Krita reads PSD, not .procreate
A .procreate file is Procreate’s own container: a ZIP with a settings file and each layer stored as compressed tiles. Krita has no reader for that layout.
What Krita does read is PSD. Its own PSD documentation says it loads raster layers, groups, blend modes and transparency masks from Photoshop files, with the caveat that no program outside Photoshop supports PSD completely. That is the way in: turn the Procreate file into a PSD, then let Krita open the PSD.
If the artist still has the iPad, Procreate can export that PSD itself from Actions > Share > PSD. If you only have the .procreate file, the toPSD converter writes the PSD from the file’s layer data, in your browser.
About the Krita plugin
There is a third-party Krita plugin on GitHub called import_from_procreate that reads .procreate files directly. Two things to know before you install it: it has no packaged releases, so you have to install it from source, and its own README says blend modes are estimates and clipping masks are not visually accurate. For a file you need to keep editing, the PSD route gives Krita data in a format it has handled for years.
What the PSD carries into Krita
toPSD writes every Procreate layer as a normal pixel layer with its name, in the same order. Groups become groups. Hidden layers stay hidden. Opacity is kept. Each of Procreate’s 26 blend modes is set to the matching PSD mode, and the file carries the canvas’s color profile, so a Display P3 painting stays Display P3.
We have verified the PSD in Photoshop and GIMP. We have not yet opened one in Krita ourselves, so the notes below are a checklist, not a test report.
What to check after opening
- Clipped layers. Procreate clips a layer to the one below it; Krita’s equivalent is Inherit Alpha. Check that each clipped layer still only shows where the layer below has pixels, and turn on Inherit Alpha for it if not.
- Layer masks. These arrive as PSD layer masks, which Krita shows as transparency masks under the layer.
- Hue, Saturation, Color and Luminosity. Every painting app calculates these four modes a little differently, so layers that use them can shift slightly. Compare against the free flat PNG from toPSD if something looks off.
- Text layers. Procreate text comes through as pixels. The words look the same but can’t be edited as text.
If the file looks wrong in a way these notes don’t explain, the Procreate PSD problems page lists the causes people hit most often.
Save in Krita’s own format
Once the file is open, save it as .kra with File > Save As. That is Krita’s native format and it keeps everything Krita can do, including its own layer types and masks. Export back to PSD only when you need to send the file to someone using Photoshop or another PSD app.
On any system
Krita and toPSD both run on Windows, Mac and Linux, so the steps are the same everywhere. On a PC, the Windows guide has the full walkthrough. GIMP users have a separate guide with tested results, and if you only need the picture, the free Procreate to PNG export is enough.