PNGs to Brushes
by Christine Gundersen
Photoshop

There are so many great stamps in the store, but you might be a little unsure what to do with them. By converting the .png file to a brush you will be able to do even more. So let me show you some cool tricks that you might have been missing out on.

I started out with a background paper from my All for Alethea kit and a stamp from my Ring Around the Holidays – Lots of Love stamp set. See Image 1.

The maximum size for a stamp is 2500x2500 pixels, so you want to double check that your image size is less than that or it won't work. With the stamp window active, go under Edit>Define Brush Preset to define your new brush. I would recommend naming it so that you know where it came from, in order to give proper credit later. For example, DSP_CG_RingLove_XO. Once you start making a bunch of brushes, this can save you a TON of time! See Image 2.


Now that you are ready to use your brush, click on the brush tool. Right click on your background paper and an abbreviated brush palette will pop up. You may have to scroll down to the bottom of it to find your new brush. NOTE: The brush is not saved yet, loading a new brush set, having PS shut down improperly, or removing it from the brushes palette, will result in your brush being gone for good. If you are going to want to use this brush again, you MUST save it. See Image 3.


Now for the fun part, you can use all of the brush tools you would normally use with any other brush. You can change colors, use it as an eraser, use it on a mask, rotate it, change the opacity, 5try different blending modes and more. See Image 4.


If you want to learn more about brushes, check out the campus for a class, there are several to choose from.

© 2009 Christine Gundersen