Brushes Panel - 2

Brushes Panel - 2

Learn how to use the Brush Settings to customize the look and feel of your brushes in Photoshop.

When to use

Use the Brush Settings when you want to change the appearance of any of your brushes. 

Instructions

Basic Brush Settings

• Begin by creating an empty layer in your 1920 x 1080 document.
• Open the Brushes Panel once again by going to the Window Menu and choosing 'Brushes' or by pressing 'F5' on the keyboard.
• Select the 'Brush Settings' tab.
• Click on one of the basic brushes and you will notice that any brush you select will be shown as a preview in the bottom of the panel.
• Adjust the size of your brush using the 'Size' slider and watch the brush preview change instantly.
• Next, move the 'Spacing' slider to the right and notice how the appearance of the brush changes into a series of dots that are becoming more spread out as the slider increases.
• Reduce the size of your brush to somewhere around '30px' and begin painting to see the scattered brush effect. 
• Decrease the 'Spacing' slider by moving it all the way to the left, and you will once again be able to brush without seeing the individual dots that make up the brush stroke.
• You can also reduce the 'Hardness' of the brush to get a softer, air-brushed look, or increase it for a harder-edged look.
• Adjust the 'Roundness' and 'Angle' sliders to create a flatter brush that can be rotated and try painting with it on an empty layer to see how it looks.

Advanced Brush Settings

• Go through each of the other brush settings by checking off the box next to each, starting with 'Shape Dynamics'.
• Here you can use the 'Size Jitter' and 'Angle Jitter' to create more organic-looking brushes. 
• Next, check off the 'Scattering' box and experiment with the 'Count' and 'Count Jitter' settings to see how this can create unique-looking scatter brushes in both the X and Y plane.
• A lower 'Count' will decrease the number of shapes that appear each time you click with the brush, whereas a larger value will increase the number of shapes.
• These settings can be very useful if you want to create grass, hair, or a flock of birds for example.
• Continue making your way through the remaining settings like 'Texture' and 'Dual Brush' where you can combine two different brush types together. 
• Remember that you can also lower the opacity of your brush to gradually build up the effect and create more depth.

Saving Your Brushes

• Once you find Brush Settings you are happy with, you can save it as a preset by clicking on the hamburger menu in the upper right corner and clicking 'New Brush Preset'.
• From here, give your brush a name and check off the 'Capture Brush Size in Preset' box along with the 'Include Tool Settings' options before clicking 'OK'.

Hints & tips

• Using the Brush Settings allows you to create a wide variety of custom looks for any and all of your Photoshop brushes.
• Using a drawing tablet will give you even greater control over the appearance of your brushes.
• Once you find settings for a brush that you like, you can save it as a preset and import it again later.