Open GridPrint, drop in your PNG, and set the target size in centimeters. If the design fits on one page — done. If it's larger than a single sheet, GridPrint splits it across multiple pages with crop marks and overlap guides so you can tape them together. Print at 100% scale (no "fit to page") and you get exact dimensions.
The "thinking in centimeters" trap
Here's a real scenario. A tattoo artist creates every design in Procreate at the final body size — 50 cm sleeve, 80 cm back piece, 60 cm thigh wrap. She sets 300 DPI because that's "print quality." The result: massive canvases with 3–5 layers, constant flattening, painfully slow brushes, and frequent crashes. After weeks of frustration, the fix turned out to be simple: she was thinking in centimeters when she should have been thinking in pixels.
Procreate's canvas setup UI shows centimeters and DPI as separate settings, which makes it feel like you should enter your print size directly. But the real number that matters is the pixel count — that's what determines your layer limit, performance, and final print quality. The centimeter size only matters at the moment you print, not while you're drawing.
What DPI do tattoo stencils actually need?
For stencil transfers, you don't need 300 DPI. A stencil is applied through thermal transfer paper, which has its own resolution limits — the carbon paper can't reproduce detail finer than what the human eye can see at arm's length. 150 DPI is more than enough for clean, sharp stencil lines. Even 100 DPI works for larger, simpler designs. Save the 300 DPI for color reference prints you'll show the client or hang on the studio wall.
| Print type | Minimum DPI | Recommended DPI |
|---|---|---|
| Stencil transfer | 100 | 150 |
| Color reference (client approval) | 150 | 200–300 |
| Portfolio / framed print | 200 | 300 |
Quick reference: canvas settings for common tattoo sizes
| Tattoo placement | Typical size | Recommended canvas | DPI | Approx. layers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrist / ankle | 5–10 cm | 10 × 10 cm | 300 | 90+ |
| Forearm | 15–25 cm | 25 × 15 cm | 300 | 60+ |
| Upper arm / half sleeve | 25–35 cm | A4 (21 × 29.7 cm) | 300 | 60–90 |
| Full sleeve | 40–60 cm | A3 (29.7 × 42 cm) | 300 | 30–50 |
| Back piece | 50–80 cm | A3 (29.7 × 42 cm) | 300 | 30–50 |
| Full leg / torso | 80+ cm | A3 at 300 or A2 at 150 | 150–300 | 20–50 |
Scaling up without losing quality
If you work at A3 (300 DPI) and need to print at 80 cm, you're scaling up roughly 2×. That drops your effective resolution to about 150 DPI — still perfectly sharp for a stencil and good enough for a reference print viewed at arm's length. The key is that your source image has enough pixels to support the upscale. An A3 canvas at 300 DPI gives you 3508 × 4960 pixels — that's plenty for printing up to about 90 cm at 150 DPI.
For line art specifically, the scaling works even better than for photos. Clean vector-like lines hold up extremely well when scaled, because there are no smooth gradients or fine textures to degrade. A stencil drawn at A3 and printed at 80 cm will look crisp.
Summary: the step-by-step flow
- Open Procreate → New Canvas → Custom Size.
- Set canvas to A3 (or A4 for smaller pieces) at 300 DPI. Don't enter your final print size if it's over 40 cm.
- Design your tattoo with all the layers you need.
- When done, hide everything except line art for a stencil (or keep all visible for a reference print).
- Export as PNG (Actions → Share → PNG).
- Open GridPrint → drop in the PNG → set your target size in cm.
- Download the PDF and print at 100% scale. If it's bigger than one page, GridPrint splits it with crop marks.
- Cut along the marks, tape the sheets together, and transfer.