SUBJECT: The Basics of Using and Loading Brushes

PROGRAM: PSCS3 (can be adapted for other versions of Photoshop)

PREREQUISITES: Basic understanding of layers, be able to open a document in Photoshop, general familiarity with the Tools and Layers Palettes

RELATED DOWNLOAD: Demo Brushes

Brushes are one of the most versatile artistic tools in Photoshop. In digital scrapping, brushes are most commonly used much like ‘stamps’ are in traditional scrapping. This tutorial covers the basics of loading a new brush set into the brushes palette and ‘stamping’ a brush onto a layout.

Before starting this tutorial download and unzip the Demo Brushes (or any other brush set you want to use). Open Photoshop and your layout or a blank canvas.

Create a new layer for your brushwork. Layer>New>Layer (Keystroke Shift+Ctrl+N).

In the layers palette, click and drag your new layer so it is positioned where you want your brush work. I want my brushwork on top of the background, but under the photo cluster so I’ve moved it to the second position in the layers palette.

Click on the Brush Tool in the Tools Palette.

Click on the small down arrow to the right of the ‘Brush’ in the Options Toolbar (marked arrow 1 below) and then click on the small arrow icon in the upper right corner of the drop down menu (marked arrow 2 below). Select ‘Load Brushes’ from the fly-out menu.

Navigate to the Demo Brush Pack you downloaded and unzipped at the start of the tutorial (or brush set of your choice) and click ‘Load’.

Scroll down in the brushes drop down menu to find your newly loaded brushes and click on the one you want to use. You can also move the ‘Master Diameter’ slider to adjust the size of your brush.

Click the Color Picker Tool from the Tools Palette and use the dialogue box to select a color for your brushwork. I will be using black (#000000). Click ‘OK’ once you’ve selected your color to close the Color Picker dialogue box.

Position the cursor on your canvas and click once to ‘stamp’ your brush. Mine is the long, black rectangle below the yellow paper.

That’s all there is to it. The colorful highlights in my journaling was also done with brushes. Enjoy experimenting with brushwork.