Update: Procreate 5 is finally out now for download. Check out more info plus our hands-on preview of the update.

Visitors to Lightbox Expo, one of our best design conferences of this year, were today witness to an unveiling of Procreate's biggest update since 2017, Procreate 5, which will be shipping to existing customers in late 2019 as a free update.

The drawing and painting app, built especially for the iPad, has long been a favourite with digital artists, to the extent Adobe is now responding with a Procreate of its own in Adobe Fresco.

To stave off the competition, software makers Savage have powered this latest version of their flagship app with Valkyrie, which is described as "an ultra-powerful new graphics engine capable of cutting-edge visual effects."

Also to look out for is the newly-developed Brush Studio, offering illustrators more control and customisation thanks to a built-in graphically-accelerated texture generator.

What's new in Procreate 5?

Procreate 5 will offer a new floating Color Picker, designed to speed up the process of colour matching and picking. Savage has also redesigned the app’s transform and selection modes for added visibility over the canvas.

Brushes will be able to transform easier thanks to Color Dynamics, giving artists new ways of creating texture and depth to their artworks thanks a deep integration of Apple Pencil’s pressure and tilt technology. The new Clone Tool meanwhile helps with duplicating texture across one's canvas.

Also unique to this version is the option to import CMYK and RGB ICC profiles, which'll make artists working across screen and print happy. Plus, with fundamentals like onion skinning and instant playback, the Animation Assist tool aims to help illustrators with creating animation, looping GIFs and animatics, should they be looking to broaden their repertoire.

Read next: Procreate 5 hands-on, specs and release date for the 2019 update