How to Create a Custom Brush In Adobe Photoshop

Christine Knight

Introduction Have you ever gotten so frustrated with

Photoshop because you were tired of using the default brushes adobe came with. You can make your own brushes; it’s not that hard it’s actually quite simple. In this tutorial, I will teach you how to make your own custom brush, so that you can use as a background or just a picture. You will need to know the basics of Adobe Photoshop, some shortcuts and the general layout of the tools on Photoshop.

RequirementsAdobe Photoshop CS2 or HigherComputerAn image from the internet or your computerMouse

Getting to Know Photoshop

A. Menu bar B. Options bar C. Toolbox D. Palette well E. Palettes F. Status bar

A.D.

E.

B.

C.

Instructions Get an image from the internet or from your

on personal collection that you would like to use.

If you are getting the image from the internet save it your computer.

I have chosen to use this picture.

Go to the Start Menu > All Programs > double-click on Adobe Photoshop CS2.

Once Adobe Photoshop is loaded, go to File > Open > Locate the file that will be used > Open.

Next, select the part of the image that you want to use. To select the main subject chose the Pen tool (P). In the options bar make sure that Paths is selected.

Start selecting your image using the Pen tool just click to create an anchor and keep repeating until you have selected all of it. Right click on the picture and click on Make a Selection. A pop up box will come up and click ok. Select the inverse Shift+Ctrl+I and then delete. Next Ctrl+J to copy the layer.

Next, desaturate the layer. The desaturate command turns a color image to grayscale values. To do this choose Image > Adjustments > Desaturate or Shift+Ctrl+U.

Next, bring out the white and black in the image. To do this choose Image > Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast change the settings until you can see the white and the black in the image stand out.

Next, select Channels. Ctrl+Click the box next to RGB. A little box should come out when you press Ctrl over the Box. You will then select the inverse Shift+Ctrl+I. Save the selection as a channel, to do this click on the icon that has circle inside a square. Make sure you do not deselect the layer.

Make a new layer. Layer > New > Layer or Shift+Ctrl+N. Make sure you have black as the foreground. Alt+Delete to fill the layer with black. This will fill the selection. After filling the selection go to Edit > Define Brush Preset then press ok.

Select the Brush tool and then select the brush you just made and try it out on a new layer.

Final results…

Here are my end results.You can do two things when you make a brush you can use it either as a background or as a subject for your image.

To use it as a background just change the setting of the brushes to do this go to the Palette Well and click on the tab that says Brushes. Click on these categories so that a check comes out in the box: Shape Dynamics, Scattering, and Color Dynamics. Mess around with settings till you get something that you like.

Conclusion Now that you have your finished brush, you

can use it as a background by changing the brush presets, as I showed you before. Using the brush as background adds a little more to your advertisement, or picture. Making your own brush will give you an edge over someone who doesn’t know, because those people who don’t know will be stuck using the defaults that Adobe Photoshop has. While you will be able to use the ones that you have made and created.