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Procreate Color Palette: Export, Install, and Use Archive Colors on iPad

How to get a production-ready Procreate color palette from a named archive into your iPad workflow — including the .swatches format, installation steps, and which collections work best for illustration.

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Key points
Procreate uses the .swatches format — ColorArchive exports this directly from the full archive.
Named, structured palettes speed up illustration work compared to eyedropping reference images.
Editorial Warmth and the Creator Bundle are the strongest starting points for illustration use.

What Procreate needs from a color file

Procreate imports palettes via the .swatches format, which is a flat JSON file Apple Books or Files can hand off to the app. Each color needs an HSBA value. ColorArchive's download packs include a .swatches file generated from the full named archive so you can install hundreds of production-quality colors in one tap rather than eyedropping reference images one by one.

Which collections fit illustration best

Not every archive collection works equally well for illustration. Editorial Warmth is a strong starting point because the warm-leaning mid-tones work across skin, fabric, wood, and ambient light without pushing into oversaturation. The palette has enough range to cover both shadow and highlight anchors without fighting the paper texture Procreate's brushes naturally add.

Installing and organizing on iPad

Once you have the .swatches file in Files or Downloads, open Procreate, go to the Palettes panel, tap the plus button, and choose Import. The full archive installs as a single named palette. From there you can duplicate it and delete colors you do not need to build illustration-specific subsets. The Content Creator Bundle includes the .swatches export plus CSS and JSON for the same set, so the colors stay consistent if you move between Procreate and a web or brand context.

Practical next step

Move from the guide into a concrete palette lane

Guides explain the use case. Collections prove the taste. Packs handle the export and implementation layer.

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