Photoshop - Brushes
The brush tool is a relic that should be cherished and treated like royalty. An expert in the art of Photoshop's Brush tool will find it very helpful indeed.
Photoshop Brush Tool:
Photoshop - The Brush Palette
The small icon located on the tool bar hardly does justice to the tool when compared to the actual brush palette. Access the brush palette located toward the top of the program. Single click the brush tab to activate the brush palette.
The palette is organized into a two column table with preset brushes on the right-hand side and several brush stroke options on the left. At the bottom lies a preview that should give you some idea of what your brush stroke will do. The brush palette is essentially the ultimate control panel for your brushes. Anything and everything can be adjusted with the brush palette.
The Brush Palette:
Photoshop - Brush Presets
Photoshop comes with several brush pre-sets. Later we will discuss how to create your own unique brushes but for now scroll through the preset brushes and when you come to the bottom, there's still more hiding from your view. To access them, click on the little black arrow located at the top of the palette near the actual Brushes tab. A navigation list should pop into view and at the bottom of that list lies about a dozen brush sets.
Brush Presets:
Browse through them, familiarize yourself with this palette, and finally pick a brush to paint with and paint away on a new layer.
Paint Away:
Photoshop - Brush Options
Previously we sort of ignored the left column of the brush palette. Customizing brushes is accomplished here. Simply checking one of the boxes here modifies the brush in some way. These options are a way to fine tune brushes and can really bring about some impressive results.
Brush Options:
If the scatter option on your brush isn't already on, click the check box to activate this option and then click the text to highlight the option and bring the palette into fine-tune mode.
Scattering Options:
Here we can adjust the amount of scattering that takes place along with the jitter and fade options. All really neat features available through the brush palette.
Photoshop - Create Your Own Brush
As you begin to "fiddle" around with each and every option available, you may want to save your brush as a preset for later use. Finalize all your options and settings then click the "Create New Brush" button at the bottom of the brush palette. Photoshop comes back with a prompt of what to name your brush. Type in a name and then press "OK".
Create New Brush:
Name New Brush:
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