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Photoshop Brushes installation, how to use, tutorials and more

brushes designs for Photoshop ® and Elements - example by graphicxtras.com

If you are interested in purchasing brushes for Photoshop, please check out the brushes menu page

Installation of brushes

For Photoshop®, the brushes files can be placed in any folder (local to Photoshop is best) but for Photoshop Elements, the brushes should be located in the presets brushes folder. The brushes format is ABR. The brushes can then be accessed via the brushes palette in Photoshop or the preset manager. You can also load the brushes in later versions of Photoshop via the file > open command.

brushes designs for Photoshop ® and Elements - example by graphicxtras.com

Native format ABR Brushes

The brushes are all stored in native format ABR for Photoshop® and Photoshop® Elements. The brushes in the graphicxtras.com sets vary, the earlier sets were mainly for Photoshop 7 upwards but most are now for Photoshop 6. The brushes collection brushes are all stored in Photoshop 6 format. If you re-save the brushes file, the brushes will be saved in your current format and this may mean the file will not be accessible in earlier versions of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. The brushes on the graphicxtras.com site are not brushes presets so do not contain all the additional information such as scattering or brush texture etc.

Cross platform

The brushes are totally cross platform and can be used across platforms: PC or MAC OS X.

Hi-rez

The brushes are hi-rez brushes, ranging from 200 x 200 up to 1000 x 1000 in most cases. The brushes are all stored at 300 DPI (though the internal format of the ABR brushes is unknown)

brushes pack - click for more details

Re-combine brushes and create

You can always use the brush dab to create a new brush dab with multiple dabs in a larger file and create a larger brush (the latest version of Photoshop allows for a much greater size of brush than the earlier versions). The brushes can also be manipulated by effects and other tools and then defined as a new brush and saved to its own project library of brushes

Brushes used in most brush tools

The brushes supplied can be used in most of the brushes tools in Photoshop® and Photoshop® Elements such as the dodge / blur / smear / paint / art history and more. Some of the brush tools have their own brush palette settings. Some of the brush tools are hidden beneath another brush tool.

brushes designs for Photoshop ® and Elements - example by graphicxtras.com

Brush palette

All the brushes can be further tweaked and extended via the brush palette that comes with Photoshop 7 upwards. The brush palette allows the brushes to be scattered, opacity applied, texture applied, color changed and much more. The brushes menu is accessed via the window menu

brushes designs for Photoshop ® and Elements - example by graphicxtras.com

1) Select brush tool (any of the main brush tools such as clone)

2) Go to the window menu

3) Brushes

4) Click on shape dynamics / scattering etc (checkbox will then be set to ON)

5) Change settings

6) Key settings are via the brush tip shape dialog settings such as spacing (set to 0 to create a smooth brush stroke)

Brush size

Use the brush in many different ways, use with a very small brush size such as 50 x 50 for subtle brush dabs or set to 1000 x 1000 etc for huge brush strokes / textures etc. If you are looking for 3000 x 3000 brushes then I would suggest checking on other sites. All the brushes were created for maximum compatability with earlier versions of Photoshop and as such, the brush sizes are smaller than some brushes on the web.

Brush textures

Use the brushes to create stunning texture designs. Apply the brush dabs in 1000s of ways, apply blurs and smears and other effects to create unique texture designs. If you wish to make the designs seamless, I would suggest using additional tools such as Terrazzo from Xaostools

Blending modes

Use the brushes with different blending modes, the brushes can be applied using difference / multiply / overlay etc to achieve different brush strokes, also set the opacity say to 10% or 20% to create subtle additions of brush stroke

1) To set the blending mode for the brush, select a brush and then go to the top bar of Photoshop and select the mode dropdown

2) Set to 'Darken' 'Difference' 'Lighten' etc (the blending modes vary from version to version of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements).

3) Apply brush to document as normal. The actual result will depend on the blending mode, the current color of the brush as well as the background color of the document.

Another alternative way of applying the brush using blending modes is via the edit > fade command which can fade the brush and change the mode

Impressionist brush

Use the art history or impressionist brush to create stunning painted / impressionistic paintings using the brush strokes, apply to any image via the history palette

Packaging

Use the brushes to create stunning packaging designs. Especially useful now with the addition of CS5 CS4 CS3 Extended and the new 3D features. Brush strokes can be applied to 3D layers (diffuse etc)

Custom shapes and Photoshop brushes

Use the brushes to create unique custom shapes designs, apply the dab, select and then define as a work path and define as a custom shape

1) Select a brush

2) Apply brush stroke, single dab or multiple dabs as required (perhaps apply as a brush stroke)

3) Select the brush stroke using the selection tools (magic wand tool perhaps)

4) window > paths

5) Make work path

6) edit > define custom shape

7) Shape can now be saved via the custom shapes palette

Create patterns using brushes

Use the brushes to create patterns or displacement maps and use the patterns etc for textures / glass etc.

1) Select brush tool

2) Select color via toolbox / foreground color

3) Apply dabs as required (avoiding the edges of the image)

4) Filter > Other > offset (set to 1/2 height and 1/2 width) to shift design for pattern

5) Apply more dabs (again avoiding the edges of the image)

6) edit > define pattern

Use brushes with styles / metal brushes

Add a style to a layer and apply a brush stroke to the layer, the brushes will now have the style such as blue gel / metallic etc

Apply brushes to channels

The brush can be applied to the red channel and then differently to the green and to the blue channel

Use in different color modes

Use the brushes in CMYK LAB and other color modes as well as RGB

1) Image > mode > CMYK

2) Go to the brush tools

3) Apply brush stroke in CMYK color mode

You can also apply the brush stroke to CMYK's color channels, select individual cyan, magenta etc channels via the channels palette

Load brushes via the brushes palette / file > open

The brushes can be loaded via the brush palette load / replace or via presets or simply use the 'open' file command in Photoshop (later versions)

Use brushes for...

You can use the brushes for 100s of different designs, use for t-shirts, use for fashions, layouts, backgrounds, paint effects, smudging imagery, unique blur designs and more

Export to other applications

Use the brushes to create a brush dab for other applications

1) Select brush tool

2) Go to brush palette

3) Select brush

4) Make note of the brush size in the palette

5) Create a new document to that size (or greater if you wish to add additional brush dabs to create a new brush)

6) Set color to black via toolbox

7) Apply

8) Save brush via the file > brush command

9) Open PSP (say) and select brushes tool

10) Go to the brushes tool palette and right menu and create custom brush

On purchase

Purchase via secure paypal. You will be sent a link to download the software. Please download the software / presets and make a backup to CD DVD etc. Any questions, issues with installation, please contact us for help

About Graphicxtras.com

Graphicxtras.com is a website for royalty-free content and exciting hi-impact plug-in effects. All the content has been created by graphicxtras.com (Andrew Buckle) for use in commercial as well as hobby designs. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact me. You can also call me on (UK +44) 1622 688 375. Privacy: details are not sent onto any third party. All purchases are via paypal (or shareit.com). This is the official source of all graphicxtras.com material, however, you can also purchase the items on a number of scrapbooking sites as well. Adobe, Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Fireworks, Flash are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated; Corel, Painter, Photo-Paint, Paint Shop Pro, PhotoImpact, Corel are registered trademarks of Corel Incorporated

What can I do with the product?

Commercial use OK (as well as non-commercial and hobby). Use to create items for sale, use for books, leaflets, website designs, fashions, scrapbooking, in videos, on buttons, shoes, illustrations, parts of logos (some modification is required to create exclusivity), records, CDs, packaging, advertising and much more. You can use them to create millions of different graphics designs.