Ever wonder how to create your own brushes in Photoshop? It's quite simple really. This tutorial will take you through the process of making two types of brushes (picture brushes, and brushes from scratch). It will also teach you how to export brushes to the internet so that others may use them. (See bottom of post for a video tutotial)
Time to complete this process: 5-15 minutes
Brushes from Pictures:
Step 1 - First choose a picture that you want to take a piece of to make a brush, and open it up in Photoshop. (It can be a drawing, a photo, a face, whatever you want to use).
Step 2 - Make your image black and white. This can be done one of two ways. Go to Image -> Mode -> Grayscale, OR, Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Desaturate. Either way will work fine.
Step 3 - Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast, and mess with the scales until you like the way it looks.
Step 4 - Choose the lasso tool or the polygonal lasso tool and select an area of the picture you wish to be your new brush. Then go to Edit -> Define Brush. Enter a name and click "OK."
Step 5 - Your brush should now be with the other brushes in your brush set. If you wish to save the brush into a set, delete all other brushes from the brush set except the brush you just made (right click on a brush and click delete, ok). Then go into the Brush Pallette Menu (the little >> icon at the top right of the brushes menu) and click "Save Brushes". Choose a name and save the file in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Presets\Brushes. You can now find your brush in the Brush Pallette Menu when you wish to use it in the future.
Brushes from Scratch:
Step 1 - This process is a little more creative. Really the brush can look like anything you want it to and can think of, and involves playing around with the image until you have something you like. Open up a new document and begin drawing the shape you want to be your new brush. (For this example, try drawing a stick figure). The Image should be black and white. Erase any unwanted parts. Repeat steps 4 and 5 from above. This process can be used to create some really awesome grunge brushes or brushes of any type really.
Exporting Brushes:
Step 1 - The following is insanely easy.
Download the program called ABR Viewer here. Note: this is a .rar file and you will need to download WinAce or something of the sort to open it (you can always use the free trial version of WinAce instead of paying for the full version.
Step 2 - Once you've downloaded and opened the ABR viewer click File ->Open Brush Sets. Find the Brush Set you just created with your new custom brush (probably in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Presets\Brushes if that's where you saved it from the above tutorial). In ABR Viewer, click Export -> Thumbnails. Save it where you can easily find it (probably your desktop).
Step 3 - If you want other people to be able to download your new brush, the Thumbnail you just exported will give you a preview to upload to the web so people can see what the brush looks like.
Step 4 - Join a website for free like DeviantArt.com and create a free account. Now you can upload your .abr file (the brush you created) and also a preview (the .png thumbnail you just created with ABR viewer). People will now be able to download your brush.
-JW.
Welcome
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Organizing Brushes in Photoshop
If you're like most people out there and have a slow computer, you know just how agonizingly long it takes to load a large list of brushes and to search through them all to find the one you want. Or maybe you're just tired of searching and are desperate for a way to organize your brushes. If either of these are true then this post is for you!
Assuming you've downloaded some brushes already (and have them stored in a place you can find them:
Time needed to complete this process: 5-10 minutes
Step 1 - You want to organize your brushes into sets. First go and load a brush set with relatively few brushes in it like "Square Brushes." Delete all of the brushes in this set (right click on each brush and click delete, then click ok).
Step 2 - Go into the Brush Pallette Menu (select the brush tool, drop down the select brushes menu, and then click the little >> icon at the top right hand corner of the drop down menu). Click "load brushes." Load all of the brushes that you wish to place in a set. For instance, if you have a lot of grunge style brushes, load all of the grunge brushes. Delete any unwanted brushes (see step 1 about how to delete brushes).
Step 3 - Now go into the Brush Pallette Menu and click "Save Brushes." Type in the name of your new Brush Set (for this example "Grunge") and choose a place to save the new Brush Set. In this case you want to save in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Presets\Brushes. (Go to your C drive, go to Program Files, go to Adobe, go to Photoshop CS, go to Presets, go to Brushes). Now you have a new Brush Set. (Note: If this is a set of brushes you will be using often, you may want to put an _ before the name (_Grunge) this way it will show up at the top of your preset list and you will be able to find it more easily). Make sure you type in the new name of your new brush set before you click save, or else you will lose whatever set you opened and deleted brushes from!!
Step 4 - Repeat steps 1-3 as many times as needed to load all of your newly downloaded brushes into presets. Once you are done, close Photoshop and open it again. Now when you go to load a brush set the sets you just saved will appear in the Brush Pallette Menu.
Note: If later on you decide to add a few brushes to one of your brush sets, simply open up the brush set, load the new brushes, and click "Save Brushes." You will need to save it in the same place as above, using the same name of your brush set. Go ahead and click ok when it asks you if it is ok to save over the file named the same thing.
Assuming you've downloaded some brushes already (and have them stored in a place you can find them:
Time needed to complete this process: 5-10 minutes
Step 1 - You want to organize your brushes into sets. First go and load a brush set with relatively few brushes in it like "Square Brushes." Delete all of the brushes in this set (right click on each brush and click delete, then click ok).
Step 2 - Go into the Brush Pallette Menu (select the brush tool, drop down the select brushes menu, and then click the little >> icon at the top right hand corner of the drop down menu). Click "load brushes." Load all of the brushes that you wish to place in a set. For instance, if you have a lot of grunge style brushes, load all of the grunge brushes. Delete any unwanted brushes (see step 1 about how to delete brushes).
Step 3 - Now go into the Brush Pallette Menu and click "Save Brushes." Type in the name of your new Brush Set (for this example "Grunge") and choose a place to save the new Brush Set. In this case you want to save in C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop CS\Presets\Brushes. (Go to your C drive, go to Program Files, go to Adobe, go to Photoshop CS, go to Presets, go to Brushes). Now you have a new Brush Set. (Note: If this is a set of brushes you will be using often, you may want to put an _ before the name (_Grunge) this way it will show up at the top of your preset list and you will be able to find it more easily). Make sure you type in the new name of your new brush set before you click save, or else you will lose whatever set you opened and deleted brushes from!!
Step 4 - Repeat steps 1-3 as many times as needed to load all of your newly downloaded brushes into presets. Once you are done, close Photoshop and open it again. Now when you go to load a brush set the sets you just saved will appear in the Brush Pallette Menu.
Note: If later on you decide to add a few brushes to one of your brush sets, simply open up the brush set, load the new brushes, and click "Save Brushes." You will need to save it in the same place as above, using the same name of your brush set. Go ahead and click ok when it asks you if it is ok to save over the file named the same thing.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Installing Brushes in Photoshop
Time needed to complete this process: 2-5 minutes
To install brushes you've downloaded into Photoshop:
Step 1- Save your brushes somewhere you will be able to find them.
Step 2- Depending on the supplier, you may need to unzip them.
Step 3- Open your brush pallatte. Click the arrow. Select "Load Brushes" from the dropdown list. Find the brush file. Click Open/OK.
For information about organizing your brushes, click here.
-JW.
To install brushes you've downloaded into Photoshop:
Step 1- Save your brushes somewhere you will be able to find them.
Step 2- Depending on the supplier, you may need to unzip them.
Step 3- Open your brush pallatte. Click the arrow. Select "Load Brushes" from the dropdown list. Find the brush file. Click Open/OK.
For information about organizing your brushes, click here.
-JW.
Texture Tutorial (Grunge)
Ever wonder how to create your own grunge style textures? Well wonder no more. Take a look at this tutorial I wrote for you.(Make sure to view all three parts. Your browser may scale down the size, so click on them once they've loaded to zoom in on the image).
Time needed to complete this tutorial: 20-30 minutes.
Time needed to create your own unique texture: 30 minutes - 2 hours.
Grunge Textures Part 1
Grunge Textures Part 2
Grunge Textures Part 3
Have fun!
-JW.
Textures by JAWorley
Crediting for Resources Used
Any free resources you use you MUST credit to the author (in parenthesis). If you don't this is considered theft.
Crediting an author is as simple as putting text below your image when you use it online that says something like: Texture used is by: acorns_hallow123 (or whatever that persons alias is).
Crediting an author is as simple as putting text below your image when you use it online that says something like: Texture used is by: acorns_hallow123 (or whatever that persons alias is).
Installing Fonts on PC
Tired of the same old default fonts on your computer? Why not install some new ones? (See bottom of post for video).
Time needed to complete this process: 2-10 minutes
1) To start with go to a free font website such as 1001freefonts.com and choose a font from their list that you want to install. Click the download button (this is pretty much the same for most free font websites). Depending on your computer you may need to click "Save as" if the option comes up. Do not simply click "open".
2) Once the folder is saved to your computer, open it. Somewhere on the left there should be an option to "Extract all files" click this button. An Extraction Wizard will come up. Don't mess with the options, just keep hitting "next" until the "finish" button comes up, then click "finish". A new folder should open up and you should see an icon with two T's overlapping. The file name should be something like nameoffont.ttf
3) Next open up your control panel. On Windows XP this is done by going to "Start" --> "Control Panel". In the Control Panel open up the folder that says "Fonts". Once this folder is open, drag the ttf file that you just extracted (the one that has two overlapping T's on the icon) from that folder to the "Font's" folder. This will install the font file on your computer.
4) Congratulations! You now have a new font on your computer. Depending on some computers, some may need to be restarted before the file will show up in applications such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop.
Time needed to complete this process: 2-10 minutes
1) To start with go to a free font website such as 1001freefonts.com and choose a font from their list that you want to install. Click the download button (this is pretty much the same for most free font websites). Depending on your computer you may need to click "Save as" if the option comes up. Do not simply click "open".
2) Once the folder is saved to your computer, open it. Somewhere on the left there should be an option to "Extract all files" click this button. An Extraction Wizard will come up. Don't mess with the options, just keep hitting "next" until the "finish" button comes up, then click "finish". A new folder should open up and you should see an icon with two T's overlapping. The file name should be something like nameoffont.ttf
3) Next open up your control panel. On Windows XP this is done by going to "Start" --> "Control Panel". In the Control Panel open up the folder that says "Fonts". Once this folder is open, drag the ttf file that you just extracted (the one that has two overlapping T's on the icon) from that folder to the "Font's" folder. This will install the font file on your computer.
4) Congratulations! You now have a new font on your computer. Depending on some computers, some may need to be restarted before the file will show up in applications such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop.
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