Hey Hexe! Installment #7


Welcome to the seventh installment of "Hey Hexe", a bi-monthly, super-duper, deviantART how to. This time around our focus is: Hey Hexe! How on earth do I create Photoshop Brushes?

Now let's get started!

Breakdown

Creating a brush in Photoshop is only a few simple steps. You can create brushes from any image you like really, which will give you a variety of results in the end. For example you can make them from photographs you already have on your computer or from an image you have scanned in and saved. When making brushes to upload to websites such as sites like deviantART, you will want to use original artwork created by you only.

If you really want to use an image created by someone else, please be sure you seek permission before doing so.

What you will need

1.) Adobe Photoshop CS or later. It is possible to create brushes in previous versions of Photoshop, however prior versions may vary slightly in the method of creating brushes. Please consult your help files for more information on creating brushes.

2.) An Image already on your hard drive be it one you already had there or one you have just scanned and saved

Getting Started

Once you have located an image you wish to use in your creation go ahead and open it in Photoshop. For our example I will be using the following image.



To use the same image so you may follow this guide better, right click on the image and select "Save Image As" (or similar) and save it to a place on your computer where you will be able to easily locate it. Once saved locate the image on your computer and open it with Photoshop.

Creating your Brush

With your image opened in Photoshop click on Edit > Define Brush Preset. Once clicked you will be shown a preview of your brush along with an option to name your brush. Go ahead and name it 'Soda', then proceed by clicking on "OK".

Wa la! You have just created your very first brush in Photoshop!

Saving your Brush

Now that you have created your very first brush you will want to save it to it's own Brush Palette so you may use it whenever you want. Do this by clicking on the Brush Palette followed by clicking on the arrow highlighted in red as shown below.



Once you have clicked on the arrow you will next want to select from the menu options "Preset Manager". A dialog will now appear showing you a list of brushes, locate your brush and click on it. After you have selected your brush the next step you will want to take is clicking on "Save Set" followed by giving it a name and then clicking on "Save". Finish up by clicking on 'Done' in the "Preset Manager".

Your brush has now been saved and it's palette may be selected again at anytime the next time you load Photoshop. You can however begin using the brush now if you want, as that will be available to you.

You can add more brushes to create a set as you please later on, by selecting the Brush Palette and defining new brushes to it like we have just done so above. Just remember to save your changes in the "Preset Manager" in the end or they will be lost the next time you load Photoshop.

How did you do it?

To get an image like the one I have created above simply take some colored liquid (I used Soda in this example) and pour it on to a clean surface be it your counter top or a plastic chopping board, taking care not to spill too much! Next take the end of your soda bottle and swirl it around in your spill. Next take a piece of paper and dab the end of the bottle against the paper until you reach your desired effect. Follow up by letting your paper dry and then scan it in!

In Closing

I hope you have enjoyed the seventh installment of "Hey Hexe" and will keep your eyes peeled for future installments!

If you'd like to see something covered in future installments, please feel free to note me with your suggestions.

Previous Installments

• Hey Hexe! Installment #1


• Hey Hexe! Installment #2


• Hey Hexe! Installment #3


• Hey Hexe! Installment #4


• Hey Hexe! Installment #5


• Hey Hexe! Installment #6