Section 2: The Photoshop Brushes Palette

While the Options bar gives you some control over how your brush will behave, the Brushes palette is where the fun really begins. Using this palette, you can control virtually any aspect of how your brush acts.

The Brushes palette is one of the tabs located just to the right of the Brush Options bar (Figure 13.12). Click on the tab and let's look at what is revealed. This palette will stay visible until you click somewhere on the screen.

Figure 13.12: The Brush tab.

You can also quickly access the options for your currently active brush by clicking the Toggle the Brushes Palette icon located on the far right of the Options bar, as shown in Figure 13.13.

Figure 13.13: The Brushes Toggle icon.

The Brushes palette can look daunting when opened, as you can see in Figure 13.14. So many controls are available that it can be overwhelming deciding where to start. Should you begin with the Shape Dynamic controls? Or the Scattering controls? Texture? Dual Brush? Color Dynamics? There are just too many options!

Figure 13.14: The Brushes palette.

To make things as simple as possible, let's start at the top and work our way down the palette settings. The first thing to notice is the far-left edge of the palette. Here you will see a number of small boxes. These boxes will either be checked or not checked, depending on the brush that you currently have selected. A check means that the option is currently active for the brush you are using. Clicking on the small padlock icon locks those options for the current brush. These boxes and icons are highlighted with red arrows in Figure 13.15.

Figure 13.15: The option boxes and padlock icons located in the Brushes palette.

The first two options are different in that they do not have a small check box to their left. This may cause you to overlook these first and very basic controls, the Brush Presets and the Brush Tip Shape.

Brush Presets

The Brush Presets are self-explanatory; they simply display the brushes that are currently loaded within Photoshop, as shown in Figure 13.16.

Figure 13.16: The Brush Presets located in the Brushes palette.

Brush Tip Shape

Click on the Brush Tip Shape option and you get the palette shown in Figure 13.17.

Figure 13.17: The Brush Tip Shape menu located in the Brushes palette.

In this first palette you set some of the very basic parameters of the brush you will be creating or using. This palette displays the brush tips that Photoshop currently has loaded. Within the default brushes, you will notice brushes ranging from simple round brushes to leaf shapes . Also displayed at the bottom of the palette is a preview of your currently selected brush that reflects the current brush settings. You can change brush tips by clicking any of the small icons showing the brush profile. If you are simply going to change the brush you are currently using, do not click any of these different brush tips.

To show how some of the other controls function within this palette, select the hard elliptical 45 brush, as shown in Figure 13.18.

Figure 13.18: Selecting the hard elliptical 45 brush.

Right under the brush tip display you notice the first control: the Diameter slider. You will also see a box showing the current diameter of the brush tip. You can move this slider up or down to change the diameter of the brush tip and display an update of what the brush will look like in the preview window at the bottom of the palette. You can also click your cursor in the box and enter a numerical value for the diameter if you wish. Below are two small boxes called flip x and flip y. Checking one of these boxes will flip the brush on either its x- or y-axis; if you check both, Photoshop will flip the brush on both axes. The larger display to the right (showing an ellipse with an arrow aligned along its major axis and two dots aligned on the shorter axis) contains the Angle and Roundness controls. There are also two boxes labeled Angle and Roundness; they display the current angle that the brush is aligned to and how round the brush is. In our current brush, the angle alignment is 45 ‚ ° to the right with a roundness of 45% of a circle. You can change these values either by entering numeric values in the boxes or by using the displayed ellipse. To change the angle, click and drag on the major axis displayed as the arrow. To change the roundness, click and drag on one of the two dots on the minor axis. Figure 13.19 shows the Angle and Roundness controls.

Figure 13.19: The Angle and Roundness controls.

The next slider below the Angle and Roundness controls is the Hardness slider with a range from 0% to 100%. At the 100% setting, you see that the edges of the brush displayed in the preview are very crisp (Figure 13.20). If you drag the slider down to the left or enter a different numeric value, you will see how the edge grows progressively softer in the brush preview window (Figure 13.21).

Figure 13.20: The Hardness slider and brush preview window.

Figure 13.21: Moving the Hardness slider down gives a softer stroke.

The final control in this portion of the brush settings palette is the Spacing control. This consists of a slider and a check box, and determines how closely together Photoshop will put the individual brush dabs. Currently, the check box is selected and the preview window shows your brush stroke with very smooth and close spacing, as shown in Figure 13.22.

Figure 13.22: The Spacing control slider.

Now notice what happens when you move the Spacing slider up to a higher value. You begin to see more and more space between the brush dabs until you can actually see the individual dabs, as shown in Figure 13.23.

Figure 13.23: Moving the slider up on the Spacing control puts increasing amounts of space between paint dabs.

Unchecking the Spacing box takes away the control you have over the dab spacing and will give you a random result (Figure 13.24) unless you have a steady hand. The stroke where the dabs appear closer together is made by moving the stylus very slowly; moving the stylus quickly results in more space between the dabs.

Figure 13.24: Random spacing in the brush stroke caused by deselecting the Spacing box.

Shape Dynamics

The next option is called Shape Dynamics. Click on this menu item to open the palette shown in Figure 13.25. Deselect the Shape Dynamics box and notice what happens to your stroke within the preview window (Figure 13.26). Along with showing a stroke that now has very little size variation within it, Photoshop grays out all of the menu options.

Figure 13.25: The Shape Dynamics palette.

Figure 13.26: Deselecting the Shape Dynamics options and the results.

Now check the Shape Dynamics box to activate the Shape Dynamics palette. Within this palette you will find six controls. The first slider at the top of the palette is Size Jitter, with a box immediately below giving you a menu that lets you control the effect. Move the small arrow to the right and notice what happens within the preview window. The size of the individual brush dabs begins to vary and the stroke looks rougher and more random, as shown in Figure 13.27.

Figure 13.27: Moving the Size Jitter slider to the right gives a more random stroke.

The next control is the Minimum Diameter slider, shown in Figure 13.28. This slider set to a low value will make the brush dabs very small at the beginning of a stroke. Move the slider up, and the beginning dabs will get progressively larger. At the maximum setting, there will be no variation of size within the stroke.

Figure 13.28: The Minimum Diameter slider.

Angle Jitter is the next control. Most of these controls are self-

explanatory, and this one is no exception. With the Angle Jitter set to 0%, as shown in Figure 13.29, the angles of the brush dabs remain for the most part identical.

Figure 13.29: The Angle Jitter set to 0%.

Move the slider up or enter a numeric value, and the angle of the brush dabs begins to vary, as shown in Figure 13.30. The brush dab spacing has been increased to show the effect more clearly. Once again you can pick the control method for the effect.

Figure 13.30: Increasing the Angle Jitter slider.

The next control is Roundness Jitter, shown in Figure 13.31. This control will vary the roundness of the brush dabs as you paint. As you raise the value by typing in a value or moving the slider, you can see the results in the preview window. The roundness of the dabs vary from very thin to round. You can use the Roundness Jitter control in conjunction with the Minimum Roundness slider. Setting the slider low will make the dabs very thin and higher values will make the dabs rounder.

Figure 13.31: The Roundness Jitter slider.

Scattering

Check the Scattering box to activate the Scattering palette, shown in Figure 13.32. This control does exactly what it says: it scatters the brush dabs within the brush stroke. The more the slider is moved to the right, the more the individual dabs will be offset from the stroke of the stylus. Check the Both Axes box and the dabs will be scattered in a more random fashion along both axes. Eventually, if the scatter is set high enough, the direction of the original stroke can virtually disappear, as Figure 13.33 shows.

Figure 13.32: The Scattering palette lets you 'scatter' the brush dabs.

Figure 13.33: A stroke with a very high Scatter setting.

Below the Scatter slider are two additional sliders. The first is Count, and it does just what the name implies. From the lowest value of 1 to the maximum value of 100, as you move the slider to the right you increase the number of dabs that will be scattered. Below the Count slider is the Count Jitter slider, with a control box below the slider (Figure 13.34). The control box sets what drives the effect. To see the results most clearly, set the control to Fade and move the Count Jitter slider all the way to the right. You will notice that a higher amount of jittery dabs begin at the start of the stroke and 'fade' as the stroke moves to the right. Experiment with additional settings to see the result.

Figure 13.34: The Count Jitter slider and menu for picking what will drive the effect.

Texture

The next series of controls are in the Texture palette (Figure 13.35). Checking the Texture box will mix the currently selected pattern with your brush stroke. You can select a different pattern within the Texture palette by clicking the patterns thumbnail. You can also invert the pattern and see how it reacts by checking the small box just to the right of the pattern thumbnail.

Figure 13.35: The Texture palette showing a selected pattern and its effect on the brush stroke.

Below the preview image is a slider that you can use to vary the scale of the selected pattern. You will also notice the mode selector, where you can select how the pattern will interact with the brush stroke. These modes are similar to the layer modes you are familiar with. The Depth slider determines how much of the pattern will interact with the stroke. A low value means that very little of the pattern will interact, while a higher value means that more of the pattern will be visible within your stroke. You can also enter a numeric value in the box above the slider. The two remaining sliders are available only if you have the Texture Each Tip box checked right above the mode selector. Figure 13.36 shows the results of adding Depth and Depth Jitter to a brush.

Figure 13.36: The Texture palette showing the results of adding Depth and Depth Jitter to a brush.

These controls obviously work best if you have a brush with multiple tips. Experiment with the sliders at different settings to get a variety of nice, rough brush strokes.

Dual Brush

Moving down we come to the Dual Brush palette, which makes it possible for you to blend two different brushes together. When you open this palette, notice that you are presented with the currently loaded brush presets (Figure 13.37). This blending of the brushes' options will work best with two very different brush types, so pick accordingly . Usually a vary large and fat brush will work well with a brush with higher scatter settings. Picking the mode of the blend will also have a great effect on the look of the brush. The Diameter, Spacing, Scatter, and Count sliders all affect the chosen brush as they do in the other palettes.

Figure 13.37: The Dual Brush palette.

Color Dynamics

When you're painting in Photoshop the color of the brush is whatever you've set the primary color to. The Color Dynamics palette (Figure 13.38) makes it possible to vary the colors used in your brush. To demonstrate how this works, set the background color to a color of your choice and move the Foreground/Background Jitter slider up to 100%. Leave the default control set to Brush Pressure.

Figure 13.38: The Color Dynamics palette.

Notice that in the preview window nothing has seemed to change. Unfortunately, the preview window does not display the changes in the brush when you change the settings in the Color Dynamics palette. To see the changes you have made to your brush, you will need to make a stroke in your painting or, better yet, in a test image. Figure 13.39 shows an image with a stroke using the settings in Figure 13.38.

Figure 13.39: The result of increasing the Foreground/ Background Jitter slider.

What is happening here? Assuming that you chose any color other than white for your background color, shouldn't you be getting a stroke that displays variations between the foreground and background colors and not between black and white? For the user new to the brushes controls, this can be confusing. There is one more slider that must be moved for you to get jitter between the foreground and background colors, and that is the Purity slider. Right now the slider is set to a value of -100. At this setting there is absolutely no pure color in your stroke. Read this as no color at all, just variations of black and white. Move the slider to 0, as shown in Figure 13.40.

Figure 13.40: Increasing the Purity slider.

Notice that the preview window does not change. It never will. You need to once again make a stroke in your test image. Now you should notice that the color of the stroke does indeed vary between the foreground and background colors, as Figure 13.41 shows.

Figure 13.41: The result of moving the Purity slider.

If the Purity setting of 0 gives you the jitter between the foreground and background colors, what does increasing the Purity setting to a greater value yield? Increasing the Purity value increases the intensity of the color. This increase makes the jitter greater so that it is no longer just between the foreground and background colors but between the foreground and a very intense background variation. Be careful not to raise the Purity setting above 0 if you want to vary only between the foreground and background colors; Figure 13.42 shows what happens when you set it too high.

Figure 13.42: The resulting stroke when the Purity slider is set too high.

Assuming that you now have your brush set to jitter between the foreground and background colors as you want, you can explore the other sliders. They are, for the most part, self-explanatory, as you can see in Figure 13.43:

• The Hue Jitter slider will change the hue (color) of the background color that the brush jitters to. A low setting and the hue will vary only slightly away from the background color. An extremely high setting will vary hue jitter to a color completely different from the original background color.

• The Saturation Jitter slider will vary the saturation (grayness) of the background color.

• The Brightness Jitter slider will vary the brightness (value) of the background color.

  
  Figure 13.43: The remaining sliders in the Color Dynamics palette.

Once again, to see the results of varying these sliders you will need to try out your strokes in a test image as the preview window does not display the color information.

Other Dynamics

The Other Dynamics palette features controls for two settings we've already discussed. Recall the Opacity and Flow controls in the Options bar that appear when you pick the Brush tool. While these controls adjust the flow and opacity for the stroke overall, the settings in the Other Dynamics palette (Figure 13.44) set the flow and opacity on a dab-by-dab level.

Figure 13.44: The Other Dynamics palette showing the Opacity and Flow sliders.

Because these settings work on the individual dab in the stroke, they can be used in conjunction with the general Opacity and Flow settings in the Options bar to create almost limitless varieties of effects.

The last five menu items in the Brushes palette (Figure 13.45) do not open their own sub-palettes. Instead, these items are just boxes that can be checked or unchecked as you like. What follows is a description of what each of the check boxes does.

Figure 13.45: The last five menu items in the Brushes palette.

Noise: Checking the Noise box will add a grainy effect to the brush stroke, as Figure 13.46 shows. The effect is most noticeable if the hardness of your stroke is very low.

Figure 13.46: The results of checking the Noise box.

Wet Edges: Checking the Wet Edges box will give you a puddling effect. This in some respects resembles the nonuniform way that watercolor will sometimes dry, as shown in Figure 13.47.

Figure 13.47: The puddling effect caused by checking the Wet Edges box.

Airbrush: This check box, when selected, does the same thing as the Airbrush icon on the Brush Options bar.

Smoothing: When the Smoothing option is checked, Photoshop will 'smooth' a stroke made by a brush (Figure 13.48). With Smoothing deselected, a brush will sometimes draw small, straight areas when painting a stroke. Notice the arrow pointing to the slight angle visible on the curve with Smoothing unchecked. If you will look closely, you can see several slight angles within the stroke.

Figure 13.48: The result of checking the Smoothing box.

Protect Texture: This last check box works only with textured brushes and you will see no change in any of the other brushes. When checked, the option applies the same pattern at the same scale to all brushes that paint with a texture. This makes it easy to have a consistent look throughout a painting that uses patterns.

In this already rather lengthy chapter we have explored the Brushes palette and have seen the innumerable ways that the default brushes can be altered to suit your particular needs. This is basic to your understanding of painting within Photoshop. You must know your tool and how to make it behave the way you expect and want. In the following section, we will look at the process of making your own custom brushes and not just altering settings of the default libraries.