ptg brushes IN THIS CHAPTER Using the Brush tool . . . . . . . . . . . .255 Choosing temporary brush settings . .256 Customizing a brush . . . . . . . . . . . .257 Managing brush presets . . . . . . . . . .260 Creating bristle brushes for the Mixer Brush tool . . . . . . . . . . . . .261 Smudging colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .265 Using two of the eraser tools . . . . . .266 15 Brush settings apply to many Photoshop tools, such as the Brush, Mixer Brush, Pencil, History Brush, Healing Brush, Spot Healing Brush, Dodge, Burn, Sharpen, Clone Stamp, and Eraser. In this chapter, you will paint with the Brush tool, choose and customize brushes using the Brush panel, and manage brush presets using the Brush Presets panel. You will create bristle brushes for the new Mixer Brush tool, use that tool to transform a photo into a painting, smudge colors with the Smudge tool, then nally zap out parts of an image with the Eraser and Magic Eraser tools. Using the Brush tool Before delving into the complexities of the Brush panel, take a few minutes to get acquainted with the Brush tool. In these instructions, you’ll choose a brush preset for the tool and choose Options bar settings to control its behavior. To use the Brush tool: 1. Click an image layer or create a new layer. Optional: If you want to conne your brush strokes to a specic area, create a selection. 2. Choose the Brush tool (B or Shift-B). 3. Choose a Foreground color. 4. On the Options bar, do the following: Click the Brush Preset picker arrowhead or thumbnail, then click a preset. A Choose a blending Mode (see pages 192–196). Choose an Opacity percentage. At 100%, the stroke will completely cover underlying pixels. Continued on the following page A Click the Brush Preset picker arrowhead or thumbnail on the Options bar, then double- click a preset on the picker. ptg 256 Chapter 15 Choose a Flow percentage for the rate at which paint is applied (for thick or thin coverage). Click the Airbrush button, if desired, to allow the paint to spread and build up when you hold down the mouse, as in traditional airbrushing. 5. Optional: If you have a stylus and tablet, you can activate the Tablet Pressure Controls Opacity button and/or the Tablet Pressure Controls Size button on the Options bar. ★ 6. Draw strokes in the document window. If the Airbrush option is on and you press and hold in one spot, the paint drop will gradually widen (up to the maximum diameter of the brush) and become more dense and opaque. A–B Feel free to change Options bar settings between strokes. ➤ On the Layers panel, click the Lock Transparent Pixels button for the current layer to allow the tool to recolor only nontransparent pixels. ➤ To draw a straight stroke, hold down Shift while dragging with the Brush tool. ➤ To sample colors with a temporary Eyedropper, Alt-click/Option-click in the document. SHORTCUTS FOR CHANGING TOOL SETTINGS With the Blur, Brush, Burn, Clone Stamp, Color Replacement, Dodge, Healing Brush, Paint Bucket, Pencil, Sharpen, or Smudge tool, some or all of these shortcuts can be used: Cycle through blending modes for the tool Shift- + (plus) or Shift - - (minus) Change the opacity, exposure, or strength percentage* (Shift- press a number to change the Flow level) On the row of number keys or the keypad, press a digit between 0 and 9 (e.g., 2 = 20%) or quickly type a percentage (e.g., “38”); 0 = 100% * If the Airbrush option is on, press a number to change the Flow percentage or Shift-press a number to change the Opacity percentage. C You can make a temporary change to the Size or Hardness of a preset quickly via the context menu. A i s s t r o k e was created with the Airbrush option o. B i s s t r o k e was created with the Airbrush option on. Choosing temporary brush settings ere are a gazillion ways to customize a brush. An easy way to start is by changing the Size and Hardness settings. e settings will remain in eect until you choose a dierent preset. To choose temporary settings for a brush preset: 1. Choose any tool that uses brush presets, such as the Brush, Mixer Brush, Pencil, or Eraser tool. 2. Do one of the following: Right-click in the document, then change the Size and/or, if available, the Hardness value (you can use the scrubby sliders), then press Enter/ Return. C ese settings can also be changed on the Brush Preset picker, which opens from the Options bar (see the preceding page), and the Size can also be changed via the Brush panel (see page 257) or Brush Presets panel (see page 260). To resize the brush via the keyboard, press [ or ]. To resize the brush interactively, Alt-right- click-drag/Control-Option-drag horizontally in the document. If OpenGL was on in Edit/ Photoshop > Preferences > Performance when Photoshop was launched and a round or elliptical brush is selected, a color (representing the cur- rent hardness value) displays in the brush cursor as it’s scaled. To change the hardness, drag vertically using the same shortcut. ★ ptg Brushes 257 Customizing a brush Via a wealth of features on the Brush panel, you can customize the characteristics of any brush for use with the Brush, Mixer Brush, Smudge, or Eraser tool (all of which are featured in this chapter), and for the Pencil, History Brush, Art History Brush, Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp, Blur, Sharpen, Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools. On the Brush panel, most of the settings for customizing brushes are organized into option sets; a few solo options simply get switched on or o. Many of the options are dynamic, meaning they add randomness or variation to the stroke, such as to its shape, texture, or color. e availability of options varies depending on the currently chosen tool and tip, and some features apply only to a graphics tablet and stylus. e choices are vast, but we’ll boil them down to the ones we gravitate to. With practice, you’ll learn which options and settings suit your painting style. To customize a brush via the Brush panel: ★ 1. Choose a tool from the list at the top of this page. To see the greatest dierences among the settings, select the Brush or Mixer Brush tool. 2. To show the Brush panel, click the panel tab or icon or click the Toggle Brush Panel button on the Options bar. Click Brush Tip Shape on the left side of the panel, and for now, click a non-bristle tip (a tip that doesn’t look like a drawing of a brush). A 3. As you adjust settings for the tip, keep an eye on the stroke preview at the bottom of the panel: To change the brush Size (diameter), use the slider or scrubby slider. (To restore the original size to a non-Round or nonbristle preset at any time, click the Restore Original Size button. ) To change the Angle (slant) of an elliptical tip, use the scrubby slider, or drag the arrowhead around the circle, or enter a specic angle. To change the Roundness of the tip (make it more oval or more circular), B use the scrubby slider (0–100%) or drag either of the two tiny dark circles on the ellipse inward or outward. To change the Hardness of the tip (feather or sharpen its edge), C move the slider or enter a percentage. is option isn’t available for all the brush tips. Continued on the following page A e B r u s h p a n e l l e t s y o u c h o o s e a b r u s h t i p , c u s t o m i z e i t via a wide assortment of options, and save it as a preset. e preview at the bottom of the Brush panel updates dynami- cally as you change the settings. 2 0 % R o u n d n e s s B 100% Roundness 3% Hardness C 100% Hardness WHERE THE BRUSH TIPS COME FROM When you load a library onto the Brush Presets panel (see page 260), the tips that are used by those presets also load onto the Brush panel, and display in the scroll window on that panel when you click the Brush Tip Shape button. Eight or nine standard tips also display below the other tips in the scroll window. ptg 258 Chapter 15 To control the distance between marks within the stroke, check Spacing, then move the slider (1–1000%), A–B or turn this option o to let the speed of your brush stroke control the spacing. 4. Next, you’ll customize the behavior variations for the chosen brush, using three of the option sets on the panel. Checking the box for an option set, such as Scattering, activates the current settings for that set; clicking the set name both activates the current settings and displays the set options. If an option set isn’t available for the current tool, the set name is dimmed. To control the amount of allowable variation in the brush tip shape, click Shape Dynamics, then do any of the following: Choose Size Jitter, C Angle Jitter, and Roundness Jitter values to establish an allow- able amount of random variation for those attri- butes. e variations are more noticeable when the Spacing value (in the Brush Tip Shape option set) is greater than 10%. ➤ To have the angle of the brush tip reect the direction of your strokes, under Angle Jitter, choose Control: Initial Direction. If you have a stylus, from each of the Control menus, choose which stylus feature is to control the variation for that option. Note that varia- tions will occur even when this setting is O. Choose Minimum Diameter and Roundness percentages. 5. To control the placement of pigment in the stroke, click Scattering, then do any of the following: Check Both Axes to scatter pigment along and perpendicular to the stroke you draw, or uncheck this option to scatter pigment perpendicular to, but not along, the stroke. D Also choose a Control option, if desired. Choose a Scatter percentage (1–1000%) to control how far the pigment can stray from the stroke. e lower the Scatter percentage, the more solid the stroke. Choose a Count value (1–16) to control the number of marks in the stroke (also increase the Spacing value). Choose a Count Jitter percentage (0–100%) to control the amount of variation in the Count. E A With Spacing checked, the spacing is uniform: 25% Spacing (top) and 150% Spacing (bottom). B With Spacing unchecked, the spacing is uneven: A slow stroke (top) and a fast stroke (bottom). C 0% Size Jitter 100% Size Jitter, 25% spacing 0 % S c a t t e r, 1 0 0 % S p a c i n g 5 0 0 % S c a t t e r , B o t h A x e s o p t i o n c h e c k e d D 500% Scatter, Both Axes option unchecked 0 % C o u n t J i t t e r, 1 0 0 % S p a c i n g E 100% Count Jitter: e Count varies randomly from 1% to 100% of the Count value. ptg Brushes 259 6. To control how randomly the overall stroke opac- ity can vary as you use the tool, click Transfer, then do any of the following: Choose an Opacity Jitter percentage (0–100%) for the amount the opacity can vary. A–D Choose a Control option to control the fading. Choose a Flow Jitter percentage (0–100%) to control the rate at which paint is applied. A high Flow Jitter will make the stroke blotchy, but that may be the look you’re after. Choose a Control option. 7. And last but not least (you’re almost done!), check any of these options on or o: Noise to add random grain to your brush strokes to make them look more rough. Wet Edges to simulate the buildup of pigment that occurs at the edges of brush strokes in traditional watercoloring. E–F Airbrush to allow strokes to build up for as long as the mouse button is held down in one spot. Activating the Airbrush button on the Options bar does the same thing. is eect is noticeable only when the Spacing value is greater than 6. Smoothing for smoother curves. Protect Texture to apply the same texture pat- tern and scale to other brushes for which the Texture option is enabled, to create a uniform surface texture across the entire canvas. 8. Optional: Click the open lock icon next to the name of any option set (the icon becomes a closed lock) to prevent the current settings in that set from being edited, even if you change presets. Locked settings are applied, but not saved, to any other preset you choose. To make those settings editable again, click the closed lock icon. 9. Beware! e custom settings that you have chosen are only temporary. To save them as a brush preset for future use, click the Create New Brush button at the bottom of the Brush panel. Change the name in the Brush Name dialog (include some settings in the name for easy identication), check Capture Brush Size in Preset ★ (if desired), then click OK. Your saved preset will appear at the bottom of the Brush Presets panel (see the following page) and on the Brush Preset picker. Now you can paint with your customized brush! A 0% Opacity Jitter B 100% Opacity Jitter C 100% Opacity Jitter, Control o: e Opacity varies randomly from 1% to 100%. D 0% Opacity Jitter, Control set to Pen Pressure: e O p a c i t y i s c o n t r o l l e d b y t h e a m o u n t o f p r e s - sure that is exerted on the tablet by the stylus. E i s s t r o k e w a s d r a w n w i t h W e t E d g e s u n c h e c k e d . F i s s t r o k e w a s d r a w n w i t h W e t E d g e s c h e c k e d . ptg 260 Chapter 15 A Use the Brush Presets panel to choose from the current library of presets, change the brush size, load in a dierent library, create a new library, and access the Preset Manager dialog. OPENING THE PANELS QUICKLY ★ ➤ From the Brush panel, you can open the Brush Presets panel by clicking this button: . ➤ From the Brush Presets panel, you can open the Brush panel by clicking the Toggle Brush panel button. RESETTING THE PRESETS To restore the Size and other saved Brush panel set- tings to an individual brush preset (but not the set- tings in the option sets), simply click the preset again. To restore the whole library of default presets to the Brush Presets panel, see page 401. GOING ONE STEP FURTHER BY USING TOOL PRESETS Brush presets contain only settings from the Brush panel, not from the Options bar. When you save set- tings as a tool preset via the Tool Presets panel or picker (such as for the Brush or Mixer Brush tool), the preset will contain the Brush panel settings, Options bar settings, and optionally for some tools, the current Foreground color, too (see page 402). Managing brush presets e new Brush Presets panel stores and displays presets, as the Brush Preset picker does, and it oers several additional features (but doesn’t have a Hardness slider). Via the panel, you can save and choose brush presets, change the size of the cur- rently chosen preset, save and load brush preset libraries, and access the Preset Manager. Unlike the Brush Preset picker, the Brush Presets panel can be kept open onscreen. To use the Brush Presets panel: ★ 1. Choose a tool that uses brushes, such as the Brush, Mixer Brush, or Pencil. 2. To show the Brush Presets panel, A click the panel tab or icon ; or click the Brush Presets button on the Brush panel; or choose Window > Brush Presets. 3. On the panel, do any of the following: Click a tip to be used with the current tool. Change the brush Size (diameter). (To restore the original size to a preset that lists a size value, click the Restore Original Size button. ) To load dierent presets onto the panel, choose a library name from the panel menu, then click Append or OK (see also page 401). To save the current brush and its settings as a preset, click the Create New Brush button, add to or change the name in the Brush Name dialog (be descriptive), then click OK. To save all the presets that are currently on the panel as a new library, choose Save Brushes from the panel menu, type a name for the library, then click Save (see also page 401). To access the Preset Manager dialog, from which you can organize, append, replace, and reset which items load onto the Brush Preset picker and Brush Presets panel at startup, click the Open Preset Manager button, then see “Using the Preset Manager” on pages 398–399. i s b u t t o n i s a l s o a v a i l a b l e o n t h e B r u s h p a n e l . To delete the currently selected preset from the panel (but not from its library), click the Delete Brush button, then click OK. (For the Bristle Brush Preview button, see step 4 on the next page.) ➤ From the panel menu, choose a thumbnail or list option as the display type for the panel. . Alt-right- click-drag/Control-Option-drag horizontally in the document. If OpenGL was on in Edit/ Photoshop > Preferences > Performance when Photoshop was launched and a round or elliptical brush is selected, a. to transform a photo into a painting, smudge colors with the Smudge tool, then nally zap out parts of an image with the Eraser and Magic Eraser tools. Using the Brush tool Before delving. . . . . . .265 Using two of the eraser tools . . . . . .266 15 Brush settings apply to many Photoshop tools, such as the Brush, Mixer Brush, Pencil, History Brush, Healing Brush, Spot Healing