Save custom brushes as Presets, and the new Brushes panel–which replaces the older Brush Presets panel in Photoshop CC 2018–is an easy way to organize collections of them.
This tutorial covers turning a feather image into a brush, but these concepts can be applied to any image or brush creation process.
Presets
Presets allow you to quickly reapply settings that modify brush characteristics (such as size, hardness, or flow) across paintings. To create one quickly, select the Brush tool and click its Gear icon in the Options bar; from there choose New Brush Preset from the drop-down menu – alternatively you could also load an already saved preset set previously created through Preset Manager.
Brush presets provide another convenient feature of texturing brushes: adding textures. After applying one to your brush, choose an effect such as Multiply to make the texture appear more opaque or Invert to reverse its appearance on an image.
Preset Manager manages brush presets as part of its comprehensive library management, which also oversees gradients, styles, effects patterns and tools in Photoshop Elements. Each library type is represented by a file with its own extension and default folder location; and additionally the Preset Manager offers an efficient way of migrating presets from older versions into later ones.
Your custom presets can easily be shared with others who use Photoshop Elements by opening the Preset Manager and using its Edit-Presets-Export Presets command. In the resulting dialog box, Photoshop allows you to specify which types of presets (excluding actions, keyboard shortcuts, workspace customizations and menu customizations ) you wish to share (excluding actions, keyboard shortcuts workspace customizations and menu customizations).
After giving them their respective names in the Save Preset Set dialog box. Photoshop then generates and places a folder containing your custom presets at the location you specified, complete with all files necessary for them to work seamlessly in Photoshop Elements. Using its Migrate Presets command, it also helps migrate brushes, color swatches and other library items from earlier versions into newer ones.
Files
If you have edited a file in Photoshop and need to save it in another format, select File-Save As from the menu bar. Specify its name and location before selecting from a variety of formats that best meet your needs – for online use or printing through home printers or professional print shops. In addition, preserve layers is also an option available.
Save As dialog box lets you choose whether or not to automatically append file extensions automatically, choose where files should be saved (default folder or custom), as well as enable background saving so as to minimize wait time while large files are being uploaded and downloaded.
Photoshop lets you specify a location to store crash-recovery information when saving files, to help ensure that in the event of unexpected application shutdown, work can still be restored with minimal data loss.
As soon as a brush is created, it will automatically be placed in the Assorted Brushes folder of the Presets panel. To move one from this default location into your Brush Library, click on the arrow in the top-right corner and choose Save Brush; once saved, you can then select which brush name you wish to add before browsing over to it in Programs > Adobe > Photoshop > Presets > Brushes).
Import brushes into the Brush Library by downloading them from websites, or selecting Get More Brushes in the Brush panel flyout menu. Simply drag any downloaded brushes directly into the Library for storage.
Digital artists who create artwork using layers may want to divide these layers into individual files for easier sharing and revision, and smaller file sizes. To save each layer as its own file, select Layers to Files from the File menu.
Save
If you have made an impressive brush but want to use it on a larger scale, a duplicate copy can be created at different sizes by selecting Layer > Simplify Layer to convert its shape into pixels, followed by Edit > Define Brush from Selection to name the new brush and save a duplicate version in different sizes. When opening documents of that size document, your newly named brush will appear in its palette as expected.
Create your brush from an image file by directly converting the file. As this process happens directly, select only high-quality uncompressed files such as GIFs and PNGs for best results; EPS/SVG are even better! When choosing grayscale or monochrome images as these will not contain color information in them – even better still!
Your custom brush will appear in the Brushes panel and Tools Options bar just like a custom brush would, where it can be edited via Brush Settings or its menu at the top. Be wary when changing its appearance if this involves changing its hue – this may cause changes that alter its entire appearance.
Once you’ve designed the brush you want, click the settings icon to save your custom brush preset as a brush preset. Photoshop will ask you for its name and location in a folder of your choosing before prompting you for this action.
Custom brush presets provide a simple way to save a group of brush settings and recall them later, eliminating the hassle of constantly having to reset all settings when you want to return to a specific set, for instance when working with an eraser.
Not only can you save brush presets, but you can also store ABR files. ABRs are a type of Photoshop brush that can be used across programs that support them; ABR files are stored at the location where your Photoshop installation lives (C:Users[user name]AppDataRoamingAdobePhotoshop Elements[version number]PresetsBrushes). ABR files provide an ideal way for digital artists to share and reuse their toolkit containing custom brushes created from photographs, scans or happy accidents – an ABR file makes sharing and reuse simple!
Export
Brushes are one of Photoshop’s most powerful features, thanks to an active community of custom brush makers and sellers. Finding exactly the right shape, pattern or type for any task shouldn’t be hard if you know where to look – once you have several brushes saved as sets so they are easily accessible in future projects.
Photoshop CC 2018 makes this process even simpler with the new Brushes panel, which replaces earlier versions’ Brush Presets panel and lets you save more than just brush settings–including tool settings and color preferences!
To create a new brush, select an area of an image with either the Paintbrush or one of the other painting tools, and choose Edit > Define Brush From Selection. Name and click OK before entering any additional information for this custom brush; once complete it will be added at the end of your list of brushes in the Brushes panel.
Create your own brush by taking an existing one and editing its features. For instance, if it features a smooth gradient you could adjust its angle or the colors it uses; furthermore you could modify its opacity to control how soft or hard-edged its strokes are.
If your tablet features a pressure-sensitive stylus, the Software Control panel (available with some tools supporting pen pressure) allows you to modify brush settings according to how much pressure is applied by you when applying stylus pressure – enabling more responsive touch controls and making for an optimal experience overall.
Exporting brushes allows you to share them with others and is straightforward: select the brush and press the small arrow next to Brush Options menu; click New Brush Preset, name your file, and click OK. Alternatively, drag multiple brushes directly into the Brushes folder within Presets panel in one go for easier sharing!
