Things You'll Need:
- Photoshop CS3
- Texture photo
- Basic knowledge of Photoshop
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Step 1
To begin making your grunge brush in Photoshop CS3, open a texture photo. I’ve chosen one with dried grass and dirt.
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Step 2
Go to the task bar at the top and click Image. Hover the mouse over Adjustments, and then choose Desaturate from the flyout menu. It will automatically grayscale your photo.
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Step 3
Open a new document a little bigger than your original image with a transparent background. Choose the Crop tool. Drag open the a selection and go back to the crop tool, click it, and choose Crop from the box.
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Step 4
Leaving the newly cropped image selected, hold down the shift key and drag the image from the side bar (red arrow points where you should start the dragging) onto the transparency layer. Using the shift key will center the cropped section you chose.
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Step 5
Go back up to Image at the top tool bar and hover over Adjustments. Find the Threshold option and click it. This is where we make it truly black and white. The Threshold box will pop up with a number already selected. Play with this number until you get a good balance of black and white. Remember: anything white in the photo does not become part of the brush. It acts transparent. Only the black part will stamp as an actual brush. Keep this in mind. Your image should now look like this.
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Step 6
You can use this as a brush if you wish, but the edges are still very ‘hard’. I have always liked to dull those edges a little so when you use the brush itself, it blends better. How do to this easily is use the eraser tool (a little pink eraser on the tool palette). Choose it, and go back to your black and white image. Instead of leaving the eraser brush round or square, go to the top toolbar and click open your brushes. Choose a brush to erase with that will leave the edges jagged or uneven.
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Step 7
Erase around the edges as you wish. I’ve done a quick job of this one, but it demonstrates how to make the image a little more viable as a brush.
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Step 8
Go to the Crop tool and crop the image down.
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Step 9
You’re almost done! You just need to save the brush. Go to Edit and Define Brush Preset. Name it and save it. It will appear in the brushes menu now. I also like to save the image to my own folder at this time, as a backup. I suggest this in case you erase your brush by accident. While the image is still open, go to Edit again, and to Preset Manager. A box will pop up. Find the brush you just made (it’s usually always the very last one) and click it. Options will appear on the right of the box. Choose Save Set. Your folders will open. Select one to put the brush into. I have all mine organized into categories. It might be wise to make them before you start making your brushes.
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Step 10
Enjoy your new Photoshop brush!
Here is just a small taste of what you can do with your finished brush.
Comments
karileighk said
on 7/2/2009 I hope that one day I can get CS3. Thank you for this really valuable info.
djackman said
on 5/3/2009 thanks for steps in making a grunge brush 5*
konakai said
on 4/27/2009 Great article on How to make a Grunge Brush in Photo Shop CS3. Very detailed and informative. Will read, rate and recommend. Cheer's, konakai
luvxoni said
on 2/18/2009 I'm not very artistic, but I will try. Thanks for the tips and info. 5*