Procreate

Procreate is an Australian creative-software brand developed by Savage Interactive, a privately held company based in Hobart, Tasmania. The brand is best known for Procreate, a raster painting and illustration application designed primarily for the iPad and Apple Pencil. It has become one of the most widely recognized digital-art tools among illustrators, concept artists, animators, designers, educators, hobbyists, and professional creative studios. Savage Interactive was established in 2011 with a focus on building a streamlined digital-art experience for touch devices. Rather than beginning as a conventional desktop graphics suite, Procreate was designed around direct manipulation on the iPad: users draw on the screen with a stylus, work with layered canvases, customize brushes, import and export common file formats, and use gestures for navigation and editing. This touch-first approach helped distinguish the product from desktop applications that were adapted less directly to tablet use. The original Procreate application has expanded from a painting tool into a broader digital-illustration platform. Its capabilities include layered composition, brush creation and management, color tools, selection and transformation, time-lapse recording, text and typography functions, animation features, reference tools, and support for high-resolution artwork. The product has also developed a large ecosystem of user-created brushes, tutorials, educational materials, and professional workflows. Its visual interface and purchase model have contributed to its appeal among users who want a capable tool without committing to a traditional recurring desktop-software subscription. Procreate Pocket extends the brand's drawing and painting experience to the iPhone. Although designed for a smaller screen, it shares important concepts with the iPad application and gives users a portable way to sketch, paint, and develop artwork. In 2023, Savage Interactive introduced Procreate Dreams, a separate iPad application focused on 2D animation, motion design, and storytelling. Dreams broadened the company's scope beyond still-image illustration by combining drawing, animation, keyframing, editing, audio, and timeline-based authoring in a touch-oriented environment. The company has positioned Procreate around creative ownership, accessibility, and tools that support artists rather than replacing them. This positioning became particularly visible in the company's public opposition to generative-AI image creation in its products and marketing. Procreate stated that it would not introduce generative AI into its applications, framing the decision around the value of human-made art and concerns about how generative systems are trained and used. The stance differentiated Procreate in a creative-software market in which major competitors were increasingly adding generative features. Procreate sells its applications internationally through Apple's App Store and distributes related information, support, educational resources, and product announcements through its own digital channels. The company is privately held, and detailed financial information, ownership percentages, and revenue figures are not publicly established in the supplied reference material. Its continuing product development is closely tied to Apple's iPad and iPhone platforms, while its brand identity remains centered on independent artists, illustrators, animators, and visual storytellers.

Procreate's history is closely connected with Savage Interactive, an independent Australian software company founded in Hobart, Tasmania, in 2011. The company entered the market during a period when the iPad was becoming a serious platform for creative work. Instead of treating the tablet as a secondary display for desktop software, Savage Interactive built Procreate around touch interaction, stylus input, and a mobile interface. The initial product focused on digital painting and illustration. Its design emphasized a relatively direct relationship between the artist's hand and the canvas, supported by pressure-sensitive input, customizable brushes, layers, color controls, transformations, and gesture-based navigation. This approach made the application useful both for quick sketches and for finished professional artwork. The product's development was also shaped by the capabilities of Apple's tablet hardware and stylus ecosystem. As the application matured, Procreate added tools that extended its usefulness beyond basic painting. These included advanced brush controls, selections, masks, text, animation assistance, time-lapse recording, color management, file import and export, and other features expected in a professional graphics workflow. The company maintained a strong focus on the iPad rather than pursuing a broad cross-platform product strategy. That concentration helped the brand establish a clear identity in Apple's creative-app marketplace. Savage Interactive later brought the core Procreate experience to the iPhone through Procreate Pocket. The smaller-screen application was intended for portable sketching and painting while retaining the brand's emphasis on touch interaction. Together, the iPad and iPhone applications gave Procreate a presence across two major Apple mobile-device categories. The company's next major expansion was Procreate Dreams, launched in 2023. Dreams was conceived as a distinct animation and storytelling application rather than simply an animation mode inside the original painting product. It combined a touch-oriented timeline with drawing, animation, keyframes, editing, audio, and compositing tools. The release allowed Savage Interactive to address animators, motion designers, and visual storytellers while preserving the company's emphasis on approachable direct manipulation. Procreate has also developed a substantial educational and creator-facing ecosystem. Its website and support materials provide documentation, tutorials, product explanations, and resources for artists. The application is used by professionals and students as well as by hobbyists, and its file, brush, and workflow features have made it part of many individual and studio production processes. A notable part of Procreate's recent brand identity is its opposition to generative AI in its products. In public communications, the company said it would not incorporate generative AI into its creative applications. It presented the decision as a commitment to human creativity and as a response to concerns about consent, authorship, and the use of artists' work in generative-AI training. This position stood out in a software sector where large competitors were promoting AI-assisted image generation and editing. Procreate remains a privately held Australian software business. Its commercial model is primarily associated with paid applications distributed through Apple's App Store, while the company provides its own supporting content and services through Procreate.com. Publicly available information does not establish a complete financial history, detailed ownership structure, or a comprehensive list of company executives beyond leadership identified in the company's own materials.

• 2024

  Procreate rejects generative AI in its products

  [6]Procreate and generative AIprocreate.com

  The company announces that it will not add generative-AI image features to its creative applications.

• 2023

  Procreate Dreams launches

  [5]Procreate Dreamsprocreate.com

  Savage Interactive launches Procreate Dreams, an iPad application dedicated to animation, motion design, and storytelling.

• 2018

  Procreate receives an Apple Design Award

  [8]Procreate receives an Apple Design Awarddeveloper.apple.com

  Procreate is recognized by Apple in the Design Awards, reflecting its importance as a touch-first creative application.

• 2013

  Procreate Pocket is introduced

  [4]Procreate Pocketprocreate.com

  The brand extends its digital-painting concept to the iPhone through Procreate Pocket.

• 2011

  Savage Interactive is established

  [2]Procreate About pageprocreate.com

  The Australian software company behind Procreate is established in Hobart, Tasmania, with a focus on creative tools for modern digital devices.

Artist-focused, touch-first creative software emphasizing direct drawing, professional capability, accessibility, and human-made digital art.

• Digital painting and illustration · 2011

  Procreate

  Procreate is the brand's principal iPad application for digital painting, drawing, illustration, lettering, and visual design. It provides a layered canvas, customizable brushes, color and selection tools, transformations, typography, animation assistance, time-lapse recording, and professional file workflows. The application is designed around Apple Pencil and direct touch interaction, allowing artists to work from quick sketches through high-resolution finished pieces.

• Mobile digital painting and illustration · 2013

  Procreate Pocket

  Procreate Pocket adapts the Procreate drawing and painting experience for iPhone. It is intended for portable sketching, painting, and artwork development on a smaller screen. The product retains the brand's emphasis on responsive touch interaction, brushes, layers, color tools, and exportable digital artwork while accommodating the constraints and use cases of a phone.

• 2D animation and motion design · 2023

  Procreate Dreams

  Procreate Dreams is an iPad application for creating animated artwork, motion graphics, and visual stories. It combines drawing and painting with a timeline, keyframes, editing, audio, and compositing features. Dreams extends Savage Interactive's touch-first approach from still illustration into animation and time-based media, making the product relevant to independent animators, illustrators, educators, and visual storytellers.

• 2024

  Decision not to add generative AIStrategy

  Background

  Generative AI became a major product and marketing theme across creative software, while artists and creators raised concerns about authorship, consent, training data, and the effect of synthetic media on creative work.

  Action taken

  Procreate publicly stated that it would not introduce generative AI into its creative applications and positioned the decision as support for human-made art.

  Aftermath

  The announcement differentiated Procreate's brand positioning from competitors that were adding generative image features, although the company did not disclose a quantified financial effect.

  Source

• 2023

  Launch of Procreate DreamsProduct launch

  Background

  Procreate had established a strong position in digital illustration, but its core product was primarily associated with still images. Animation and motion design represented a natural adjacent category for a touch-first creative-software company.

  Action taken

  Savage Interactive introduced Procreate Dreams as a separate iPad application combining drawing, animation, timeline editing, audio, and storytelling tools.

  Aftermath

  The launch broadened the brand from digital painting into animation and motion-based creative production.

  Source

1. 1Procreate official websiteprocreate.com
2. 2Procreate About pageprocreate.com
3. 3Procreate product pageprocreate.com
4. 4Procreate Pocketprocreate.com
5. 5Procreate Dreamsprocreate.com
6. 6Procreate and generative AIprocreate.com
7. 7Procreate (software)en.wikipedia.org
8. 8Procreate receives an Apple Design Awarddeveloper.apple.com