August 2011 Photoshop Tip

Photoshop Tip

August, 2011

 The bush tool in Photoshop is used for many things besides just bushing color. One of the fun things to do with brushes is to use the presets. Photoshop ships with a variety of brush shapes but you can also download shapes from the internet. If you are a member of NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) you can get several sets from that site. There are also many free downloads on the internet. (Just be sure to know your source to avoid viruses and malware).

Various brush presets

 Download the brushes of your choice and unzip the file. Then open “My Computer” go to go to where the Adobe files are located, (Usually C disk).  Hard drive > Program Files > Adobe > PhotoshopCS5 (or your version of PS)> Presets > Brushes.  Drag your unzipped “ABR” file into the “Brushes” folder, then open or restart Photoshop. You can then add the new brushes to your bush presets.

Screen shot of brush menu

To to add to or append your brushes, select the brush tool. Click on the drop down arrow next to the brush symbol, from the tool bar under the menu.(#1 on the illustration). Then click on the drop down on the top right hand corner of this box. (#2 on illustration). Go through the list until you find the one you just downloaded. A box will ask if you wish to replace the current brushes or append.  I usually add them by choosing “Append”.

To further manipulate the brushes use the “Brush” dialog box. From the menu bar go to “Windows>Brush”. ( # 3 and 4 on the illustration). With this tool you can manipulate the shape dynamics, the size, the spacing and many more attributes of the brushes.

Advanced

 You can create your own brush preset.  If you add a copyright and date to all your photographs for example, you can make that into a brush preset.  Open a file, or create a new file.  On a new blank layer above the background layer type what you want the brush to say or create an image.  Then go to Edit in the menu.  Edit > Preset Manager > Brush Preset.

When the dialog box opens you will be prompted to name your new brush.  It should now show up in your brush drop down and then you can select it.