©Adobe Stock/scenery1Brushes panel showing new brushes at bottom
PHOTOSHOP PROVING GROUNDKELBYONE.COMSTEP ONE: Start with a blank 8-bit document
(File>New) that’s 2000 px square. Choose an
image that you’d like to use as a source for
your brush, and place it (File>Place Embedded)
in your document. If the image is in your
Libraries panel (Window>Libraries), you can
drag-and-drop it from the panel into your
document. Resize it if necessary to get the
area of interest to take up around 1/2 to 2/3
of the canvas. Press Enter to commit the
transformation.
For this flame image, I pressed Command-I
(PC: Ctrl-I) to Invert the image, and then used
the Lasso tool (L) to loosely select the top left
flame. If the background around the item that
you want to use for your brush isn’t completely
white, you can try Levels (Command-L [PC:
Ctrl-L)] to push the background to white.
Note: Ideally, the brush selection area
should be approximately 1,000–1,500 px in
the largest direction. This will give the most
fidelity and prevent your brush from getting
pixelated at large sizes. You’ll almost always
use these brushes around 500 px or smaller,
so this leaves some headroom.STEP TWO: With the selection active, go to
Edit>Define Brush Preset and keep the default
name for now. When you create your brush,
the Brush tool will be selected automatically.
If you want to make more brushes, you’ll
have to go back to your selection tool and
repeat the process.STEP THREE: I’ve created several brushes
from these flames. When you save a brush
preset, it will appear at the bottom of the
Brushes panel (Window>Brushes). This is
where folder organization really helps!STEP FOUR: Choose the Mixer Brush tool
from the Toolbar (it’s nested below the Brush
tool), and then hold Command-Option (PC:
Ctrl-Alt) while clicking on one of the new
brushes you just made at the bottom of the
Brushes panel. This ensures you’re applying
the new brush tip to the Mixer Brush and
not switching back to the regular Brush tool.