Tutorials

Introduction: Photoshop is an amazing program brought to the world by Adobe Inc. Whether you're an advanced user or just a beginner, there are millions of different techniques and uses to learn and have fun with. In this tutorial, you will learn how to create your own brushes. Creating your own brushes will open up a new world to personalized fun, including, but not limited to: greeting cards, photos, envelopes, business cards, wallpapers, and more. So put your imagination to work and have fun with this easy, quick, and fun tutorial.

Step 1) Before you start, think of what kind of brush you want to create. Some ideas are smileys, stars, hearts, letters, and other simple shapes. It is best to start out easy, especially if you're going to draw freehand or without a tablet. You can also use photos or vector art after you finish the basics or if you are an advanced user.

Step 2) Open up a blank canvas. It is best to start out big, so around 1000×1000 pixels should be perfect. When using brushes, it is best to go big, since you can always resize them smaller. If you make a brush bigger than its original, it will end up grainy, blurry and not presentable looking on whatever you're using it for.

Step 3) Choose a solid black brush from the drop down brush menu. Use one that is about 50 pixels big. Make sure you choose black (on the color scroll menu) and that both the Opacity and Flow are at 100%. There are premade Photoshop brushes, but we will not be using those for this tutorial.

Step 4) Now draw anything you like on the blank canvas using the brush. Make sure to draw only one thing per canvas, otherwise Photoshop will make everything you draw one single brush. It might be a little hard to get straight lines, so if you feel like you made an error, simply click Ctrl+Alt+Z. This hot key will take you back a step.

Step 5) If you are satisfied with what you drew, you are almost done. Next you need to go to Edit > Define brush. This will make only the black shape you drew a brush since Photoshop reads white as completely transparent. Photoshop also reads black as a full solid, so it will define that instead.

Step 6) After you define the brush, Photoshop will add the brush to your drop down brush menu everytime Photoshop is open so you don't have to worry about losing the brush.

Step 7) Then you're done! You can create as many or as little brushes as you want. When you use the defined brush, you can also make it any color, size, opacity, or flow you want. You can also use it for the dodge, burn, or saturate brushes as well. You can use your brushes on anything now! Make sure your canvas is at 300 DPI if you plan on printing anything out.

Additional ideas: You can open up a photo or vector in Photoshop and Edit > Define Brush and then your entire photo will be a brush. There is no limit on what you can create.

Photoshop Tutorial

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