Using the Brushes Palette


The Brushes palette, which by default is docked in the Palette Well on the Options bar, offers many options for customizing the brush tips for many Photoshop tools. The Brush and Pencil tools aren’t the only ones that use brush tips. The Art History Brush, Background Eraser, Blur, Burn, Clone Stamp, Color Replacement, Dodge, History Brush, Pattern Stamp, Sharpen, Smudge, and Sponge tools do, too. (Phew!)

The options in the Brushes palette, which is shown in Figure 12-2, are organized into categories such as Dual Brush, Color Dynamics, Shape Dynamics, Texture, and Wet Edges. Two views of the Brushes palette are shown in Figure 12-2. The view on the left shows the palette with the Brush Presets category selected and the view on the right shows the palette with the Brush Tip Shape category selected.

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Figure 12-2: There are literally hundreds of brush combina-tions to choose from.

Tip

If you’re using a graphics pad with some kind of pen or stylus, you can also use the Brushes palette to select airbrush and input options for this kind of input device.

Creating custom brushes

If you want to create your own custom brushes, the best way to get started is to modify an existing brush preset that comes with Photoshop. After you find out what you like in a brush — size, shape, texture, and other options — you can create one of your own and save it.

To open the Brushes palette, click the Brushes palette tab in the Palette Well on the Options bar, choose Window→Brushes, or press F5 on the keyboard. If the palette is docked in the Palette Well, you can use the palette tab to drag it out into the Photoshop window.

Here’s a list of the brush options you can select when creating a custom brush. Figure 12-3 shows many of these options to help you get started.

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Figure 12-3: These are just a few of the options you can select in the Brushes palette.

  • Brush Presets: Click this category to choose from the collection of preset brushes in the Brush presets list as shown in Figure 12-3.

  • Brush Tip Shape: Use this category to select a basic brush shape and size as shown in Figure 12-3.

    • Use the Tip Shape grid to select a new brush shape and the Diameter slider bar to change its size (from 1 to 2500 pixels).

    • Enter a degree value the Angle text box or drag the arrowhead on the circle to change the slant of the brush tip.

    • Use the Roundness text box to set the tip shape (from fully round to elliptical) or drag the tiny dots on the circle.

    • Change the Hardness value to set the fuzziness of a round brush tip. The higher the setting, the smoother the tip.

    • Set the distance between the paint daubs that make up a brush stroke using the Spacing slider. The lower the setting, the closer together the paint daubs, creating a solid line. A higher setting creates a dotted stroke.

  • Shape Dynamics: Use this category to set the amount of variation the brush tip shape can have when painting. Use the Size Jitter, Angle Jitter, and Roundness Jitter slider bars to set the amount of random variation allowed for the Size, Angle, and Roundness that you selected in the Brush Tip Shape category.

  • Scattering: Use this category to set how far paint spatters off the brush stroke. The higher the Scatter setting is, the more splattering of paint.

  • Texture: Use this category to add texture from a pattern to your brush strokes:

    • Use the Pattern Picker to select a pattern.

    • Put a check in the Invert check box to switch the light and dark areas of the pattern.

    • Set the size of the pattern using the Scale slider bar.

    • Use the Depth slider to set how much paint sinks into the pattern. The lower the setting, the less pattern texture you will be able to see.

  • Dual Brush: Believe it or not, you can paint with two brush tips at the same time! Select a second brush tip from the Tip Shape grid, and then set the brush tip’s diameter, spacing, scatter, and tip count (tip count sets the width of the stroke).

  • Color Dynamics: Use this category to set how much the color can change as you stroke with the brush. You can set the percentage of Foreground/Background Jitter to set the amount of variation between the Foreground and Background colors. Then, you can set the Hue Jitter, Saturation Jitter, and Brightness Jitter to control how much the hue, saturation, and brightness of the Foreground and Background colors can vary. Use the Purity slider to set how much of the Foreground color appears in a brush stroke. The lower the setting, the grayer the stroke.

  • Other Dynamics: Use these options to set how much the opacity can change as you paint. The higher the Opacity Jitter setting, the more opacity variation occurs. Flow Jitter sets how much color is applied during the stroke. A lower setting makes for a smoother stroke, and a higher setting makes for a splotchy stroke.

  • Noise: Use this option to add graininess to the brush tip, making brush strokes look rougher.

  • Wet Edges: Use this option to simulate the wet edges of watercolors.

  • Airbrush: Use this option to pump out paint as long as the mouse button is held down.

  • Smoothing: Use this option to smooth out wiggly looking curved brush strokes.

  • Protect Texture: Use this option to set a uniform texture for an entire image. If you want to apply the same texture pattern already used by other brushes, put a check in this box.

    Photoshop CS

    You may have noticed the little padlock icons next to the brush options categories (refer to Figure 12-2). This is a new Photoshop CS feature that lets you lock the category options when you have them set to your liking. With a category locked, any brush you select will use those locked settings even if the brush’s preset settings are different.

Creating a custom brush based on an existing Brush Preset

After you get a basic understanding of the brush options available to you as described above in “Creating custom brushes,” creating your own brush from a preset brush is easy.

Just use the Brushes palette to select a Brush Preset that is as close as possible to the type of brush you are trying to create. Then, use any of the options described above in “Creating custom brushes” to alter the appearance of the brush. That’s it! Take your new brush for a spin and find out what you created.

Saving a custom brush as a tool preset

After creating a custom brush, you can save it as a Brush Preset using the Brush Preset picker. Open the Brush Preset picker on the Options bar and click the Create a New Preset from This Brush button. In the Brush Name dialog box, type a name for the brush, and then click the OK button. The custom brush appears at the bottom of the Brush Preset picker on the Options bar.

Loading a brush library

In addition to the standard brush set that is installed with Photoshop, several extra brush libraries ship as well. These brush libraries contain brushes that create special effects, such as calligraphy tips, drop shadow brushes, and textures. If you find you have the need for a special brush or just want to have some fun, try loading a new brush library. Here’s how:

  1. Open the Brushes palette and select the Brush Presets category.

  2. Click the tiny arrowhead at the upper right of the Brushes palette to access the palette menu.

    As shown in Figure 12-4, the brush libraries are available at the bottom of the menu.

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    Figure 12-4: The menu in the Brushes palette offers many brush libraries.

  3. Select a new brush library from the menu.

    Photoshop opens a dialog box asking whether you want to replace the brushes that are currently loaded with the selected library or append the new library to the ones that are already loaded.

  4. Click OK to replace the current brushes with the new brush library or Append to add the brushes to the currently loaded brushes.

Removing unwanted brushes

If you find that you’ve got too many extra brushes cluttering up your Brush Presets list in Brush Preset picker on the Options bar or in the Brushes palette, you can delete the ones you don’t need or remove all those extra brushes entirely and return to the default set that comes with Photoshop.

  • To reset the brush list: Open the Brush Preset picker or the Brushes palette, and then choose Reset Brushes from the picker or palette menu (Figure 12-5 shows the Brushes palette menu). A Photoshop dialog box opens, asking whether you want to replace the current brushes with the default brushes. Click OK to do so.

  • To delete a brush: Use the Brush Preset picker to select the brush that you want to delete. Choose Delete Brush from the Brush Preset picker menu as shown in Figure 12-5.

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    Figure 12-5: Use the menu in the Brush Preset picker to delete a brush.




Photoshop CS For Dummies
Photoshop CS For Dummies
ISBN: 0764543563
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 221

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