Digital Applications for Making Stained Glass Patterns

If you’re looking for the best digital application for making stained glass patterns, I got em!

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Procreate

It’s very likely that you’ve already heard of this application. If you’ve ever seen an artist on Instagram or some other platform creating art digitally, there’s a very high chance they were using Procreate.

This application has risen in popularity for a number of reasons, but its ease of use is high up on that list. Even if you’ve never made one piece of digital art in your life, I promise you with a few practice sessions you’ll be well on your way with this app. This is even more true with how we use it for making stained glass patterns, because all you need is the bare-bone, basic knowledge.

In my article covering how to draw a stained glass pattern, I covered some steps for Procreate, but there are many other courses and tutorial videos online. If you’re interested in getting the full scoop and really honing your skills with this application, they have a Procreate Course that covers everything you need to know. This will be especially helpful if you plan to make other art assets of your designs like stickers or prints.

Capabilities

I won’t list all that you can do on Procreate because that would take up this whole article, but there are a few things that stand out to me as a stained glass artist that I know you’ll find valuable as well.

From Rough Sketch to Finished Design

Before I started using Procreate I would sketch my idea down on paper and then use a Wacom tablet and some applications I’ll mention next to create the designs digitally. However, with Procreate I’m able to start my rough sketches in the application and perfect it until I have the desired design. I still do use my sketch book at times because it’s my most cherished possession, but more often than not I’m starting from scratch in Procreate.

Create Perfect Shapes

If you’ve been creating your designs on paper then I don’t need to elaborate on how amazing it is to be able to create a perfect shape anywhere you need it. It saves so much time and energy.

Adjust Brush Sensitivity

When I’m working on my rough sketch in Procreate I leave this setting off, but once I’m ready to go over my sketch with my paint brush I’m able to turn this on and get perfect lines every time. It’s a game changer.

Create Multiple Color Variations of One Design

This capability is HUGE as a stained glass artist and probably my most favorite part about using any digital application. Picking out glass for a piece is difficult enough because it can be hard to imagine what those colors will look like next to each other and in the light. Obviously Procreate isn’t going to give you the EXACT representation of what your finished piece will look like, but being able to play with different color variations is so, so, so helpful in choosing which glass to use.

If you want to see this in action, I have a short TikTok clip showing how I use Procreate to help pick my glass colors.

Preset Template Sizes

When you first get the app it will come with loads of different preset temple sizes you can use. What I did immediately was delete all of those and create my own based on the poster sizes I send to print.

Personally I use standard poster sizes because they are easiest when you take them to get printed. This includes 11×17, 18×24 for really large pieces, or the standard 8×11 for smaller designs that I can print at home. Using these presets also gives me a really good idea of how large the piece is going to be based on the poster size I’m designing on.

Price

The Procreate app is incredibly affordable at only $19.99, however it does require an iPad so if you don’t already have one of those it’s a bit pricier than that.

Don’t have the money for an iPad right now? I use Affirm for all of my electronic purchases and it might be a great financing option for you as well.

Affinity Designer

For the longest time when I did graphic design regularly, I used Adobe Illustrator. This is because they are by far the most popular among designers, but for smaller artists the monthly fee just isn’t worth it. Then I came across the Affinity products and my life was forever changed. Unlike Adobe, Affinity only charges you ONCE. With your one-time purchase you get unlimited app updates, and all of the same features you get with Adobe’s main products.

Affinity has three applications. I have them all, but the two that I still use regularly for my stained glass and small business are Affinity Designer, and Affinity Photo. However the only one of these you need for stained glass pattern design is Affinity Designer. I only use Affinity Photo for editing photos for my social media, or this blog.

Capabilities

Like Procreate, Affinity Designer offers a ton of capabilities, but there are a few that stand out as a stained glass artist. This application can also serve as a replacement for Procreate if you’re not in the position to purchase an iPad just yet. By using something like the Wacom Tablet, you can draw in Affinity Designer just like you can in Procreate – well.. Not JUST LIKE, but you can draw digitally with it. I still have my Wacom tablet and did do this for a while before purchasing an iPad.

However, there are some things that Affinity Designer offers that I still use in conjunction with Procreate. It’s completely possible that these things can be done in Procreate and I just haven’t figured them out yet because I’m so dependent on Affinity Designer, so just keep that in mind.

Getting Exact Measurements

There’s a few times when I really need exact measurements of a design before it’s created. For instance I like to know if I have a box large enough to ship it before I make it. Also, I sell my pattern on Etsy, so it’s nice to be able to put down what the design measurement is, as opposed to the completed piece.

It’s super simple to get a measurement in Affinity Designer, I just grab the box shape and line it up with my design. If my document I’m working off of is in inches, it will tell me in inches how wide and how long my design is.

Creating Perfect Geometric Designs

This is possible in Procreate, however I find it to be much easier using Affinity Designer. There’s a ton of shape manipulations you can do, as well as using the pen tool with “snapping” turned on. Both of these save so much time creating symmetrical, geometric designs.

Creating Preset Pattern Templates

This is really only useful if you sell patterns. With this I’m able to create my pattern templates in preset sizes, include my logo and heading and all of the information I want to include, and then all I have to do is upload the PNG of the design I’ve created in either Procreate or Affinity Designer. This is also where I will number my patterns.

If you sell any of your patterns, this makes the process so much faster and easier to do.