Smoothing brushes in Photoshop. Setting up a brush for painting in Photoshop

​To master digital painting at the highest level, you need to know a variety of drawing rules. In today's tutorial we will talk about whether it is better to use a hard or soft Adobe Photoshop brush. I'll show you the difference between them and the applications that work best with each brush.

But I can already draw...

It makes sense that if you can draw on paper, you can draw in Photoshop, right?

Well, not quite.

I've seen many excellent traditional artists make the transition to digital painting with great difficulty. The truth is, digital painting requires more than just knowing the basic principles. This type of creativity requires a thorough understanding of the software used and the limitless potential of these tools.

As you can see, in order to draw on a computer you need to reprogram your thinking to understand that the drawing can be changed at any time. Once you become more familiar with the tools, this feature becomes a nice feature rather than a burden.

Hard Brushes & Soft Brushes

So what are hard and soft brushes? The hardness of a brush directly indicates how sharp its edges are. The higher the percentage of hardness, the more precise the stroke. For a more blurred edge, simply lower the parameter Rigidity(Hardness).

Opacity Opacity also plays an important role in determining the soft or hard nature of a standard round brush. The higher Opacity, the more paint.

Here are the settings I'm considering for the Hard and Soft brush.

Hard brushes

• 50-100% Hardness(Hardness)
• 50-100% Opacity(Opacity)

Soft brushes

• 0-50% Hardness(Hardness)
• 0-50% Opacity(Opacity)

You will notice that there is a "sweet spot" here, somewhere between both types of brushes. 50% Hardness will be a great setting for drawing even fine details without having to worry about the edges being too blurry.

To show you which settings work best in certain situations, let's look at these examples.

Sketches

Let's start with the sketches. They must always be followed Hard brush(Hard Brush) - usually about 100% Hardness(Hardness). Sometimes you see artists adjust the settings to get a more tapered end of the brush, but this setting simply gives the strokes the appearance of a regular pencil drawing.

Keeping the edges of your brush hard will give you clean, neat sketches.

Soft brush(Soft Brush) makes fine details of the drawing less noticeable, especially due to the blending of blurred areas.

Block in Colors

In digital painting there is the concept of "block in colors". This is the process of creating a basic color scheme for a drawing. Typically used for this process Hard round brush(Hard Round Brush) with Rigidity(Hardness) 50-100% to apply primary colors to the sketch.

The artist then continues by adding colors using Soft round brush(Soft Round Brush) with Rigidity(Hardness) 0-50% .

If in the same situation we start with Soft round brush(Soft Round Brush) you will notice that the colors have mixed and become muddy. You'll also have to spend a lot more time applying multiple layers of color just to get the same effect as using Hard round brush(Hard Round Brush).

Most things in nature have a certain texture and weight. It is much more difficult to convey this idea using only Soft brush(Soft Brush).

So think of digital painting as fine sculpture. Lay out the basics first Hard brush(Hard Brush) and then soften whatever is needed Soft brush(Soft Brush).

Final touches

Visually, a piece of cotton and a diamond have two completely different textures. However, most of the details you draw will need some form of definition - like a diamond.

When you see that the drawing is almost finished, raise the values Hardness(Hardness) and Opacity(Opacity). Use a harder brush to paint those final details.

So should I only use a hard brush?

No, but when painting with a hard brush you will feel more comfortable than when using a soft brush. It is worth considering that a soft brush is a tool that helps polish all the details after working with a hard brush. Try using the sweet spot (50% Hardness) and simply adjust the settings to suit the needs of your specific design.

List of applications for Hard and Soft brushes

If you're having trouble and feel like your drawing doesn't look right, it could be because of your brush choice. Keep this list as a reminder of what details are best to paint with each brush.

A hard brush is suitable for:

1. nature: general landscape and details such as grass, stones, trees, etc.
2. clothes and accessories
3. general facial features
4. hair
5. formation of any other material

A soft brush is suitable for:

1. nature: sky, clouds, smoke, fog, etc.
2. creating smooth skin
3. texture polishing
4. general color mixing (after color blocking)

Depth perception

The only time you will need to use a soft brush very actively is when working with depth perception. Depth perception is a really cool effect that makes an object appear closer or further away depending on what details are blurred.

However, in truth, you can get the same effect by using other tools, e.g. Gaussian blur(Gaussian Blur). Don't worry, we'll cover working with different digital painting tools in a future tutorial!

Conclusion

To be successful with digital art, focus on the basics. You can get rid of problems simply by adjusting the settings of a particular tool. Try to take frequent breaks so that you can look at your robot from a new angle and complete it perfectly. Good luck!

One of the biggest advantages of Photoshop is the ability to customize brushes. You can find and download thousands and thousands of different brushes on the Internet, and creating your own is very easy.

Brushes can not only be used for painting with the Brush tool, but can also be used as eraser, blur, burn and dodge tools.

WORKING WITH BRUSHES:

Photoshop brushes are very good, but their settings may seem too complicated for some. It will be useful, it seems to me, to switch the brush viewing mode to the Large List, where you can see the descriptive name of all the brushes next to their icons. This will make it easier to find the right brush. To do this, click on the area next to the selected brush, a new window will open - click on the small button in the upper right corner and select Large List. You can also select Stroke Thumbnail, which allows you to see how the selected brush will look on the canvas.

Also, here you can download new brushes (Load Brushes). It's very easy to load brushes one after another until it becomes impossible to find the one you need in so many brushes, even in a list with descriptive names. It is best to Replace Brushes. This will remove the selected brush from your list and replace it with a new one. The problem arises when you have a lot of brushes that you want to use in one particular painting, and you constantly have to download and delete these brushes again. The best thing to do is this: if you have a certain set of brushes that you use constantly, it is better to combine them into one group. To do this, use the Preset Manager, and load and delete brushes until you find the perfect group of brushes for you. Then be sure to Save Brushes under a new name.

BRUSH PARAMETERS:

The BRUSHES window (accessible from the Windows panel or the small Toggle Brushes panel in the top right corner) contains all the different methods by which you can control how your brush looks and works. Here's a quick overview of the different possibilities:

Brush Tip Shape:
Here you can adjust the diameter of the brush (which can also be controlled while drawing using the [ - to decrease the diameter, and ] - to increase it), rotate the brush and set its angle.

At the bottom of this window is the Spacing column. It controls how far apart the brush points will be located - the lower the number, the smoother and more uniform the line will be; The larger the number, the more distant the points will be from each other.

Practical Application: If you want to create a dashed or dotted line, set the spacing level to high.

Variations of the interval of the same brush, from 1 to 500%:

Shape Dynamics:
When this item is checked, Shape Dynamics is activated. This section allows you to adjust the Size Jitter, which changes the size of each individual brush spot, creating a unique brush line. If Control is turned Off, the size of the brush points will depend on the number specified on the slider. If you set the Pen Pressure parameter and set the slider to 0, then the pressure of your pen will determine the size of the brush - strong pressure - larger dots. Minimum Diameter sets the possible smallest diameter of the brush.

Size Jitter 100%, Regulation – Off. (Control – Off), Minimum Diameter 0%:

Size Jitter 0%, Control – Pen Pressure, Minimum Diameter 0% (pressure from weak to strong – from left to right):

Another useful option is Angle Jitter, which, as the name suggests, adjusts the angle of the brush points. As with Size Jitter, if Control is Off, it will be adjusted by the slider. An interesting result will be obtained if you set the Adjustment (Control) to Direction (Direction), and set the slider to 0. The angle of inclination will follow the movement of your brush.

Practical Application: If you wanted to create a chainmail or wave pattern, set the angle variation to 0, its adjustment to brush direction, and draw lines from left to right and right to left.

Angle Jitter 0%, Control – Direction (brush elements fall in the direction of brush movement):

Scattering:
When this feature is enabled, brush scattering is enabled. This feature controls how widely the brush elements are scattered. The difference between this feature and Brush Spacing under Brush Tip Shape is that Scattering occurs in different directions, whereas Brush Spacing keeps the brush points in one line. Count groups your points into small bunches, the higher the number, the more groups there are.

Scatter 90%, Control – Off. (Off), Count – 1:

Scatter 700%, Control – Off. (Off), Count – 5:

Texture:
When this function is enabled, Texture of the brush is possible. There are many templates you can download online that you can use to texture your brushes. You may need to play with the Modes settings to get the look you want - some works look great in Overlay mode, others look great in Soft Light, etc. It's important to remember that like any texture, the edges of the pattern can stand out too much. To avoid this, drag the Scale slider to change the size of the template. The size of your brush does NOT affect the size of the texture pattern, only the area where the brush touches.

Same brush size, Web texture 15%, 60%, and 150% Scale:

Dual Brush:
When this feature is enabled, it becomes possible to combine the brush you have selected with another brush. The second brush will overlap the first. In this column you can adjust Diameter, Spacing, Scatter and Count, which will control the degree of influence of the second brush on the first.

Examples of Dual Brush:

Color Dynamics:
When this feature is enabled, you can adjust the colors of your brush. Foreground/Background oscillation allows you to combine foreground and background colors; the greater the degree of mixing, the more mixed the colors become. Fluctuations in Hue, Saturation, and Brightness increase variations in these parameters.

The foreground color is green, the background color is pale blue. The swing of all levels is set to 80%.

Dynamics of Other Indicators: (CS4) or Transfer Mode (CSS):
You need to set the switch to ON. (ON) if you want your brush to respond to the pressure of your pen - so that the brush lines taper at the ends, and so that the transparency of the lines depends on the pressure of your pen. In most cases, you will need to set the Control of Opacity and Flow to Pen Pressure. If your brush isn't working as it should, make sure this checkbox is checked. Of course, sometimes you will want this feature to be OFF, for example when you want your brush to act more like a stamp than a brush.

Other points:

I don’t use these points very often, but they are still worth mentioning.

Noise: adds even more unevenness.

Wet Edges: makes the lines transparent and the edges saturated, like when painting with watercolors.

Airbrush: Makes the brush look like an airbrush by selecting specific shades.

Smoothing: creates soft lines on brush strokes.

Protect texture: This feature will allow you to apply the same texture templates and brush settings that have a texture. Useful if you want to achieve a dense textured effect when painting with multiple brushes.

Greetings, dear readers of the site. In today's lesson we will talk about the instrument brush in photoshop. The brush is one of the main tools, which means that every self-respecting photoshopper should be able to customize a brush in Photoshop to suit his needs. It's about and will be discussed in this lesson.

But first, a short introduction for those who are just starting to get acquainted with Adobe Photoshop.

The brush tool in Photoshop is located in the toolbar on the left:

If the brush is active, a quick brush settings menu will appear at the top, it looks like this:

Let's see what settings this menu offers us.

- The first thing is brush type. Click on the arrow next to the brush icon and you will see a list of brush types:

Let's select the Fuzzy Cluster Loose brush and drag it over the canvas a few times:

As you can see, this is a barbed wire brush. By default, Photoshop has a little more than a dozen of these types of brushes. They are used quite rarely, but, nevertheless, some of them are quite interesting:

If you click on the arrow in this menu, you will see a list of options. Here you can select sets of brushes, each of which stores specific types, like those discussed above. By clicking on Preset Manager, you will be taken to the preset editor, where you can change the current set of brushes in Photoshop:

But, as I said, all of this is used quite rarely, so just keep in mind that these types of brushes exist. And we move on.

The Size parameter determines the size of the brush. You can change it by moving the slider, or by entering the value in the field manually

The Hardness parameter adjusts the hardness of the brush. When I say in Photoshop tutorials that you need to take a soft brush, this means the Hardness parameter is 0%, and if you use a hard brush, it means 100%.

You can also choose ready-made brush options from the window. Now let's look at the available options; they open by clicking on the arrow:

At the bottom of the list are the standard and downloaded sets of brushes (read more about this in the lesson on how to install a brush in Photoshop). By clicking on Preset Manager you will be taken to the brush manager:

— Now let’s look at the opacity and brush pressure settings in Photoshop:

The Opacity parameter sets the opacity of the brush. A value of 0% is a completely transparent brush, 100% is a completely opaque brush.

The Flow parameter sets the force of pressure on the brush: 0% - barely apply pressure, 100% - apply full force.

If you noticed, there are 3 more buttons in this panel that I didn’t say anything about, and which are used to work with the tablet: Tablet Pressure Controls Opacity, Enable airbeush mode and Tablet Pressure Controls Size (Pen pressure controls size)

So, we have reviewed the quick brush settings, and now the fun begins - you will find out how to set up a brush in photoshop.

How to set up a brush in Photoshop

Pressing F5 opens the brush settings menu (with the brush tool active, of course):

You can also go to this panel by clicking on the icon in the brush quick settings menu

Attention! Keep in mind that these settings apply not only to the brush, but also to tools such as the Pencil Tool, Mixed Brush Tool, Clone/Pattern Stamp Tool, History/Art History Brush Tool (Brush), Eraser Tool (Eraser), Blur/Sharpen/Smudge Tool (Blur, Sharpness, Dirt), Dodge/Burn/Spronge Tool (Darkener, sponge).

Essentially, these are universal settings for all brush-type tools.

Adjusting the brush tip

So, the first tab is Brush Tip Shape. You are already familiar with the Size parameter, but then something new begins:

The Flip X/Y checkboxes allow you to invert the brush along the X or Y axis.

Amgle adjusts the brush angle. Let's select a brush from the list that differs from the standard one and trace the change in angle on it (by the way, both the brushes themselves and the types of brushes are available in this list):

I took the Soft Elliptical 100 brush (aka Aurora) and rotated it to -46 degrees.

I hope everything is clear here and you can now easily adjust the brush rotation angle in Photoshop.

Aurora began to look like an ordinary brush.

The Hardness parameter is already familiar to you, but Spacing is a very interesting setting that adjusts the distance between two brush strokes:

Dynamics of brush shape in Photoshop

Now go to the Shape Dynamics tab. Let's look at the settings using an example of a regular hard brush of 48px size.

The first thing we are interested in is Size Jitter. As the name suggests, this option controls how the size fluctuates throughout the brush stroke:

The Control list is usually the same for all parameters and indicates the condition by which one or another brush parameter will be controlled in Photoshop.

Off means without special conditions.

If Fade is selected, the brush will fade out:

The number of steps over which the attenuation will occur is specified in the rectangle to the right of the parameter.

If Pen Pressure, Pen Tili or Stylus Wheel are selected, then control will occur with varying degrees of pressure and tilt of the stylus, and the position of the wheel (if any). Rotation depends on the rotation of the stylus pen.

Minimum Diameter allows you to limit the diameter, less than which the brush cannot be.

Angle Jitter sets the “angle jitter”. The action is similar to Size Jitter, with the difference that the angle fluctuation is specified.

Roundness Jitter sets, as you probably already guessed, the “jitter” of the stroke circumference (the same Roundness parameter that we discussed a few minutes ago). The effect of Minimum Roundness here is similar to Minimum Diameter for the Shape Dynamics parameter.

Setting brush diffusion in Photoshop

Go to the Scattering tab. The name speaks for itself - here are the brush diffuse settings.

The Scatter parameter sets the amount of scattering. Try setting it to 500% and now paint with this brush:

By checking the Both Axes checkbox you will get scattering on both axes (X and Y).

The Count value specifies the number of brush strokes. Accordingly, the higher this value, the more points the brush will create. And finally, Count Jitter sets fluctuations in the number of strokes.

Texture brush in Photoshop

The next tab is called Texture and allows you to apply a texture to the brush. Everything is quite simple here - select the texture and set it.

Brush color dynamics in Photoshop

Go to the next tab and see Color Dynamics. This setting is similar to all the ones we have discussed, and it differs only in that it allows you to set color fluctuations for the brush in Photoshop. Let's see how it works.

Foreground/Background Jitter specifies fluctuations between the foreground color and the background color. Thus, all shades that are between these colors will be included in the range of fluctuation.

Hue Jitter - fluctuations in color tone.

Saturation Jitter - saturation fluctuations.

Brightness Jitter - brightness fluctuations.

Purity - purity of shades. With this parameter set to 100% you will get pure, bright colors, so the lower this parameter is, the more the colors blend together.

Let's see what happens if we drag a brush over the canvas with settings like in the image above:

This is an interesting effect. Think about how many opportunities these provide brush settings in photoshop! But that's not all, let's move on.

Setting up brush transitions in Photoshop

Transfer - transitions. In this tab of this tab you can adjust the Opacity Jitter and Flow Jitter.

There are also options such as Noise (if checked, creates noise on the brush stroke), Wet Edges (Weathered edges), Airbrush (Airbrush) and Smoothing (Smoothing).

This concludes the lesson on brushes in Photoshop, I hope it was useful for you. If you didn’t understand something during the lesson, ask in the comments. And I say goodbye to you until we meet again, and wish you creative success 😉

Tool Brush(Brush) is perhaps one of the most commonly used tools in Photoshop.

And for good reason, since it is universal in its application. You can change the shape of the brush, set your own, change the color, size, and also use it when creating a mask and contours.

This lesson will show you the most common actions that can be performed with a brush, as well as the subtleties of its settings and something else interesting, and, of course, useful in use.

Before we start describing the properties of this tool, let's first look at where it is located.

The Brush tool and how to activate it

Tool Brush(Brush) is located in the toolbar and has an icon that you can see below:

To activate the tool, simply right-click on the icon. But sometimes, during work, you need to quickly switch between tools; for this, Photoshop provides shortcut keys for calling tools (sometimes this is a keyboard shortcut).

For tool Brush(Brush), key highlighted B(Latin).

That is, while working in Photoshop, just press this key to activate the tool.

Option Bar of the Brush tool

Once you activate the tool Brush(Brush), it will appear at the top of the program window Settings panel(Option Bar). It looks like this:

So, let's look at each element of this panel separately. On the left you already recognize the icon of our tool, it just indicates that the tool is selected Brush(Brush), and not any other tool.

If you click on the arrow to the right of the icon, a drop-down menu will appear:

Tool Preset Picker

This menu is called "" (Tool Preset Picker).

Almost every tool has such a menu; let’s remember at least the lesson about tool (). It offers you to choose from a standard list of frequently used special brush settings for convenient use. IN Photoshop CS3+ The standard set of this menu includes three types of brushes; they already have settings for shape, color, density, etc.

Below, as an example, is a screenshot that clearly shows how these settings are reflected in application:

You may say that you don't need these brushes and they won't do any good, but you're in for a pleasant surprise!

In this menu you can place brushes with your own settings, which will most often be needed in your work, that is, in fact, you can customize this tool for yourself. Let's figure out how this is done.

To get started, click on the small arrow on the right in the drop-down menu, another menu will appear:

The screenshot shows what this menu looks like in the English version; the purpose of its functions and their translation will be presented below.

So, as you have already noticed, all functions are separated by a horizontal line, thus, the functions are divided into purpose groups, this is done for ease of use (if you pay attention to the toolbar, they are all also divided into groups).

IN first group includes one single function New Tool Preset(New Tool Setting), this means that you can set your own brush settings and save them by clicking on this command. The icon with an envelope in the menu window is also intended for this action. Preset Tool Settings"(Tool Preset Picker), it has the same appearance as the icon for creating a new layer in the layers panel.

So, after you have set the brush settings, click on the icon for creating a new tool setting or select the corresponding command mentioned above, after which a window will appear where you can set the name of the created brush.

Function include color(enable color) allows you to save the color you select in the brush settings. After you set the name and press the key OK, the brush with the parameters you specified will appear in the list of the “ Preset Tool Settings» (Tool Preset Picker).

Second group consists of two functions that perform actions with existing brush settings.

Left-click on the desired brush setting and click Rename Tool Preset(Rename Brush Setting) to rename it, or Delete Tool Preset(Delete Brush Setting) to remove it.

Third group is intended for the way brush settings are displayed in the " Preset Tool Settings"(Tool Preset Picker):

- Show all tool presets(Show settings for all tools) – as mentioned above, for each Photoshop tool it is possible to create its individual settings and then save them.

This function allows you to see the settings created for all tools, regardless of which one is currently in use, and, accordingly, you can not only see them, but also apply them by clicking on the desired setting with the left mouse button. If you have a lot of similar settings, then this function may not be very convenient, since you will have to search for the desired setting among the entire list, which will take a certain amount of time.

Function Sort by tool(Sort by instruments) allows you to sort the list of settings by instruments; it is active if you selected in the display methods Show all tool presets(Show settings for all tools) and can make it easier for you to find the right setting.

When you enable the function Show current tool presets(Show current tool settings) in the " Preset Tool Settings» (Tool Preset Picker) will only display the settings of the tool you selected.

In our case, only the instrument settings will be displayed Brush(Brush).

Next group functions determines the type of settings list.

When the function is activated Text Only(Text only) the list of settings will look like this:

Small List(Small list):

Large List(Large list):

Next group functions allows you to reset the instrument settings to standard.

When they are applied, all settings in the " Preset Tool Settings» (Tool Preset Picker) will not be deleted and will retain their position, and the tool itself will work with standard settings.

Function Reset tool(Reset Tool) returns the tool settings (in our case, brush settings) to standard, that is, if you suddenly, while working, forgot where you applied certain brush settings, and therefore cannot cancel them, this function will return everything to its place!

Function Reset all tools(Reset All Tools) resets the settings for all Photoshop tools and returns them to default.

Magic group containing only one function Preset Manager(Manage Settings) opens in a separate window and allows us to perform various operations with the settings, such as Load(Download), Save Set(Save settings), Rename(Rename), Delete(Delete) settings.

To apply these actions, simply select the desired setting with the left mouse button and click on the corresponding command on the right. In the drop down menu Preset type(Settings type) you can choose to sort the settings by any instrument.

There is another noteworthy feature in Preset Manager(Manage Settings): You can select several settings at once and apply the appropriate commands to them.

To highlight settings located one above/below another, select the most top/bottom setting with the left mouse button, then hold down the key Shift and left-click on the lower/upper settings, release the mouse button and then the Shift.

To selectively highlight settings instead of a key Shift hold down the key Ctrl and click on the settings with which you need to perform operations:

Seventh group functions is also intended for operations with settings, but it applies to the entire group of settings as a whole, and not to each setting individually.

Reset tool Presets(Reset Tool Settings) returns the entire list of settings to its standard state, that is, in the list of settings for the brush you will only have three standard settings, which we mentioned at the very beginning.

Load tool Presets(Load Instrument Settings) loads specific settings that you may have downloaded from the Internet or copied from someone.

Save tool presets(Save Tool Settings) allows you to save your entire list of settings, and the function Replace tool presets(Move Tool Settings) gives you the ability to move the list of your settings to any specified folder on your computer.

The last group contains a list of tools whose settings you can replace the list with brush settings.

So, we only considered " Preset Tool Settings"(Tool Preset Picker), and you understand that this is only a small part of the tool's capabilities Brush(Brush).

Moving to the right along the brush settings panel, we go to a menu called The Brush Preset Picker(Specified Brush settings).

The Brush Preset Picker

If we click on the arrow on the right, a drop-down menu will appear that looks like this:

Parameter Master Diameter(Main diameter) allows you to change the size of the brush, and the parameter Hardness(Hardness) noticeably affects the edges of the brush (depending on the hardness settings, the edges can be hard or soft), the screenshot below shows an example of changing such settings:

Remember at the beginning of the article we said that each instrument is assigned a specific key on the keyboard for quick access? So, using a combination of some keys, you can even change the instrument settings “ on the run».

So, for example, you yourself understand that when working with a brush, it is not very convenient to open the menu every time The Brush Preset Picker(Specified Brush Settings) and change the brush settings in it, I’ll tell you a little secret.

In order to change " on the run» brush size, just click on the square brackets. Bracket " [ » reduces brush size by 5 pixels, and the bracket " ] "increases. Combining these keys with the key Shift reduces and increases the stiffness of the brush by 25% respectively.

Under the parameter Hardness(Hardness) is brush library, in it you can choose brushes of various shapes and for every taste. A standard set of brushes usually contains universal brushes that will be useful for your work. You can select these brushes by left-clicking on them. But that is not all! After all, we said that the brush tool is very versatile and flexible in its use. You probably noticed that on the menu The Brush Preset Picker(Preset Brush settings) at the top right there is the same arrow as in the menu Tool Preset Picker(Specified Tool Settings), let's see what's behind it.

Here, we already see functions that are familiar to us; they operate on the same principle as those that we considered earlier, so it makes no sense to consider them separately again.

Agree, this is very inconvenient, especially if you really have loaded a LOT of brushes.

The already known function will help us solve this problem Preset Manager(Manage settings). It will open up your entire library of brushes, which you can delete, rename, save, etc.

Everything here works exactly the same as when working with the tool settings in the “ Preset Tool Settings» (Tool Preset Picker). This is where we can select a number of brushes we don’t need and remove them in one fell swoop!

“I want the library to have only standard brushes, how can I return them?”

Reset your library settings. It's easy to do, just use the function Reset Brushes(Reset brushes), then all previously loaded brushes will be deleted, but the standard ones will remain. If you hate to delete previously downloaded brushes, save them on your computer using the function Save Brushes(Save brushes).

The function will help you transfer brushes from one folder to another Replace Brushes(Move brushes).

“The lesson says that standard brushes are used, but I don’t have one in my standard brushes, what should I do?”

Not all standard brushes are initially displayed in our library, since only frequently used ones are located in it, the rest are divided into groups that you can turn on at any time and select the necessary brush.

For example, below is a screenshot of a set of brushes from the group Special Effect Brushes:

Well, are the capabilities of the tool amazing?! As you might guess, that's not all, let's return to Settings panels(Option Bar), take our course to the right, and we see a new menu called Mode(Mode).

Mode

This menu allows us to further diversify our work with the tool.

Each mode gives its own unique effect. Are you ready to see this? Then let's get started!

First, it should be noted that the blending mode is needed to mix the colors of objects.

Mixing colors in Photoshop occurs through the use of a series of written mathematical formulas that work on the values RGB every pixel.

Total modes 27 , of course, we will not consider all of them, we will only touch on some of them.

Let's consider the first group of modes:

Mode Normal(Normal) applies the brush without any change in pixels, this is the most commonly used mode;

Mode Dissolve(Dissolve) adds some noise to the edges of the brush;

Mode Behind(Behind) draws behind the object, even if the drawing occurs on the object's layer;

Mode Clear(Clear) can be used as an eraser as it erases what you have drawn;

Here's what it looks like in practice:

The photo below shows the effect of other blending modes.

You can experiment with them yourself, applying them to any object and observing the resulting effects.

Opacity.

With its help, we can change the transparency of the brush, that is, reduce the intensity of the brush color.

To visualize what we are talking about, take a close look at the screenshot below:

There are two little secrets for quickly changing the transparency level: first way– number keys, 0 – 100% transparency, 1 – 10% , pressing each subsequent digit increases the transparency by 25% .

Another way(for finer settings) – hover the cursor over the word itself Opacity(Transparency), then it will take the form of a double-sided arrow and, holding down the left mouse button, move it to the left to reduce transparency and to the right to increase it.

Flow

Parameter Flow(Pressure), as you already understood, changes the pressure of the brush, just as you would draw on paper with a pencil or felt-tip pen: the harder you press, the more intensively it draws.

Quick pressure control is carried out similarly to transparency control, only if the second method is absolutely identical, then the first one differs only in that you will need to press the key simultaneously with the number key Shift.

Airbrush

Function Airbrush(Airbrush) is presented in the form of this pictogram:

If this function is enabled, the brush begins to paint continuously. Even if you stop at one position, it will still be applied until you release the mouse button.

This brush is somewhat reminiscent of a spray, to clearly see its effect, you need to reduce the level to a minimum flow(press):

When retouching portraits, if you are faced with the need to touch up something on the skin with a brush, it is advisable to have this function turned on; if used skillfully, it will allow you to preserve the texture as much as possible.

The last and perhaps most interesting thing we have to learn about working with a brush is the so-called Brush Palette(Brush Palette).

Brush Palette

The brush palette is in Settings panels(Option Bar) on the left at the very end of the panel.

To quickly call it, just press the key F5 on keyboard.

This palette can work wonders and opens the door to the big world of flexible tool settings Brush(Brush)!

Now you will see this!

Let's start in order: On the left we have the names of the functions, on the right their settings, so let's go!

Brush Presets

Brush Presets(Brush Settings) This function is already familiar to us; here we have a library of brushes at our disposal, as well as the ability to change the diameter of the brush. Let's take a brush from the library as an example Grass(Grass) and remove all the settings specified for it on the left.

Brush Tip Shape

Diameter(diameter) - this function gives us the ability to change the diameter of the brush, but unlike the function Master Diameter(Main diameter), it measures the number of pixels of the brush shape and does not allow increasing the diameter above their value. Button Use sample size(Use Sample Size) restores the brush to its default size.

Flip X(Flip X) reflects the brush shape horizontally, and Flip Y(Flip by Y) reflects it vertically; it is possible to use two parameters at once.

Parameter Angle(Angle) allows you to change the angle of the brush, and Roundness(Circle) allows you to change the shape of the brush within a circle. If you look to the right, there will be an axis with a circle in front of you. When this circle has the correct shape ( 100% ), then the brush also has its own regular shape, but if you turn this circle, for example, into an oval, then the brush will take the shape within the oval (see image below).

Both parameters can be entered not only in numerical form, but also applied on the graphic axes and the circle on the right using the mouse.

Hardness(Hardness) adjusts the hardness of the brush, but this option does not work with all brushes, especially if they are made from an image. But it works great with standard round brushes.

And the last parameter in this group is Spacing(Spacing) determines the distance between brush marks when painting. The higher the percentage you set, the greater the distance between prints, and vice versa.

Shape Dynamics

Shape Dynamics(Shape dynamics). This group of settings allows you to set adjustments for size, angle, circumference and reflection fluctuations. The higher the value you set, the more randomly the parameters will be applied. So, let's look at the operation of each of these parameters separately.

Size Jitter(Size fluctuation) sets the size fluctuation, it is also affected by the parameter Minimum Diameter(Minimum diameter), it sets the minimum permissible diameter for size fluctuations if this parameter is set to 0% , then the size fluctuation will be made from the maximum possible (determined by the size of the brush) to the minimum possible, respectively, the larger the value of the minimum diameter is set, the smaller the size fluctuation will be.

Angle Jitter(Angle oscillation), as you already understood, determines the oscillation of the inclination angle.

The smaller the angle percentage is set, the correspondingly smaller the oscillation, and vice versa.

Roundness Jitter(Circle Jitter) allows you to oscillate the brush shape within a specified circle. The minimum circle diameter limit can be set in the parameter Minimum Roundness(Minimum Circle), it works the same as Minimum Diameter(Minimum diameter).

Flip X Jitter And Flip Y Jitter set arbitrary reflection fluctuations vertically and horizontally.

You've probably already noticed the function Control(Control) located under each parameter.

Let's take a look at it separately; the principles of its operation are the same for all parameters. If the drop-down menu contains the value Off, then the control function is disabled. When you select the option Fade(Transition) you can set the smoothness of the vibration transition in the window that appears on the right. The higher you set the value, the smoother the transition will be.

Parameter Pen Pressure(Pen Pressure) is only available when using a tablet, with this option you can set the vibration sensitivity to pen pressure on the tablet. If your tablet does not support this feature, an icon with an exclamation mark appears next to it on the left, indicating that this option is not available. Parameter Pen Tilt(Pen Tilt) is also only available for tablet, when activated, the size fluctuation depends on the pen tilt. Stylus Wheel(Wheel) function is also designed for using a tablet, the vibration will depend on the position of your wheel.

Scattering

Scattering(Scattering) controls the amount and placement of the brush mark in the document.

Parameter Scatter(Scatter) determines the spread of the brush mark in the document along the axis Y, that is, when using it, the scatter will be up and down.

If you enable the option Both Axes(Both axes), then the print will be scattered along two axes, that is, not only up and down, but also to the right and left.

The higher the value Scatter(Scatter), the greater the spread of the print.

Parameter Count(Quantity) determines the number of prints in the scatter. The higher its value, the more brush marks will be scattered. Compare the previous image where this indicator was at 1 and the image below:

Parameter Count Jitter(Quantity Fluctuation), as you may have guessed, determines the fluctuation in the number of prints. Minimum quantity is limited by parameter Count(Quantity), a maximum– brush size.

Texture

Texture(Texture). This function allows you to apply a texture to a brush.

If checkbox Texture Each Tip(Texture each print) is not checked, then the texture will be applied to the entire area where the brush is applied; if checked, the texture is applied to each brush mark separately (in this case, additional settings options become active).

Parameter Scale(Scale) determines the scale at which the texture is applied to the brush.

Parameter Mode(Mode) allows you to select blending mode texture with the color of the brush mark, works similarly to the blending modes we already know.

Parameter Depth(Depth) increases or decreases the contrast of texture applied to the brush mark. Parameter Minimum Depth(Minimum Depth) defines the minimum contrast value for the parameter Depth Jitter(Depth fluctuation).

Dual Brush

Dual Brush(Double brush). This is a very interesting option, since it allows us to create a print from two brushes at the same time. At the very top there is a parameter already known to us Mode(Mode), it allows us to select the blending mode of the brushes. To the right of it is the parameter Flip(Reflection), its activation allows you to reflect the applied brush Y axis.

Next, we are presented with a library of brushes, where we can select the brush that we want to apply to the one we had previously selected. All other parameters are already well known to you, only they apply to the brush you selected for blending (in the image I have reduced the spacing between prints for greater clarity).

Color Dynamics

Color Dynamics(Color Dynamics) is just a magical feature. To make sure of this, first set the foreground and background colors to your taste. The fact is that this function allows us to play with different shades of our chosen colors when drawing.

Parameter Foreground/Background Jitter(Foreground/Background Variation) determines the fluctuation of colors (or rather shades) between the selected foreground and background colors. The higher this indicator, the more shades.

Next are the oscillation parameters Hue(Color tone) Saturation(Saturation) and Brightness(Brightness), try playing with these settings and you can get some interesting results!

Parameter Purity(Color Purity) increases and decreases color saturation. I deliberately do not show the differences between the settings of these parameters, since changing them leads to very different results, once again I encourage you to experiment with this yourself.

Other Dynamics

Function Other Dynamics(Different dynamics) allows you to set oscillations opacity(transparency) and flow(density) brushes. We are already familiar with these parameters, so we will not dwell on them.

Other positions of the brush palette

We still have a whole group of functions separated from others by a line.

These functions do not have personal settings:

Function Airbrush(Atomizer) is the same function that we looked at in the middle of this tutorial.

Function Noise(Noise) adds noise to the brush mark.

Wet edges(Wet Edges) gives the print a watercolor effect.

Smoothing(Smoothing) allows us to get rid of sharp corners when drawing and makes transitions smooth.

Protect texture(Texture protection). It happens that some brushes have their own texture in their personal settings, so as not to change the texture you set every time when choosing different brushes, activate this function, and it will apply the one you set to all brushes with texture settings.

So, we have considered all the possibilities that the tool provides us Brush(Brush). This is truly a magical tool, as you have already seen, as well as the fact that Photoshop is a world with limitless possibilities! A little skill and patience, and you are a true Photoshop master!

I hope this lesson revealed to you the secrets of such a fascinating instrument and was useful to you!

Do you think that it’s difficult to draw a clearing with flowers or scatterings of stars in Photoshop? Nothing like this! Just one or two strokes with a properly adjusted brush! It's not difficult, it's a very simple tutorial for beginners.

You just need to learn how to configure the Brush tool in the Adobe Photoshop toolbar.

The examples were made in Adobe Photoshop CS4, but almost all settings are available in earlier versions of Photoshop. Later versions of the program have more options for working with graphics tablets.

How to choose a brush?

Select the Brush tool from the Adobe Photoshop toolbar.

In the options bar, click on the Brush list arrow, open the list with a set of brushes and select the brush you need.

In the palette that opens, set the size of the line stroke (the thickness of the line with which the brush will draw) – the Master Diameter slider, as well as the hardness of the brush – the Hardness slider.

If the required brush is not in the open set, you need to click on the triangular button and select another set of brushes from the collection installed in Photoshop.

If you are unable to find anything suitable here, then there are two ways: download the desired brush from the Internet or create it yourself.

How to install a downloaded brush?

Files with brushes have the extension abr (for example, stars.abr). A set usually contains many different brushes of the same theme. Installing a downloaded set of brushes in Photoshop is easy:

How to create a new brush?

It's very simple. First you need to draw what will be the brush mark. You need to paint in black if the brush stroke is to be uniform and opaque. A complex color image will allow you to create a brush with areas of different transparency.

Draw in Photoshop, for example, a maple leaf like this on a transparent background. Then go to Edit > Preset Manager and give the new brush a name. The brush will appear in the brushes collection in the Photoshop toolbar.

How to set up a brush?

Select the new brush you created from the Photoshop toolbar. Then select the menu command Window > Brushes (or click the button on the Quick Launch toolbar).

The options panel will open - additional brush settings. You can use this palette to change the size, shape, angle, spacing between brush strokes, the opacity of individual strokes, enable the scatter feature, and change other parameters.

The lock images next to each setting are “not closed,” meaning you can change the settings of the brush you’re currently working with as you please. Once you select a different brush, your previous settings will disappear and the default settings will return. If you close the locks, the settings will be saved for this brush.

In the open settings palette, at the bottom there is a checkbox and a Spacing slider (distance, intervals). Move it left and right, look at the result and stop at approximately 100%. That's right, at these intervals your brush will draw, even if you draw one continuous line with your mouse.

What if you need to change the shape, size and angle of the brush when drawing one stroke?

Changing the shape, size and angle of the brush

To do this, Photoshop has a Shape Dynamics settings item.

Size Jitter will change the size of each leaf that appears as you draw. This is clearly displayed in the settings preview window.

A little lower – Control. Here you set the condition for exactly how the size will change.

Off – the size will change randomly.

Fade – (fading) – the brush size will gradually and smoothly decrease over a certain number of steps. This quantity is indicated in the square next to the right.

Minimum Diameter – (minimum diameter) to which the brush will decrease in size.

Angle Jitter – angle fluctuation. This slider will change the angle and orientation on the plane of your brush.

Roundness Jitter – fluctuation of roundness. If you paint with a brush with this parameter, you will see that from stroke to stroke its shape will change as if we had applied a free transformation to them (Distort, Prespective).

Minimum Roundness – sets the parameter how much you want to change the distortion of the brush shape.

Scattering brush strokes

What if you don’t need to place the leaves neatly along the line, but scatter them throughout the image?

Use Scattering! Set the Scatter slider to a value of 250-350% and the brush strokes will begin to “scatter”, “scatter”, deviating to the side from the line that you drag with the mouse across the canvas. This function in Adobe Photoshop is used to draw stars, snowflakes, leaves on trees, confetti, grass, etc.

The Count function increases the number of prints by 2, 3 or more times. Set it to 3 and evaluate the result.

Texture allows you to add a certain texture to an image. We will not use it for leaves.

Dual Brush - allows you to create a print using two brushes at the same time. At the very top is the Mode parameter, it allows us to select the brush blending mode. To the right of it is the Flip parameter; activating it allows you to flip the applied brush along the Y axis. Next, we are presented with a library of brushes, where we can select the brush that we want to apply to the previously selected one and use the sliders located below to change the parameters.

Dynamic brush color change

Color Dynamic (Color Dynamics) allows you to change the color of the brush right as you paint. Set your foreground and background colors to red (#FF0000) and yellow (#FFFF00) in Photoshop's Toolbar. In the Brush palette, on the Color Dynamic tab, move the Foreground/Background Jitter slider all the way to the right - 100%.

If we now start painting with a brush, we will get leaves of all shades, from yellow to red.

In the Color Dynamic settings, you can adjust Hue (color tone), Saturation (saturation), Brightness (brightness) and Purity (color purity).

Working with color dynamics settings in Photoshop is much more difficult and requires some experience. Experiment on your own to gain this experience. You can use the lesson for training

The Other Dynamic tab settings allow you to adjust the spread of transparency and fill. Maple leaves are usually still opaque. We won't use these settings, but they are worth remembering.

Other dynamics settings. Perhaps they will come in handy..

Noise - noise. Added to the gray tones of the brush. You will see its effect if you paint with a large diameter gray brush.

Wet Edges - wet edges. Imitation of watercolor. The paint seems to flow down to the edges of the brush, creating something like a stroke effect.

Airbrush - airbrush. Enables and disables the airbrush option (this button can be seen at the top of the menu) By turning on the checkbox next to the word airbrush in the brush settings, you will see that the airbrush button in the menu is automatically turned on.

Smoothing - used when drawing with tablets and serves to smooth out curved lines. If your drawing must have sharp corners, then do not activate this function.

Protect Texture – texture protection. If this feature is enabled and you are painting with a texture brush, then when you replace the brush, the texture will not change.

After all the experiments, if you are satisfied with the Photoshop brush you created, close the locks in the settings on the Brushes palette and use the new brush in your work.