Every option, side by side
Checked on October 12, 2026, against each tool’s own page, its README or its release notes. “Not stated” means the tool doesn’t say.
| Option | Needs iPad | Platform | Uploads your file | Layered output | Blend modes and masks | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Procreate’s own export (Actions > Share > PSD) | Yes | iPad | No | Layered PSD | Blend modes, opacity and visibility kept; masks not stated | Procreate is $12.99 once |
| Silicate | No | Windows, Mac, Linux; web viewer needs WebGPU | No | No. Flat PNG, JPEG, TIFF, WebP and more | Applied to the flat image | Free, open source (MIT) |
| Prospect | No | Mac (macOS 11 or later) | No | Each layer as PNG or TIFF. No PSD | Not stated | Free, donations welcome |
| ProcreateViewer | No | Windows 10 and 11 | No | No. Flat PNG, JPEG, BMP or TIFF | Composited into the flat image | Free, open source (MIT) |
| ProcreateViewer for Windows | No | Windows 10 and 11 | Not stated | Layered PSD, every layer as PNG | Not stated | Free, open source (MIT) |
| Procreate Studio | No | Browser | No | Each layer as PNG, JPG, TIFF or WebP. No PSD | Applied to the composite; masks not stated | Free |
| convert.guru and other upload converters | No | Browser | Yes | Not stated. convert.guru often returns only the embedded preview | Flat preview only | Free; some sites have paid plans |
Rename to .zip |
No | Any computer | No | No. A flat preview, 1024 px in our samples | Flat preview only | Free |
| toPSD | No | Current Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari | No | Layered PSD (PSB for huge canvases), every layer as PNG | Blend modes, groups, layer masks and clipping kept as editable layers | Free preview, PNG and time-lapse; first PSD free, then $3.90 a file or $24.90 once |
Silicate is the strongest free choice for looking at a file: it is open source, runs on all three desktop systems and renders blend modes and masks. Prospect is a Mac app that is still updated (version 1.2.1 came out in October 2025), and it also exports layers one by one and the time-lapse. ProcreateViewer for Windows is the one free app we found that writes a layered PSD; it was first released in September 2026 and its installer is unsigned, so Windows warns before it runs.
Which one to use
- If the artist still has the iPad, ask them for Actions > Share > PSD. It costs nothing extra for anyone who owns Procreate, and it comes straight from the app. The Procreate to Photoshop guide covers the steps and how to get the PSD onto a PC or Mac.
- If you only need to see or print the art, use Silicate on Windows, Mac or Linux, or Prospect on a Mac. Both are free and work offline.
- If you need the layers on a work PC, a school laptop or a Chromebook where you can’t install software, use toPSD in the browser. Nothing is installed and the file isn’t uploaded.
- If you need each layer as its own image, Prospect exports PNG or TIFF per layer on a Mac, and toPSD’s Layers as PNG works in any browser with a free account.
- If you want the time-lapse, Prospect exports it on a Mac. toPSD saves it as one MP4 for free, joining the recorded parts in your browser; the time-lapse guide has the details.
- If the art is private or belongs to a client, skip the upload sites. Silicate, Prospect, ProcreateViewer and toPSD keep the file on your computer.
The .zip trick, and why it stops short
A .procreate file is a ZIP archive. Rename artwork.procreate to artwork.zip (on Windows, turn on file name extensions in File Explorer first) and open it like any ZIP. Inside you’ll find:
QuickLook/Thumbnail.png, a flattened preview. In the sample files we checked it was 1024 pixels on its longest side, while a canvas can be many times larger.- One folder per layer, full of
.chunkfiles. These are compressed tiles of pixels that no image viewer opens. Document.archive, the settings file with the layer names, order and blend modes.video/segments, where the time-lapse is stored as a series of short MP4 clips.
The preview is fine for checking which file is which. For the full-size art or the layers, the tiles have to be decoded and put back together, which is what the viewers above and toPSD do. The .procreate format page explains the layout.
What toPSD gives you
Drop the file on the converter and you get:
- Free, with no account: the preview, the layer list, the full-size flat PNG and the time-lapse video.
- With a free account: every layer as a separate PNG, and a layered PSD. The first PSD is free; after that it is $3.90 per file, or $24.90 once for Unlimited (pricing).
- Layer names, order, opacity, visibility, blend modes, groups, layer masks and clipping masks in the PSD. A Display P3 canvas keeps its Display P3 color profile.
- A PSB file instead of a PSD when the canvas is too big for the PSD format.
The file is read by your browser and never leaves your computer. We have opened toPSD’s PSDs in Photoshop and in GIMP; see the guides for Procreate to Photoshop and GIMP for what to check after opening.