How to make a Photoshop brush

I always enjoy downloading brushes from free brush sites. But sometimes you can't find what you're looking for. Then why not create your own? It gives you the advantage to make your brushes exactly the way you want to and it makes you feel kinda proud that you did it yourself. You can then submit your brushes to a free brush site like QBrushes.

First you have to find something that you want to turn into a brush. You can draw a picture or scan something like a leaf or paint splatters. I am using a simple watercolour drawing that I scanned into Photoshop.

Open your image in Photoshop. File – Open.

If you scanned your image, you might want to erase some unwanted areas around the image. As you can see, there are some grey areas that I want to erase. Pick the Eraser tool (E). You can Zoom in to see better: View – Zoom in.

Now that I have erased all the unwanted areas, I want to make the image a little darker. If yours is fine, you don't have to do this step. Go to Image – Adjustments – Levels. Change the settings until you are satisfied. You can also use Image – Adjustments – Brightness/ Contrast. Experiment with the settings until you get what you want.

If you are satisfied with your image, you can now define it as a brush. Go to Edit – Define brush preset. A window will open asking you to give your brush a name. Add more brushes. To save your brushes as a set, pick the Brush tool (B), open the brush preset picker,

...click on the circle with the triangle,

...and choose Save brushes. Give your brush set a name. Give it something that makes sense.

After you have saved your brushes, you can start using them. Click on the triangle and choose Load Brushes. Type in the name you gave your brushes, and click on Open.

Have you made any brushes before? Please share your comments.

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