Basic Guide to Photoshop Brushes

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A brush tool guide for Photoshop 7.0 and Photoshop CS.

What are Photoshop Brushes?

If you’re familiar with Photoshop at all, you’ve probably heard about brushes somewhere around the net. Photoshop brushes come in many shapes, sizes and patterns. When used properly, they can help to add awesome accents to your work while cutting the time it takes to get the effects you want. From shapes to lines to sparkles to cars to grass to dots to snowflakes… there’s a brush for just about anything you can imagine. You just have to know where to look for them.

Where Do I Find Photoshop Brushes?

There are a lot of great websites out there that offer brushes for download. Some sites are large collections while others are the home of brush artists. Another great place to look for brushes is on Deviant Art. I use this a lot because there is a whole category just for brushes, and it’s searchable by topic. Below are links to get you started in your search for the perfect brush. Becareful, however! Brush collecting CAN be addictive!

Photoshop Brushes @ Google

Deviant Art Photoshop Brushes

How Do I Install A Photoshop Brush?

Now that you’ve found the brush that’s perfect for your art project, you have to place it in the right location so that Photoshop can find it. Follow the steps below to install a new Photoshop Brush:

Make sure that Photoshop is not running – if you install a new brush file with Photoshop open, the program will not find the brush until you have shut it down and reopened it again
Download the Brush to your computer in a place you will be able to find it
If the Brush is in a Zip file, extract the files from the Zipped folder. What you need is the actual brush file, which will have the extension of an .ABR. Usually, an ABR will show up as a little brush icon to help identify it.
Once you have extracted or identified the ABR file, you need to move it into the proper folder. By default, Photoshop Brushes are kept in the following folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop\Presets\Brushes
Once you have located the Brushes folder, move the ABR file inside. When you open Photoshop, it will now recognize your new brush as a preset.

How Do I Use My New Photoshop Brush?

Once you have place the Brush file in the proper folder, you’ve got the job half done. But in order to use the brush, you must make it a part of your brush tool settings in Photoshop. This isn’t as complicated as it sounds:

Select the brush tool from the tool menu.
On the top tool bar, next to your brush size, you will see an arrow pointing downwards. If you click this, it will give you all of your normal brush options.
On this tool menu, you will see a second arrow, pointing to the right. If you click this, it will show you a list of brushes that are located in your Brushes folder. The new brush that you installed will be listed there – so make note of the name of the brush file!
Simply double click on the name of the new brush you want to use.
A message will pop up that asks you if you want to replace the current brush settings with the new brush. If you click OK, it will overwrite all of your brushes – so you don’t want to do that. Trust me! What you do want to click is the APPEND button. This will attach your new brush set to the bottom of your current brushes.
Once you have appended your brushes, use the scroll bar to go down to the bottom to find them. Your new brushes have now become a part of your normal brush tool setup and you can choose them like a normal brush at any time!

Final Thought: Please take note of the wishes of the artists that create the brush that you use. Some of them ask for credit for their brushes and some would just like a link to see what you have made with their brush. As they spent time and effort to create these for other artists to enjoy, be kind in return!

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Posted by User Image Aywren