Pick My Brush Size?

Once you select any tool that uses a brush tip (like . . . well . . . the Brush tool, of course, but also the Clone Stamp tool, the Dodge and Burn tools, the Pencil tool, the Eraser tool, etc.), you can choose the type (hard or soft) and size of the brush from the Brush Picker up in the Options Bar. Click on the brush thumbnail (it’s the second icon from the left) and the Brush Picker appears (it pops down), where you have a default collection of brushes you can choose from, along with Size and Hardness sliders. You’ll also see a preview of each brush tip, so you can easily see which ones are smooth, hard-edged brushes, and which ones are soft-edged (their previews look blurry).

TIP: USE THE BRACKET KEYS TO CHANGE BRUSH SIZE

You don’t have to use the Brush Picker to change a brush tip size. You can also use the bracket keys on your keyboard (to the right of the P key). The [ (Left Bracket key) makes the brush tip smaller; the ] (Right Bracket key) makes it larger. You can also press-and-hold Option-Control (PC: Alt-Ctrl), click on your image and (1) drag up/down to visually change the hardness and (2) drag left/right to change the size. Lastly, if you Right-click your brush anywhere in the image, the Brush Picker appears right at that spot for you (saves you a trip up to the Options Bar).