What Procreate's Fill Tool Does and How to Access It

Procreate's fill tool — officially called the Paint Bucket or Fill tool — lets you flood an area with solid color in a single tap. It works by detecting the edges of shapes you've drawn and filling everything inside them with your chosen color. You access it from the toolbar on the left side of your screen, or by holding down your finger on the brush tool until a menu appears.

The fill tool is faster than painting by hand when you have large flat areas to color, and it's especially useful for digital coloring pages, graphic design, and filling backgrounds. Unlike the brush, it doesn't require steady hands or multiple strokes — one tap does the work.

Key Takeaways

  • The Paint Bucket tool fills enclosed areas with a single tap, accessed from the left toolbar or by long-pressing the brush tool.
  • You must set your foreground color before filling, using the color circles at the top of the toolbar.
  • The Threshold setting controls how strictly the tool respects the edges of your shapes — lower values fill only exact matches, higher values fill across small gaps.
  • Turning on "Contiguous" makes the tool fill only connected pixels; turning it off fills all pixels of the same color anywhere on the canvas.
  • If a fill leaks outside your intended area, undo it, tighten your line work, and lower the Threshold before trying again.

Setting Your Color Before You Fill

The fill tool uses whatever color is currently set as your foreground color. Look at the top of the left toolbar — you'll see two overlapping squares, usually one in front of the other. The front square is your foreground color; the back one is your background color. Tap the foreground square to open the color picker.

The color picker shows a large square for brightness and saturation, a vertical bar on the right for hue, and a slider at the bottom for opacity. Tap or drag in the main square to choose your color, then tap outside the picker to close it. Your new color is now set, and the next fill will use it.

Understanding Threshold: Why Your Fill Stops or Leaks

Threshold is the most important setting for controlling where the fill stops. It tells Procreate how similar a pixel's color needs to be to the pixel you tapped in order to get filled. A low threshold (like 5 percent) means only pixels almost identical to your tap point will fill. A high threshold (like 50 percent) means pixels that are somewhat different will also fill.

If your fill leaks outside the area you wanted — bleeding into white space or crossing a line you thought was solid — your threshold is too high. Lower it and try again. If your fill stops short and leaves gaps inside the area you wanted to color, your threshold is too low. Raise it. Most work falls between 10 and 30 percent, depending on how clean your line work is.

You adjust Threshold in the tool options at the bottom of the screen. Tap the number next to "Threshold" and drag left to lower it or right to raise it. You can also type a number directly.

Contiguous: Filling Connected Areas Only

Contiguous is a toggle switch in the tool options that changes what "connected" means. When Contiguous is on (the default), the fill tool colors only pixels that touch each other in an unbroken path from where you tapped. When it's off, the tool fills every pixel on the canvas that matches your threshold, even if they're separated by other colors.

Leave Contiguous on for most work — it prevents accidental fills in distant parts of your drawing. Turn it off only when you want to fill all instances of a color at once, like changing every red pixel to blue across the entire canvas.

Step-by-Step: Filling a Simple Shape

Start with a shape you've drawn with a pencil, pen, or brush tool. The lines should be closed — no gaps where the fill could leak out. If your lines have small breaks, the fill will leak; go back and close them before trying again.

Tap the Paint Bucket tool in the left toolbar. Check that your foreground color is set to what you want. Look at the tool options at the bottom and confirm Threshold is between 10 and 30 (a safe middle ground for most drawings). Make sure Contiguous is on. Now tap inside the shape you want to fill. The color should flood the area instantly.

If the fill goes where you didn't want it, press Ctrl+Z (or Cmd+Z on Mac) to undo, then lower your Threshold and try again. If the fill stops short of the edges, undo and raise the Threshold slightly.

Fixing Leaks and Gaps

A leak happens when the fill escapes outside your intended area, usually because there's a gap in your line work that the threshold is too high to notice. Undo the fill, zoom in on the area where the leak started, and draw over the gap with a pencil or pen to close it completely. Then lower your Threshold by 5 to 10 percent and fill again.

A gap happens when the fill stops before reaching the edges of your shape, usually because the threshold is too low or your lines are very light. Undo, then raise the Threshold by 5 to 10 percent. If that doesn't work, your lines may be too faint — draw over them with a darker or more opaque stroke and try filling again.

Using Fill on Different Layer Types

The fill tool works on any layer, but the results depend on the layer's content. On a drawing layer with pencil or ink, it fills based on the colors already there. On an empty layer, it creates a solid shape. On a layer with transparency (the checkerboard pattern), it fills only the non-transparent pixels.

If you want to fill on a separate layer from your line work, create a new layer below your lines, select it, and fill there. The fill will respect the edges of the lines on the layer above, as long as those lines are opaque enough. This is a common workflow for digital coloring — keep your outlines on one layer and colors on layers below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my fill keep leaking outside the lines?

Your Threshold is too high, or your lines have small gaps. Lower the Threshold by 5 to 10 percent and try again. If it still leaks, zoom in and look for breaks in your line work. Close any gaps with a pencil or pen, then fill again.

Can I fill with a pattern or gradient instead of solid color?

The Paint Bucket tool fills only with solid colors. To use patterns or gradients, use the Fill tool's alternatives: the Gradient tool (for gradients) or the Pattern Fill option in the Adjustments menu. Both let you fill areas with more complex colors.

What's the difference between the Paint Bucket and the Selection tool's fill option?

The Paint Bucket fills based on color similarity and threshold. The Selection tool lets you draw a shape by hand, then fill it. Use the Paint Bucket for quick fills of enclosed areas; use Selection when you want precise control over the exact boundary.

Does the fill tool work on text layers?

No. Text layers are special and don't respond to the fill tool. To color text, either rasterize it first (Layer menu, then Rasterize) or use the text color picker when you create the text. Rasterizing turns the text into a regular drawing layer.

Can I fill multiple areas at once?

No, the fill tool fills one area per tap. If you want to fill many similar colors at once, use the Select by Color tool to select all instances, then use Edit > Fill Selection. This is faster than tapping each area individually.