Layered TIFF from the browser
Procreate’s own TIFF export, from Actions > Share > TIFF on the iPad, is flat: one image, no layers. When all you have is the .procreate file, nothing on a PC or Mac reads it at all.
The toPSD converter reads the file in your browser and writes a layered TIFF from the layer data. Nothing is uploaded. The TIFF holds two things in one file:
- The flat artwork, the full canvas at full resolution, with transparency kept where the Procreate background was hidden. Any TIFF reader shows this.
- Photoshop’s layer data, stored the way Photoshop stores it in its own layered TIFFs. Apps that read it rebuild the layer stack.
What the layers keep
The layer data is the same as in toPSD’s layered PSD:
| From Procreate | In the TIFF |
|---|---|
| Layers, names and order | Kept, with the full Unicode names |
| Opacity and hidden layers | Kept |
| Groups | Kept as layer groups |
| Blend modes | All 26 Procreate modes mapped to Photoshop’s |
| Layer masks | Kept as layer masks |
| Clipping masks | Kept as clipping masks |
| Background color | A bottom layer named Background, when it is visible |
| Color profile | Embedded, so Display P3 stays Display P3 |
| DPI | Kept, so the print size is right |
Text layers come through as pixels, as they do in the PSD. Procreate’s Hue and Saturation blend modes use slightly different maths from Photoshop’s, so layers using them can look a little different.
How we checked it
We converted Silicate’s open sample files, including a file with all of Procreate’s blend modes and one with a layer mask, and opened the TIFFs in GIMP 3.2.4. GIMP showed every layer and group with the right names, blend modes and masks, and the Display P3 profile. ImageMagick 7.1 listed every layer with its position. We have not opened the files in Photoshop, Affinity Photo or Krita yet, so if one of them gives you trouble, the layered PSD is the safer choice for that app.
TIFF or PSD
Both carry the same layers, so pick by what the receiver asks for:
- PSD: Photoshop, Photopea and the many other apps that read PSD. See open a Procreate file in GIMP for what we tested there.
- TIFF: print shops, archives, and workflows that standardize on TIFF. A viewer that ignores layers still shows the finished artwork.
Each is one layered export, so it uses one credit, and both are included with Unlimited.
A flat TIFF
If you only need the finished picture as a TIFF, download the free PNG and save it as TIFF in any image app. Both formats are lossless, so the pixels stay exactly the same. For a print hand-off, a PDF from the same converter is another option.