Get started with the user interface

For Adobe Fresco on iPad and tablet devices, Download Adobe Fresco, launch the app, and watch the video as you try the different tools to draw and paint.

Keep this article handy. You'll find short, helpful videos for the tools right within the app. You'll also find information about the core workflow, the workspace, and settings.

Each artwork is a document in Adobe Fresco. Tap on Create new on your Home screen to start drawing on a blank canvas.

Adobe Fresco gives you many different print and digital layouts to choose from. You can also specify and save your own custom size and orientation.

Import and open a document

On the home screen, tap on Import and open to work on an existing PSD document or project created with Adobe Sketch or Adobe Draw. You can import large Photoshop files (.PSB) into Fresco. 

Get to know the document workspace

When you open a document, you get all your drawing and painting tools and other helpful controls in the workspace.

Use these icons to quickly go to the Home screen, undo, get help, open the Share workspace, access document and app settings, and make your canvas full-screen.

Access all your brushes, selection tools, and color tools from the toolbar. You will also find the Transform tool and the Eraser tool here. See Pixel brushes, Live brushes, and Vector brushes.

The Taskbar has all the controls to work with layers. Tap on the icons at the top of the Taskbar to open the Layers panel and find the layer actions. See Layers and Layer masks.

Watch this video to see how you can use the different Adobe Fresco tools and controls to change parts of a drawing.

Transform tool Using this tool, you can select and transform layers or add effects like liquify to alter the appearance of an object. 

Sliders

The enhanced slider capabilities in Fresco let you make selections and edits with higher speed and accuracy to any object, design, or settings.

You can also tap on the numeric keypad or slider to move the slider or double-tap the slider thumb to reset the slider back to its default state.  

Touch Shortcut

The little circle on the lower left of the screen is the Touch Shortcut. Tap and hold the circle to quickly access the primary and the secondary actions for some of the tools. 

For example, while using a pixel or vector brush, you can activate the primary state to temporarily change your brush into an eraser. Just tap and press down the Touch Shortcut with the one hand until you want to use the eraser.

To lock the shortcut to the primary state, just double-tap. Notice that the middle circle changes to blue when locked. Hitting the lock state is easy as you don’t have to keep a finger pressed to one spot while using the alternate version of a tool.

Touch Shortcut map

In the Touch Shortcut panel:

• The Tool column shows the active tools such as, Pixel brush, Live brush, and so on.
• The Primary column shows the primary function of the Touch Shortcut when enabled such as, Erase with brush, Paint with clear color, and so on.
• The Secondary column shows the secondary state of the Touch Shortcut when enabled such as, Trim Strokes, and so on. 
  

Keyboard shortcuts

Fresco supports keyboard shortcuts. Use common and consistent keyboard shortcuts across Fresco and Photoshop on iPad. 

Save a document

Tapping on the Home icon, while working in the editor, saves and syncs your Fresco document to your Creative Cloud account. The Cloud icon in the upper-right corner of the workspace indicates whether you are connected.

Tap on the Your files tab in the left navigation section of the home screen to view and manage your Fresco documents. 

The icon in each document thumbnail indicates the sync status of the document or if the document is offline.

From the More Options pop-up for each document, you can perform document management actions, such as rename, export, duplicate, delete, and share link. You can make a document available offline if you want to access it always.

Adobe Fresco keeps your deleted documents for 30 days. 

Customize document settings

Open a document and tap on the Settings  icon to view and customize the document settings.

• Tap on the document name in the Settings panel to rename the document.
• Change the angle for rotation snapping.
• Flip or rotate the canvas.
• Disable or enable the Touch Shortcut.

Manage app settings

Tap the Settings icon  in the upper-right corner of the home screen. In the App Settings dialog, choose any of the setting groups: General, Input, Account, About, or Help. 

Within these setting groups, tap to expand any section to view the available settings and options.

General Tab

Interface

• Toolbar: Select Right in the Toolbar to move the toolbar to the right of your canvas if you are left-handed.
• Appearance: Choose a Dark or Light color theme for the app interface.

Quick export settings

• File format: Choose an image format and quickly share a snapshot of your document.

Restore settings

• Tap Reset learn content to restore to when you first open the app.

Canvas projection

• Use a cable to connect a second display or mirror your screen using AirPlay and project your Fresco canvas only. For details, see Enable canvas projection.

input Tab

Apple Pencil/Surface Pen (on Windows)

• Set the pressure sensitivity of your stylus.
• Set the default action for a double-tap with your Apple Pencil/Pen.

Touch

• Customize finger settings, Touch Shortcut settings, and Snapline.

ACCOUNT Tab

Manage account

• Click Manage account to redirect to your Adobe account page on the web.

Premium features

• View your subscription plan and check out the premium features. See how to upgrade to a paid plan of Adobe Fresco.

ABOUT Tab

What's New

• What's new: Read about Fresco and the installed version details. Find a link to visit the What's new page of Fresco.
• Read what's coming to Adobe Fresco and view premium features.

Follow and share

• Follow Fresco on social, play live streams of professional artists, or request live streaming of your creative process on Behance.

Legal

• Send crash reports: You can choose to send crash reports that help improve Fresco.
• Find privacy policy and legal and copyright information. 

Help Tab

Learn

• Filter, search, and browse tutorials from the Adobe YouTube playlist and follow along with picture in picture play mode.
• Access the list of gestures, Touch Shortcut, and keyboard shortcuts.

Support

• Report a bug: Tap to report a problem. Email us your findings to frescohelp@adobe.com.
  
• Suggest a feature: Send your feature request on the Fresco community, and browse and vote for features you like to have on Fresco.
  
• Save support logs: Export cloud document logs for troubleshooting.

Enable canvas projection

Zoom in and focus on the finer details of your artwork while projecting your canvas at full scale on an external display.

Use a USB-C, HDMI or Airplay to establish the external connection and control the setting under App Settings > General > Interface > Canvas Projection.

Save cloud document logs

Facing syncing problems or crash issues in Fresco? You can save cloud document logs to your device to analyze and debug the issue. Tap the App Settings icon in the Home screen, and tap Help > Support > Save support logs. In the Share Sheet on your iPhone or iPad, select the desired file sharing option to save/share the log zip file.

For Fresco for Windows, use the Creative Cloud Log Collector tool.

Get inspiration from Behance

Tap on the Discover tab on your Home screen to see a variety of artwork created with Adobe Fresco. Tap on the videos to see streams created by artists showcasing their workflow in the app.

More like this

Join our community to connect, learn, and engage