How to Modify a Brush in Photoshop Elements

Understanding how to modify a brush in Photoshop Elements gives you a means for quickly creating designs not easily achievable with the simple brush shapes in Element's default set of brushes. You can modify a brush in Elements by stamping the brush you want to make onto a canvas; using the program's painting or drawing tools to reshape the stamped brush mark; then selecting and running the "Define brush" command on the reshaped mark.

Instructions

1. Click the "File" menu's "New" command, then click "U.S. paper" from the "Presets" drop-down list. Click "OK" to create the new canvas on which you will modify a brush.

2. Click the paintbrush icon from the tool palette to run the "Paintbrush" tool. Elements will display several controls, enabling you to change the brush's behavior and appearance. The controls appear above and to the left of the drawing canvas.

3. Click the first drop-down control in the control area just described to open the "Brush presets" gallery, which displays icons for brushes with which you can paint and that you can modify.

4. Click one of the brushes in the gallery to select the brush for editing. Drag the "Size" slider located to the right of the "Brush presets" gallery all the way to the right to maximize the brush's size.

5. Click the upper color swatch at the bottom of the tool palette to open the color palette. Drag the circular cursor in the colored square at the window's left size to the bottom left corner. This action makes black the foreground color.

6. Click "OK" to close the color palette, then click the mouse anywhere on the drawing canvas to stamp the paintbrush onto the canvas.

7. Click the magnifying glass icon from the tool palette to run the "Zoom" tool, then drag a selection region around the brush stamp you just made. Elements will zoom into the stamp.

8. Use the instructions from Steps 3 and 4 to select a new brush for editing the stamped brush mark. Use Step 4's instructions to scale the brush to a size you find comfortable for editing.

9. Drag with the mouse over the stamped brush mark to modify it to your design idea. For example, if you want to change a brush originally shaped like a circle into a crescent, drag the mouse to draw this shape over the stamped brush mark.

10. Click the magic wand icon from the tool palette to run the "Magic wand" for selecting shapes based on color, then click you modified brush stamp to select it.

11. Click the "Edit" menu's "Define brush" command, then type a name for the brush in the dialog box that appears. Use Step 3's instructions to open the "Brush presets" gallery to view your modified brush.

12. Right-click the icon for the original brush in the "Brush presets" gallery, then click "Delete" to delete the brush.

References

• "Photoshop Elements: The Missing Manual"; Barbara Brundage; 2010