Brush Tool

1. Introduction to Brush Tool

• The shortcut for the brush tool is the letter "B" on the keyboard;
• For quick size and hardness adjustments, hold Alt + right mouse button, then drag (Windows), or hold CMD + Option + left mouse button, then drag (MacOS);
• You can hold "Shift" for doing brush strokes in straight lines;
• You can connect dots by clicking the left mouse button while also holding “Shift”;
• Use the tilde key (~) to erase without switching to the Eraser Tool;
• Brush opacity is like adding layers of color with each stroke;
• With flow, it simulates a real marker, darkening with repeated strokes;
• Smoothing creates smoother curves, which is useful for graphic tablets;
• To create a custom brush, select shapes or text and define it as a brush preset. Remember, you have to keep the background, or what you don’t need, in white, and the actual shape that you want to be included in the brush tip in black;
• You can also export and import brushes using the gear icon in the brush panel;
• All brushes can be organized and grouped within the panel however you want.

Quick tip, if you can't see the brush preview, just make sure that the CAPS LOCK is turned off and you'll be able to see it. When the CAPS LOCK is turned on, it gives the brush tip a crosshair icon for more precision. This is ideal if you're using a graphic tablet and a graphic pen.

2. Advanced Brush Settings

• To access the advanced brush settings, navigate to "Window" and then "Brush Settings";
• You can rotate and squish the brush tip, along with adjusting size, hardness, angle, and roundness;
• Spacing: control the space between each brush mark. Higher spacing creates visible gaps; lower spacing smooths the brush stroke;
• Shape Dynamics: introduce randomness with size, angle, and roundness jitter. You can set the minimum size and the roundness thresholds;
• Scattering: scatter brush marks to create more randomness around the brush tip. You can control the scatter amount and count jitter as well;
• Color Dynamics: adjust hue, saturation, brightness, and purity jitter for color variation and create varied color effects in each brush stroke;
• Transfer: control opacity and flow jitter. Ideal for use with a graphic tablet for pen pressure effects;
• Use symmetry mode for creative designs, such as mandalas.

Quick tip, you can press Alt + Backspace (Windows), or Option + Delete (MacOS) to fill your canvas with the foreground color, and Ctrl + Backspace (Windows), or CMD + Delete (MacOS) for the background color.

And by the way, you can download hundreds and hundreds of brushes for free from the Adobe website and import them into Photoshop. Just follow this link here: Adobe Brushes.

Enjoy!