Adobe Fresco is an accessible drawing app that allows anyone to become an artist. Curious about what you can do with it? iPhone explains it to you.
Learn to use Adobe Fresco with your iPad
Everyone can create the most beautiful sketches and paintings with the Adobe Fresco app. Even if you think you are not a good draftsman, this app is definitely recommended. Adobe has consciously chosen to make the application as accessible as possible. If you enjoy being creative, Fresco is a good outlet.
The app has recently become available for free download for your iPad in the App Store. You must first create an Adobe account or log in with your Facebook or Google account. Then you can get started. This is how you use the Adobe Fresco app.
From sketch to painting
When you start the app, you can immediately choose a format of your artwork. You can choose the size of your iPad, a square, or a comic book format. If you had a size in mind, you can also choose it by tapping “custom size”. The easiest to start with is the screen size.
You will now get a white canvas. Here you can draw or paint anything you want. First you choose the brush you want to use to draw. Basically there are three types of brushes. You can also vary within these brushes. With the first type you make a sketch. With the second you color in the sketch. You use the third type to create clean lines.
The app also supports the Apple Pencil. This works very well, because the Pencil works like a real pencil. So you can press harder or softer to get a thicker or thinner line. You can also make wider, lighter stripes with the flat side of your Pencil.
Pixel brushes
With pixel brushes you mainly make sketches. For example, you can make a sketch first and then color it with the other brushes. You can choose eight basic pixel brushes, both hard and soft. But there are also many other brushes, such as a highlighter or ink. You choose the pixel brushes by tapping the first brush with dots next to it, at the top left of the screen. Then you can scroll through the different types of pixel brushes.
It is best to try out the brushes by drawing a line on the canvas and comparing it. You can remove it by tapping ‘undo’ at the top right of the screen. You can save your favorite brushes by selecting them and then tapping the star next to the brush. The brushes are then under the ‘favorites’ tab next to ‘all’.
Live brushes
Under the pixel brushes you will find the live brushes. You can recognize this by the icon of a brush with a drop above it. With these brushes you can color your sketch. There are two types of live brushes: watercolor and oil paint. These brushes work just like in real life: the paint will run and mix when you paint another color over it.
You can choose four types of watercolor brushes and seven types of oil paint brushes. For example, you choose a very fine brush or a coarse round brush. With one brush the paint runs more than with the other. Maybe you don’t want that, or maybe it gives a nice effect. It is a matter of trying.
Vector brushes
The third and last kind of brushes are the vector brushes. With these brushes you mainly make clean lines. For example, you can trace the lines of your colored sketch so that they come out better. You can recognize the vector brushes by the icon of the brush with a circle underneath.
There is only one kind of the vector brushes. You simply choose, for example, a round or flat brush. Pressing harder or softer on the screen will also make the line thicker or thinner.
Erasing and undoing
To quickly erase, double click on the circle in the screen. If it’s blue, you can erase the same size as the brush you were using. For large pieces you can tap the eraser icon on the left.
Do you want to take away everything you just did? Then tap the arrow at the top right of the screen, or tap the screen with two fingers. Wasn’t it supposed to take away so much? Then tap the screen with three fingers to recall your last action.
Transform and select
You can select a part of your painting and make it larger or smaller, or move it. You select a section by tapping the lasso-shaped icon and circling the desired section. If you keep the icon pressed for a long time, you can choose different shapes with which you want to select something.
With the transform function you can then make the area larger or smaller. You can recognize this function by the icon with an arrow and a cross on the left of the screen. There will then be a square around the selected part. You can drag it back and forth to resize it or move it to a different place.
Colors
You can choose a color by tapping the circle on the left of the screen. Here you can choose a ready-made ‘fresco color’, or tap a color in the color wheel. Under ‘Themes’, the Fresco app has already chosen colors that go well together.
You can also change the density of the color, which means that you make the color more transparent or very opaque. You also choose in the square in the color wheel how light or dark you want this color.
Save colors
If you have chosen a color yourself with the wheel and then have chosen a different color, you can still retrieve this color. You do this by using the dropper. Swipe your finger across the screen. There will now be a magnifying glass with a colored ring around it.
- Bring the magnifying glass to the color you want and look in the colored ring to see if you are on the right color;
- Release on the correct color. The color is now selected in the color wheel;
- Tap the ‘Recent’ tab at the bottom of the window;
- Tap the plus sign to save the color.
Remove colors from your environment
A great feature of Adobe Fresco is that you can also save colors from your environment in this way. You do this by taking a picture of it with your iPad. Follow the following steps:
- Tap the image icon on the left of the screen. You can tap your camera here, or choose an existing photo;
- Take or choose a photo with a nice color;
- Choose ‘Use photo’ to put your photo in your canvas. Resize the photo so that you can also see the rest of your painting;
- Remove colors from the photo with the dropper;
- Save the colors by tapping the plus sign.
This way you can create a whole palette of colors from your environment. Then you can make a painting with the colors you have found yourself. You remove the photo from your canvas by removing this layer. Tap the cell with the photo on the right side of the screen and choose Remove Layer.
Other Adobe apps
Previously, the Adobe apps were mainly for professionals, but everyone can easily work with the Fresco app. The app is free to use, but if you want access to all brushes you have to purchase a subscription.
Several Adobe apps have now become available for the iPad. The full version of Adobe Photoshop was also recently released for the iPad. In addition, there are several drawing apps available, such as Adobe Photoshop Sketch and Adobe Illustrator Draw. Adobe has announced that the full version of Adobe Illustrator is also on the way, but unfortunately we have to wait until next year.