Brushes for Photoshop 速 and Photoshop 速 Elements (+ Paint Shop Pro 速 and others)
BRUSHES MANUAL
by Andrew Buckle
Brushes Manual Introduction Thanks for the purchase of the brushes (or if not, thanks for reading the documentation!) Hope you find the brushes of interest and use. The manual / guide will hopefully help you install and use the brushes in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements and also in Paint Shop Pro, Photo-Paint and other applications. All the brushes displayed in this documentation are from graphicxtras.com, where you can find 1000s and 1000s of additional hi-impact brushes for commercial as well as personal use. Andrew fig. X Brushes from the X brushes pack from graphicxtras.com
fig. Rosette brush from the rosette brushes 3 pack. To change the color from black, change the foreground color to another color
Brushes installation Extract the brushes from the zip file (if in a zip, really depends on how you get the brushes). Most recent OS should be able to unzip a zip file but if you can’t, I would suggest finding a copy of PKUnzip or Winzip or Stuffit Expander (there are also many others, you can find them with any good search engine). Once expanded, you should see a selection of folders such as ‘Brushes ABR’ (or Brushes for Photoshop) ‘Brushes PNG’ etc. The ABR files are the main format for Photoshop and Elements and are probably the ones you will be most interested in. The PNG folder / PSP folder contain brushes for other applications. The thumbnail gallery folder contains a display of all the brushes in the set (in most cases) After that, please either place the ABR brushes file in the Photoshop Presets Brushes folder and access via the brushes palette dropdown or place the brushes in an easy located file location and access the brushes using the load / replace browser of the brush palette.
fig. Dot brushes from the dot brushes set
Another, and perhaps easier option, is to just load the ABR brushes file by using the Photoshop or Elements file > open command. Brush files are ABR format The ABR brushes will only work in Photoshop ® or Photoshop Elements and cannot be accessed by Paint Shop Pro or Photo-Paint or even Illustrator ® (though now in volume 11 onwards of the packs, the PNG equivalent files exist) . The brushes will not work in Photoshop ® 5 / 4 / 3. Note: none of the brushes have presets added, they are purely the brush dab. If you wish to save a preset, you will need to select the dab, set the angle / scatter etc and then save the brush preset in a later format. Not all brush sets work in PS 6 now
fig. Rosette brush from the rosettes brushes pack 5
Brushes palette The next steps to access the brush files are 1) startup Photoshop 2) Select one of the brush tools in the Photoshop toolbox (such as the paint tool), go to the top banner and 3) select the brush palette 4) The brushes are loaded via the right hand button of the palette. Either select from the dropdown (if the brushes are located in the presets folder) or use the brush browser load / replace to locate the ABR. Once loaded, you can always restore the default set by selecting the reset option of the brushes palette (the default brushes are not deleted, they can be restored at any time) fig. Photoshop brushes palette, go to the right side of the palette to use the load / save etc commands
fig. Antique brush (from a play written in the 18th century from the original book)
Brushes installation folder Brushes presets folder doesn't vary from version to version of Photoshop and elements. In all cases, the brushes can be found in the presets folder 'brushes'. c:\program files\adobe\photoshop ...\presets\brushes or on mac HD:applications:Adobe Photoshop .... :presets:brushes The actual Photoshop... depends on your version of Photoshop. You may wish to keep the brushes in a separate folder and then load the brushes as required. You can load brushes from a different folder by using the load / replace command via the brushes palette or the edit->preset manager
fig. The brushes folder for CS4 PC
fig. Brushes from the dot brushes pack
Brushes in Photoshop ÂŽ Elements The brushes ABR files are placed in the same folder structure as Photoshop, in the Photoshop elements 5.0 (or 6.0 or 7.0 or 8.0) presets brushes folder. The way to access them is slightly different than Photoshop The easiest way is the above, place the ABR files in the presets folder (a selection of ABR files, the rest can be kept in a temp or holding folder for all the brushes) and access via the brushes tool and brushes palette To access the brushes, select one of the brushes tools
fig. Perhaps the easiest way to access the brushes is via the file > open command in PSE
To access the brushes via the brushes palette dropdown, select the brush file from the list. As mentioned, you might prefer to add only a small number of brushes files here and use the load command to select a different folder. Only have you favorite brush sets here (otherwise the list will be very long) The brushes can be loaded into Elements via the file > open command but you won’t be able to see them via the brushes palette, only via the presets manager Once you have loaded the brushes via the brushes palette dropdown or the preset manager, select the required brush via the displayed palette
fig. If the brushes are located in the presets folder they will appear in this list
Apply the brush using the current color etc Pressure can modify the tools The options to modify the brush are limited compared with Photoshop Other brush tools such as blur are also available
fig. Or use the load brushes command to search for the ABR files
Brushes in PNG format (Brushes packs 11 onwards only) The brush sets also contain (only for some of the later sets) most, if not all, of the brush files in PNG format. If you haven’t got Photoshop or you would like to use the brushes in another application, the PNG files are included so you can import them into your favorite application. They are the same size etc as the ABR brush equivalents. See later in the documentation for install details into some applications such as Paint Shop Pro Ž Some of the sets even contain PSPBrush format files so you can place the brushes in the folder for PSP brushes (to find the location, check out the file > preferences > file locations section)
fig. Embellish brush from the embellish 3 pack
fig. Celtic design brush from the embellish 3 brushes pack
Brushes thumbnail gallery The sets on graphicxtras.com come with a variety of extras, one of them being a thumbnail gallery printout of all the brushes in the set. The thumbnail gallery is fairly small in comparison to the actual size of the brushes (600 x 600 for the brushes, the thumbnails are generally only 1500 x 1500 for the entire set). Not aware of any tool that can create a gallery from the brushes, though this might be a feature of one of the brushes presets viewers available on the web.
fig. Brush from the butterflies brushes pack
fig. Another brush example from the butterflies brushes pack, this time using a different foreground color for the brush
Backup of brushes It is recommended that you make a backup of the brushes and store this on a CD or DVD or another machine. We can supply replacement disks but there will be a charge for this, post and packaging
Issues / suggestions I would suggest placing all the brushes on the hard disk in a folder for brushes. Drag the brushes to the presets brushes folder as required as too many brushes files in the menu may cause issues with the menu dropdown for the presets brushes or a slowdown on startup of the application. It might be best depending on the machine to just use the load / replace command in the preset manager and use that to access the brushes from a designated brushes folder setup, so put all the brushes in c:\photoshop brushes\... and then access the brushes from there.
fig. Selection of embellish brushes from embellish 4 pack displayed in the brushes palette of Photoshop
For some odd reason, and perhaps it is a reasonable feature of the Photoshop automate command and create web gallery, the web gallery feature will create thumbnails and JPG etc but it also reads and loads the brush files in the same path and will load them up to the max number of brushes allowed. It is not recommended to overload the brushes palette as this will slow down access in future startups of Photoshop
Number of brushes in palette You can only generally load a certain number of brushes into a palette at one time, this might be 500 or so depending on the version of Photoshop. Photoshop will display a message when it reaches it's limit (and that has nothing to do with my brushes or anything, that is a limit set by Photoshop). Too many brushes might also cause a slowdown on startup
fig. Embellishment pack 3 brushes palette
Problems Any problems, please contact me on support@graphicxtras.com or check out the website http://www.graphicxtras.com
Serial number Please make a note of the serial number (this is not to be confused with the order number). Any updates will use the serial number as a key to access the zip file.
Brushes documentation Best source would be the manual and online documentation but there are 100s of great books available, with hints and tips on brush use. One such series being the Scott Kelby books, Photoshop world and Down n Dirty series, also the Computer Arts magazine UK run various articles on brushes and their uses in their main magazine and their art project series
fig. A selection of heart brushes in the brushes palette (from the hearts brushes pack)
The manuals for all the graphicxtras.com products can be found on http://www.graphicxtras.com/manuals. htm
Use of brushes The brushes are royalty-free. You can use them in 99% of ways (within reasonable limits), use them in creating CD designs, book covers, paintings and more for commercial or personal use. The brushes should not be collected together and a new brushes CD set created (though any licensing etc. etc use, please contact us) Please check the examples list for many valid uses of the brushes The license is always on http://www.graphicxtras.com/license.ht m
fig. A good place to check for information is the Photoshop brushes help as well as online There are many 100s (if not 1000s) of sites devoted to Photoshop, brushes et al.
Brush tools The brushes can be used in nearly all the brush tools in Photoshop (though not in the healing brush etc) but the brushes work well in art history, brush tool, clone tool, pattern stamp and others. Some of the palette options are not available for all brushes. If a brush option is not available, the palette entry will be disabled. Below is an example of a brush palette setting for angle jitter. Some of the brushes are not initially available in the toolbox, they are beneath an existing tool / share an icon. An example of this is the pattern stamp and clone tool.
fig. Clone stamp tool and pattern stamp tool share the same icon. The application always defaults to the clone stamp tool.
fig. The toolbox offers little in the way of modification, you can change it from a one or two column mode but that is it (you cannot remove tools from the toolbox - even if you never use them - or move the most used tools to the top of the toolbox or change the size of the icons etc)
fig. The blur tool shares with the blur and sharpen and smudge
Art history brush There are a number of brush tools with Photoshop: paint smudge art history blur etc, they can all use the brushes from the brushes collection in a variety of ways. The art history brush uses the brushes and the history palette along with a variety of dab application styles.
History brush A useful way to undo changes but without any great artistic or creative effects (as in the case of the art history brush). Use to return an image to an earlier state or use the brush to apply ‘future effects’ to an earlier point of the image (the history brush then becomes a stored effects / plugin brush which can be applied to different regions of the image with varying strength)
Brush tool
fig. Use the history palette and the art history tool to apply impressionist or painting brush strokes to an image. Select the starting source for the brush strokes, set the brush, set the style such as dab or tight curl and apply brush
Useful painting tool, though it has limitations compared with Painter’s brushes. The brush tool accepts all the ABR brushes, and comes with a number of options via the brushes palette such as shape dynamics, scattering, texture, etc
fig. Select the start source point for the history brush and apply OR you could apply the effects, select start point at the end of all the effects, return to an earlier point and apply the generated effects to only part of the image
Smudge tool The smudge tool is useful for a variety of tasks, such as subtle tweaking of an image or create distorted brush stroke effects. The smudge tool can also blend in the current foreground color via the finger painting option
Blur tool
Useful for localized blurring of an image or text.
Impressionist tool (PSE) Basically the same as the art history options but with less options to change things, still, a useful tool for a quick ‘impressionistic’ painting using different styles such as tight curl, dab etc
fig. Blur tool applied to an image to blur a particular area of the image
fig. Blur tool as well as the smudge tool
fig. Brush options in PSE for the impressionist brush - such as dab, tight curl etc
Pattern stamp tool The pattern stamp tool uses the patterns as input. You can also paint using an impressionist effect (via the impressionist checkbox) and pattern. As with all the brush tools, the brush palette can be modified to scatter / modify brush color / angle the brush stroke
Clone tool
fig. Pattern stamp allows the user to apply a pattern as well as an impressionistic pattern effect
Clone another area of the image. AltClick to define the source area. The tool comes with a number of clone source options (via the clone source palette) such as scaling or rotation; as well as offering multiple sources for the cloning
Eraser Tool Useful for removing past mistakes. Does offer a selection of interesting creative features as well.
fig. Clone source panel offers a selection of interesting variant apply options
fig. Eraser tool and others
Define brush presets / brushes You can use the brushes to create new brushes. Create a new document, paint with the brush dabs as require and then edit->define brush (or brush preset). The brush preset, if saved, will be saved in the format of the current version of Photoshop 速
fig. Define brush preset means that you can save more than just the brush dab, scattering etc can be saved. Saving the brush, saves the brush in the current Photoshop version which may or may not work with earlier versions
fig. Rosette brush from rosette brushes pack
Brush sizing With version 7 / CS / CS2 / CS3 / CS4 of Photoshop 速, please check out the new brush palette. In version 6, to re-size the brushes please use an art-pad and pen or paint a dab and re-size and re-define the brush (not all brush sets work in version 6) Many of the brushes in the earlier sets are low in size but the later sets approach the maximum brush size of 1020 x 1020 (with version CS4 the maximum diameter is 2500 x 2500 - which is pretty decent but then again, some use documents in the 1000s with many GB of memory installed) fig. Set size via the basic brushes palette
fig. Or set the diameter via the more advanced brushes palette (why is one called diameter and the other a more imposing master diameter though??)
Re-arranging brushes You can always delete brushes and then save a brush set for yourself with your own particular favorites, just use the brush palette and save the current brushes to a new brushes file. You can, if you want, create a totally new brush set by opening the brushes you want, set to the brush tool, create a brush dab in a 1000 x 1000 file and then use the define brush command for each of those dabs and then saving the new brush dabs file. In CS, you can also re-arrange the positions of the brushes so if you want a particular set of brushes to be next to each other, go to the preset manager and then select the brush and drag (this doesn't work in the brushes palette, just the preset manager (?)) and then save the file.
fig. Brushes from the pipes brushes pack before moving items in the preset manager
All the files were created in Photoshop 6 format for maximum compatibility with future versions, if you save the brushes in CS then the backward compatibility will be gone, but at least you will be able to save all the various brush palette settings as well, creating even more unique brush effects.
fig. The first few brushes have been moved via the preset manager, select and drag
Brush palette The brushes can be tweaked in a variety of ways and the brushes saved as brush presets for that particular tool. Not all the features of the palette are open to all brush tools. The brush palette allows access to modify the color / size / application / angle / scatter / texture and even combinations of brushes.
fig. Shape dynamics screen
fig. Scattering brush panel
Brushes and effects Brushes can be used in combination with effects. Some effects work well with the brushes and others, not so well. Some effects are ignored on layers (it seems) so a brush stroke on a layer might have an effect applied and the effect will change nothing
fig. Embellish brush before effects (plugins) applied
fig. The embellish brush stroke with a blur and water color effect applied in Photoshop
Brushes and opacity Painting with opacity set to 50% or 15% or 100% will result in a totally different brush effect. Use a low opacity setting to create a more blurred / blended in image.
fig. Original brush stroke with opacity set to the default 100% fig. Opacity set on top bar to 47% All brush strokes are now applied using 47% instead of 100%
fig. Brush strokes applied with the same brush but now at 47% opacity
Blending mode and brushes You can also alter the blending mode for a brush stroke. This option can be variable in use, especially using blending modes such as difference which can create a jumble of brush strokes and colors in seconds. Subtle brush strokes can be created using multiply or other blending modes. Some of the brushes give full access to all the blending modes, others less.
fig. Blending modes for the brush tool
fig. Brush tool applied using the difference mode (X brush from the X brush pack)
Channels and brushes Brushes can be used on different channels (paint on the red channel but ignore the green and blue etc) Or select the red channel and the green channel and paint only on those. Also, use the brushes to paint on the alpha channel (s)
fig. Brushes applied on different channels.
fig. Spiral brush applied to red and green channels only
Layers and brushes Brushes can be used on a new layer. The brush stroke can be applied as a brush stamp, pre-apply or apply the style after the brush stroke. The new layer can be pre-assigned a style before any brush strokes. The brush stroke can be applied and used to spread out the style. If the style contains elements that can grow or shrink depending on the application, many interesting brush designs can be created. You may wish to vary the size (using an art pad and pen) as well as using the layer scaling to modify the size of the applied style. Depending on the style and the brush stroke, brush strokes applied can take on a viscous quality with the style blending and changing as you apply the brush stroke. More akin to a brush stroke applied in more paint orientated applications.
fig. Brush applied to a layer but without a layer effect applied
Brushes can be used as a dab or nozzle. Create a layer, apply a single or multiple dabs (keeping within the bounds of the document layer) and then just duplicate the layer. The layer can be converted into a smart object though it will lose some functionality. If it is not a smart object, re-sizing it can be an issue. The layer can have effects applied and warps (within limits) and can be repeatedly duplicated to create unusual designs The brush dab via layers is not as flexible as a 'true' nozzle / image hose effect but it can still be used to create great backgrounds, frame designs, overlays and more.
fig. Layer effect (metal) applied to the brush layer
LAB mode and brushes Brushes can be used in different image modes such as CMYK or LAB. The brushes can be applied as if on a RGB document. Use on different channels such as lightness. For example, use the blur brush to great effect in LAB mode.
fig. Brushes can be applied in LAB color mode
fig. Brushes can be applied in CMYK documents color mode as well
Brushes and patterns The brushes can be used as a source for patterns. Apply a brush stroke (avoiding the edges). Use the offset command to further manipulate the design, adding more brushes (again avoiding the edges) and then use the edit menu [ define pattern ] command The pattern then can be applied using the fill or fill layer content or via the pattern stamp or as brushes texture The brush generated pattern file can also be used as a displacement map, save as a PSD. Use the displacement file in displace filter and glass filter in Photoshop 速
fig. Brush to be used for the pattern
fig. Use the define pattern command to create a pattern based on the brush strokes
fig. Use the brush as a source for patterns, use the offset filter to create a more complex pattern design
Distress effects The brushes can be applied using various opacities and also oversized (to create a rougher brush design) to distress or grunge any image Apply the brush strokes with various colors or a single color as well as using various different random settings found in the brushes palette Use the brushes in a variety of other tools such as the smudge tool and blur.
fig. Ink brush from the ink brush pack
fig. Ink brush with various scattering and hue settings applied
Brushes and masks Click the edit in quick mask mode (via toolbox) and paint the mask using the brushes. Use the load selection and mask to turn into a selection and then modify the selected area or inverse in many ways (such as apply fills or effects) Great for creating a quick frame design from any brush
fig. Original image
fig. edit in quick mask mode etc
fig. Create different masks / selections using the brushes in quick mask mode.
New brushes from old The brushes are a great source for creating a new brush. Simply open a new document and apply a brush stroke, perhaps apply effects or smudge or distort the brush strokes or lighten or darken the brush strokes. Apply multiple brush strokes, either the same or different brushes. Use the define brush command to save the brush to the palette. You will need to save the entire library if you wish to permanently store the brush (save to a new ABR file or overwrite an existing one) The new brush can then be used in all the brush tools as before, such as the paint brush tool fig. Source brush
fig. A new possible brush created from the brush dabs and effects
fig. Define new brush and then use from the brushes palette as required
PNG brush files for Paint Shop Pro 速 *** Please note, not all the sets include the PNG files 1) Open the PNG file 2) Selection menu > select all 3) Go to a brush tool (such as burn or paint) 4) Display the tool options, this will show all the current brush 5) Click the brush palette to display all the current brushes 6) Click the create brush tip from selection button 7) Enter all the details for the brush tip such as the name, author, steps, variance etc. 8) Click OK. The brush has been saved to the current brushes folder (depends on the setup) Go to the brushes palette and you will see a grayscale representation of the brush. To use, click the brush
fig. Open PNG file and then select and then use the brush palette to save the brush to the palette. The brush files can be found via the file > preferences > file locations. Screenshot is with kind permission of Corel Corporation, Paint Shop Pro is registered trademark of Corel Corporation
PNG brushes (converted) for Painter (TM) 1) Convert PNG files first to BMP or TIF 2) Open the BMP file 3) Select file 4) Go to brushes palette 5) Capture brush command 6) Apply brush strokes with the new brush dab
fig. Painter default brushes such as erasers, nozzles etc (screenshot with kind permission of Corel Corporation, Painter is trademark of Corel Corporation
fig. Sphere brushes palette
PNG brushes for PhotoPaint TM 1) Open PNG file 2) Select a brush tool 3) Display brush settings palette 4) Select brush file 5) Go to the nib properties and select the first button / dropdown menu and select the create from contents of mask command 6) Enter the size (depends on the brush) 7) Modify properties as required 8) Apply as required.
fig. Line brush from the lines brushes
fig. Toolbox of Photo-Paint, access brushes via the paint tools. Screenshot with kind permission of Corel Corporation Photo-Paint is trademark of Corel Corporation
fig. Wavy line brush from the lines brushes pack applied with different colors and scattering
Comments If you have any suggestions to how we can improve our products or manual, or if there is something that is hard to understand or badly stated, please contact us and we will try to correct any errors or misunderstandings in the next release of the manual. It is always great to hear your feedback. You can always enter comments as well in the forum comments section of the graphicxtras.com site
fig. Greek ornament brush from the Greek ornament brush pack, applied initially using black foreground for shadow and then a lighter color with the brush shifted slightly
fig. Use three colors to create a slightly different shadow brush stroke - using the Greek ornament brushes pack
System requirements Adobe ® Photoshop ® CS4 CS3 CS2 CS1 7 6 and Photoshop ® Elements 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 - Windows 98, and NT Vista, ME, XP Vista Windows 7, & Mac OS X 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 (collection set) Adobe ® Photoshop ® CS4 CS3 CS2 CS1 7 and Photoshop ® Elements 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Windows 98, and NT Vista, ME, XP Vista Windows 7, & Mac OS X 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 (brushes packs) Not sure about 64bit at the moment, I have no system with 64bit active so all the references above are to 32bit, though I would imagine the brushes are equally at home on 64bit systems as 32bit ones Mac OS earlier is not supported, but the files should work fine on the system (though I would suggest more OS 9 and 9.1 etc) should be ok. Please check your system before any purchase with the demo samplers!
fig. Some brushes consist of a single dab or mark, some of the brushes are more complex with multiple elements included in the design Useful for creating a quick distressed or jumbled design. Brush from the circles brush pack
Later sets (from brushes pack 11 onwards - not the collection) include PNG files relating to the ABR brush files. Not all the brushes are included in the PNG set (most sets, the brushes in the ABR match the brushes in the PNG brush files folder) Use these in Paint Shop Pro ® and many others
fig. Some of the brushes are fairly complex to start with, case in point being one of the strange brushes (strange brushes pack). The 3D designs were created using an excellent application called GroBoto
Trademarks The brushes were created by Andrew Buckle and copyright 1998-2009 Andrew Buckle and Abneil Software ltd (depending on the set) All products mentioned in this manual are trademarked or probably trademarked by their respective owners. Illustrator ® and Photoshop ® and Adobe ® and After Effects ® are registered trademarks of Adobe ® Systems Incorporated. We have no connection whatsoever with Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Company contact details Telephone: UK (44) 01622 688 375 Abneil Software ltd is a limited company registered in Great Britain
fig. Odd shapes from graphicxtras.com strange brushes pack. Created using the excellent 3D application, GroBoto
http://www.graphicxtras.com support@graphicxtras.com
fig. A complex brush design created using the GroBoto (TM) application.
Fade brush strokes The brush can be applied and then faded. This can be useful if the applied brush stroke is too ‘intense’ - or if you just wish to lessen the effect say in the case of a blur or smudge etc. The fade is also useful in that it offers a blending mode fade which can be useful for special effects etc
fig. Ink brush from the ink brush pack
fig. After applying a brush stroke, you can always fade it (do it after the brush stroke, any other action such as new document etc will lose the fade command)
fig. Fade command offers opacity and mode. Useful at times.
Actions The brushes cannot be used with actions, other than saving the setting as well as define brush etc. If you wish to use the brush dabs in actions you are out of luck. Scripting might be more helpful and you will need to check the scripting folders for more information on that, and in particular the ScriptListener plug-in. To find out more, I would suggest checking online.
fig. The brushes collection comes with a lot more realistic brush strokes, the image above showing a crayon brush stroke
fig. Pencil brush stroke from the brushes collection from graphicxtras.com
Displacement maps The brushes are a good source for displacement maps, either as a basic PNG to PSD displacement map or use the brushes to create a file to be saved as a displacement map. The example below is for a displacement map of 300 x 300 but it could easily be 500 x 500 1) Open document 300 x 300 2) Apply brush dabs using the selected brush and paint tool 3) Use the offset filter (part of Photoshop in the other menu - set to -150 and 150 (half of the size of the map) 4) More dabs (avoiding the edges) 5) Save as PSD file 6) Go to the distort menu and select the glass or displace or texturizer etc filters The brushes can be used to create stunning glass and displacement and textured designs.
fig. Create a displacement file by applying brush dabs to a document, use offset to shift and create more complex maps
fig. Use the map in the distort > glass filter, go to the folder that contains the saved displacement map (PSD files)
Border / frame brushes The brushes are useful as a ‘frame’ stamp. Not all brushes work well as a frame but many can be used for this purpose. Open an image, apply brush to image to highlight or frame the area as required Another approach is to create a new document, apply ‘frame’ brush (using black foreground) and then select the outer area of the frame and fill with black as well. You then have a frame design that can be applied to any image. Another approach is to start with a black image and then fill with a white brush stroke. The frame design can then be used easily in various frame plug-ins such as Photographic Edges from AutoF/X fig. Apply ‘color’ framing element to the image
fig. Create a ‘standard’ frame (one for use in a frame plugin such as Photographic Edges etc) by using the brushes. Either select the outer area and fill with black or start with a black image and apply a white brush to the center region
Brush spacing The brush dabs can be spaced, Setting the spacing to 2% etc and the generated brush is a nearly a continuous line; spacing at 25% and you can see more of the structure of the brush; at 100%, depending on the brush, the brush will join from one dab to the next (great for line themed patterns as shown to the right) Setting the rotation etc will change the result. There appears to be no ‘pressure’ sensitivity to the brush spacing which would be useful. Spacing can be disabled which creates an interesting effect in itself.
fig. Spacing for the brush 25%
fig. Spacing set to 100%
fig. Spacing has been disabled, creating brush dabs with minimal spacing one after another but not as a continuous line (great for distressed effects)
fig. Spacing set to 8%
Brushes / path The current brush stroke can be applied to a path. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)
Select brush Set brush settings Draw path Go to the path palette Right menu Stroke path Set the required brush tool OK
The brush is applied to the current path
fig. Once you have created a path, you can stroke the path with the current brush / brush tool
fig. Embellish brush applied to a circle
Brushes and basic animation You can also ‘animate’ the brushes by applying a brush stroke to a new layer, another to a new layer and so (shifting the brush with each layer) and then using the animations palette ‘make frames from layers’ command. 1) Select brush, settings etc (perhaps scattering settings to create a randomized brush stroke, along with color settings) 2) Create brush stroke on layer 3) Layer > new layer 4) Create new brush stroke 5) New layer 6) Go to the animation palette 7) Make frames from layers fig. Embellish brush used in animation
fig. Use the layer palette to add brush strokes, shifting or scattering (or changing color etc) and then go to the animation palette and make frames from layers command. Will not win an award for the greatest animation ever but can be used to create interesting backgrounds, brush characters etc
Brush and palette fade The brush size can be made to fade away rapidly or slowly via the controls entry for fade. Other options for angle can modify the angle of the brush stroke.
fig. Original line brush from lines brushes pack
fig. Set the fade via the shape dynamics panel, 50 for a reasonably quick fade
fig. Fade of 10, fairly rapid fade away
Frames from brushes The brush can be used as a frame but the brushes can be used to create a frame or border layer. 1) Create a layer 2) Apply brush stroke around the edges of the layer 3) Apply styles / layer effects if required to add a shadow or bevel
fig. Another line brush used to create a basic frame for a design
fig. Brush applied to a layer to create a frame, a drop shadow is applied via the layer effects
fig. Brush from the lines brushes pack is used, this one combines black brush strokes and gray brush strokes to create a slightly more interesting frame
Brushes / 3D (Extended) 1) Create new layer 2) Select brush tool 3) Apply brush dab 4) 3D > New 3D postcard from layer 5) Go to the 3D tools on the toolbox and select 3D rotate 6) Rotate the brush dab in 3D
fig. Source brush dab before rotation (brush from the tangled brush pack)
fig. Brush dab has been rotated in 3D after conversion into 3D postcard and the rotation tool has been applied
New 3D shape from brush dab (Extended) 1) Create new layer 2) Select brush tool 3) Apply brush dab or multiple dabs 4) 3D > New shape from layer > sphere (could easily have been a cylinder etc) The brush is now the surface of the 3D sphere and can be rotated in 3D using the 3D rotate etc tools
fig. Original brush dab (from a rosettes brushes pack) before 3D conversion
fig. The brush dab is now the surface of a sphere and the sphere can be rotated etc using the 3D tools (in Photoshop Extended) The brush dab can also have other tools applied such as smudge etc to blur / smudge the design as required
Create 3D mesh using brush (Extended) 1) Create new layer 2) Apply brush stroke 3) 3D > New mesh from grayscale > Plane (or sphere etc) Creates a 3D mesh for possible export to another application. The mesh can be rotated etc using the 3D tools.
fig. original brush dab from the rosettes pack
fig. 3D menu (Extended only)
fig, 3D mesh after a slight rotation in 3D using the 3D rotate tools
Create a new brush Most of the brushes created for the graphicxtras.com either start out on Illustrator or as custom shapes designs in Photoshop followed by a define brush (on Photoshop 6 for maximum support). Perhaps a mistake, perhaps the lowest should now be a brush preset for CS2 say. I don’t know, one day I will just change and drop 6 and 7 and CS versions. Means I will be able to go for 2500 x 2500 etc files. Anyway, a quick note how to create a basic brush.
fig. A basic brush dab created using custom shapes
1) Create a new document 2) Select the custom shape tool 3) For something simple, select the ellipse tool and just create dots. 4) Set the color to black (or gray) colors are not important when it comes to brushes, just the grays. 5) Create a design, avoid touching the edges of the document 6) Set settings such as scatter etc if required 7) Edit > define brush
fig. Brush applied with 9% spacing
fig. Roundness 20% Angle 135%
fig. Size fade 10
fig. Brush applied with 58% spacing
fig. Background jitter 40%
fig. Opacity fade 25
Examples of brushes The following section shows an example of the brushes included in the brushes packs from graphicxtras.com. Many different types of brushes are available such as stars, embellishment, grids, hearts and more. The samples are small compared with the full size of the brushes (600x600 etc), also the sets often contain many different items including bonus material such as EPS designs and more. The brushes can be colored (the examples here are generally just using the black foreground but you can use any color, or apply on a layer and use a layer effect as the brush material such as a gradient or pattern). Literally millions of possible designs are possible, fig. Wavy brush pack example
fig. Additional wavy brush design example
fig. Examples of brushes from radial brushes pack
fig. Selection of brushes from the ink brushes pack
fig. Distress brushes from the distress brushes pack
fig. Flames brushes from the flames pack
fig. Sphere brushes from 3D spheres brushes pack
fig. Selection of brushes from the brushes collection. The brushes collection includes 10,000 unique brushes. Not the same as the brushes packs which came later. The brushes collection also includes more realistic (pencil, marker etc designs)
fig. Selection of brushes from the brushes collection. The brushes collection includes 10,000 unique brushes. Not the same as the brushes packs which came later. The brushes collection also includes more realistic (pencil, marker etc designs)
fig. Selection of brushes from the brushes collection. The brushes collection includes 10,000 unique brushes. Not the same as the brushes packs which came later. The brushes collection also includes more realistic (pencil, marker etc designs)