WORKING WITH BRUSHES

For this tutorial, make the following changes to your Preferences: Under the File menu, scroll down to Preferences, and in the pop-up menu, select Display & Cursors. In the dialog box that appears, select Brush Size in the box for Painting Cursors at the bottom left corner (like in the graphic below):

You may want to experiment with the Precise and Standard-type cursors, but in general, I find the Brush Size-style cursor the easiest to work with.

Most Photoshop tools are used in conjunction with brushes.
For example, when you paint with the Paintbrush tool, lighten with the Dodge tool, clone with the Rubber Stamp tool, etc., you must either use the brush that has already been selected for that tool (i.e., the last brush that was used for that tool) or select a new brush from the Brushes palette.

By default, the Brushes palette is nested with the Color and Swatches palette. Just click on the tab that says Brushes to bring the Brushes palette to the front. If the Brushes tab or palette is not showing at all, select Show Brushes from the Window menu:

To select a brush you simply click on one of the brushes in the Brushes palette. It's that simple. If you switch tools, Photoshop will automatically select the last brush you used for that tool.

You can also edit the brushes by double-clicking on a brush in the Brushes palette, or create an entirely new brush by clicking once in an empty area in the Brushes palette (i.e. to the right of the very last brush in the palette). The Brush Options dialog box will appear. This is where you can edit brush size and shape:

Diameter: The size of the brush in pixels.

Hardness: Determines how hard-edged a stroke the brush will paint. As you increase the Hardness value, the stroke blurs and softens at the edges, creating an effect that is much like feathering or anti-aliasing.

Spacing: The distance between brush marks. For instance, when you increase the spacing to about 150 and then paint or draw, you will create a dotted line. If you want a solid line, always keep Spacing at 25%, which is the default.

Roundness: Used to create brushes that are elliptical or oval, rather than perfectly round.

Angle: When you create a brush that is elliptical, use this setting to change the angle of the ellipse.

To access the Brush Palette Options pop-up menu, click on the little triangle at the top right corner of the palette:

New Brush: Creates an entirely new brush to your specifications and places it in the palette.

Delete Brush: Deletes an existing brush. A shortcut is to simply hold down the Command key (Control key for Windows), your cursor will turn into a pair of scissors, and click once on the brush in the Brushes palette that you want to delete.

Brush Options: Click on a specific brush in the palette and then select Brush Options and the Brush Options dialog box will appear. Note, this is the same dialog box you get when you simply double-click on a brush in the Brushes palette.

Define Brush: Used to create a custom brush (discussed at the end of this tutorial).

Reset Brushes: Resets the Brushes palette to its Photoshop 5 default set.

Load Brushes: You can save a set of edited brushes (see Save Brushes) and then load them whenever you want using this option. The Photoshop 5 Goodies folder also includes other sets of brushes that are quite handy, especially the Square Brushes. When you Load Brushes, Photoshop does not delete or replace existing brushes in the palette. Instead, new brushes are added to the end of the palette.

Replace Brushes: Serves the same purpose as Load Brushes but all existing brushes are replaced with the new set you load in.

Save Brushes: Use this option to save (anywhere on your hard drive) a set of brushes that you can later load into the palette whenever your want.

CREATING YOUR OWN CUSTOM BRUSHES

Creating your own custom brushes in Photoshop is a snap.
You simply select a part of an image, an image element or even a piece of clipart or an entire photo that you want to turn into a brush (see the tip called Making Selections if you are unsure as to how to make a selection), and then copy the selection by choosing Copy from the Edit menu or use the keyboard shortcut Command C (Control C for WIndows). The selection (which will become your custom brush) can be no bigger than 1,000 by 1,000 pixels in width and height (a little under 14 by 14 inches!).

Next, go to the Brushes palette, click on the little triangle at the top right corner to bring up the Brushes Palette Option menu, and select Define Brush. Your new brush will appear in the palette:

Select the Paintbrush tool from the toolbox, select your new brush from the Brushes Palette, and click (don't drag) in a new or existing image window with your new brush. Note, that the same rules for using the Paintbrush still apply — you will paint with whatever color has been selected as the Foreground color in the Color Picker (see tip, Using the Color Picker).

If you double-click on your new brush in the Brushes palette, you can change Spacing and turn Anti-Aliasing off, if you want, to sharpen the edges.