Enable Brush Barrel Rotation for the Apple Pencil Pro

The Apple Pencil Pro includes a new feature called barrel rotation, which allows your cursor or brush to rotate in real time as you twist your pencil. We’re excited to support this feature in Astropad Studio 5.4 and later!

If you're using an Apple Pencil Pro and compatible drawing apps, you can take full advantage of this added control. Below are the apps that currently support barrel rotation and how to enable it in each one.

Photoshop CC

To enable barrel rotation in Photoshop:

1. Choose a brush you want to use with barrel rotation.

2. Click on the brush settings icon. In the default layout, it's the brush with a bulleted list.

3. In the settings panel, click Shape Dynamics, then set Angle Jitter Control to Rotation.

This setting must be applied to each brush individually. Repeat the steps above for any additional brushes you'd like to rotate with your Pencil.

Adobe Illustrator CC

In Illustrator, barrel rotation can control brush angle, roundness, or width depending on the brush type.

1. Open the Brushes window by going to Window > Brushes or pressing F5.

2. Choose your brush from the Brush Window. Then click the hamburger menu ☰ and select Brush Options.

3. In the Brush Options window, use the dropdown next to your desired setting (Angle, Roundness, Size, or Width) and choose Rotation.

Krita (Windows Only)

Before using barrel rotation in Krita, disable High Resolution Input in Astropad Studio's Advanced Settings on Windows.

This feature is currently available only in the Windows version of Krita.

1. Choose your desired brush.

2. Open the Brush Editor by clicking the icon that shows a brush stroke and list in the top-left toolbar.

3. From the left menu, select Rotation. Make sure to also enable it in the brush settings on the right.

Brush rotating in the wrong direction?

If rotating your pencil right causes the brush to turn left (or vice versa), invert the rotation curve in either:

The Brush Editor
The Tablet Settings in Krita’s configuration menu

Your curve should slope downward to -180 and 360 instead of upward to 180:

If you're seeing odd behavior or the feature isn't working, double-check you're on Astropad Studio version 5.4 or newer, and confirm your app and Apple Pencil Pro firmware are both fully updated.