The brush tool in Photoshop is one of the most useful yet underused features of the program, as many people prefer to use their tablet and stylus instead.
Whether you’re a teacher seeking out new software for students or a freelancer looking to elevate your design skills, keep these brush tips in mind when utilizing Adobe CC’s suite of products.
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1. Set Up Brushes for Different Effects
One of Photoshop’s greatest strengths is its vast array of brushes, which you can use to create all sorts of beautiful art. Whether you want to draw an intricate flower or paint a realistic sunset, there’s almost certainly a brush out there that can help you do it. How do you find these brushes? The answer is Photoshop’s brush menu, but many people don’t know about all its hidden features. By setting up your brushes for different effects, you have the power to completely transform whatever image or digital art you’re working on.
For example, if you’re creating a design where you want one brush to be black and white while another is colored, set up your brushes ahead of time. To do so, right-click on a new blank layer in Photoshop, select Brush Tool from that dropdown menu and then click on Other Dynamics. You can then specify two layers: one for color and one for grayscale images.
2. Change the Hardness of Your Stroke
One of the best tips for using brushes in Photoshop is to change the hardness of the stroke. The Hardness slider works in tandem with your brush’s size setting, helping you control how soft or hard you want your strokes to be. If you have a large brush size and move slowly through an area, applying only light pressure, you’ll get very soft strokes. A smaller brush size with heavier pressure applied will result in hard lines.
3. Adjust the Opacity of Brushes on Strokes
When working with Photoshop’s brush tool, it’s easy to adjust your stroke opacity as you go along. In order to change your stroke opacity as you paint, use your “Shift” and “[ “and “]” keyboard keys. This works for any brush in any color! To make a gradual change of stroke opacity, simply alternate between pressing these two buttons as you paint.
4. Use the HUD Color Picker
Another helpful Photoshop hack is to use the HUD color picker. If you want to change an object’s color, try using Photoshop’s handy HUD (heads-up display) color picker. Just press “Alt” + “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “C” (Windows) or “Option” + “Command” + “Shift” + “C” (Mac) to bring up a small panel of colors—you can choose your new color without opening any menus.
5. Change the Size of Your Brush
Photoshop’s Brush tool comes with several useful default settings. One of these options is changing your brush size. You can resize brushes by holding “Shift” + “[” or “]” while clicking on your canvas. Holding “Shift” allows you to get more precision out of your strokes, but it also changes how your brushes look when you change sizes.
Make sure you’re using the Photoshop brush tool as effectively as possible by knowing all the hidden tips and tricks to bring your designs to life.
