Chapter goal: Look at the basic warping tools in the Tools panel in Photoshop.
As you start working on various projects, you may want to touch up various artistic effects in parts of your image. There are a lot of tools for doing so in the Tools panel. But which are the key ones for creating very basic warps and distorts? This chapter looks at this topic and also offers a quick review of tools I discussed in my book Accurate Layer Selections Using Photoshop’s Selection Tools as they relate to this chapter.
For now, continue to use the file you created in Chapter 1 to first design a custom brush that can be used with other Brush tools.
You can find a copy of this file, brush_test.psd, as well as other files for this chapter in the Chapter 2 folder.
A dialog box for duplicating an image. It has a duplicate as brush underscore test dot p s d, As as brush underscore test underscore copy, okay, and cancel buttons.
Duplicate Image dialog box
Review of Brushes
Brush tool (B) for creating brush stroke effects
Pencil tool (B) for creating small, thin pencil lines
Eraser tool (E) for erasing areas of an image
Background Eraser tool (E) for erasing background areas of an image
Magic Eraser Tool (E) for quickly erasing color selections of an image by clicking on an area of color. Refer to Figure 2-2.
Three tool panel windows contain a brush, pencil, eraser, background eraser, and magic eraser tools with icons.
The Tools panel showing the Brush, Pencil, Eraser, Background Eraser, and Magic Eraser tools
Three panels of the brush tool contain icons for brush tools. One of the panels has a size of 200 pixels, a hardness of 0 percent, search brushes, general brushes, size, hardness, and spacing.
Brush Preset Picker options in the Options panel for Brush, Pencil, Background Eraser, and Magic Eraser tools
A brushes settings panel has a size ass 23 pixels, a list of different brushes, and subfolders of general, dry media, wet media, and special effects brushes.
Brushes panel settings with brushes stored in group folders
A brush setting panel has brush tip shapes, size at 23 pixels, flip X and Y, 0 degree angle, 100 percent roundness and hardness, 25 percent of spacing, and preview.
Brush Settings Options panel
A panel of a brush preset picker has a size of 200 pixels, hardness of 0 percent, search brushes, and general brushes followed by a list of brush tips.
Options panel for the Brush Preset Picker
At best, the Brush Preset Picker will only adjust for the angle, roundness, size, and hardness to paint or erase the current color on the canvas. Nevertheless, let’s look at how to take a default brush setting like Hard Round to create a custom round brush. Later, you’ll add a custom shape with the same settings and then move on to other warping tools that could also use those custom brushes, as you will see in this chapter and Chapter 3. Refer to Figure 2-6.
Three panels of color replacement and mixer brush tools has a brush, pencil, color replacement, and mixer brush tool options.
Options panels for the Color Replacement and Mixer Brush tools . The paint strokes were created with the Mixer Brush tool
For more details on these tools, check out these links:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/replace-colors.html (See “Use the Color Replacement Tool”)
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/painting-mixer-brush.html
Creating Custom Brushes and Brush Settings
Two layer panels of the workflow of creating a new blank layer. Panel 1 has a background and highlights create a new layer option. Panel 2 has blank layer 1 and background.
Use the Layers panel to create a new blank layer to paint on
Three images of the layer panel depict the workflow to set the default color and the layer's visibility.
Turn the layer’s visibility on and off with the eye icon and set your brush color in the Tools panel to the default of black foreground and white background
Project: Basic Brush to Custom Brush Settings
Let’s take a moment to examine the Brush tool options in the Options panel.
Brush Tool Options
A context menu of the brush tool preset highlights the new tool preset option on the list. The panel has the following text no tool presents defined for the current tool.
Options panel for Brush tool presets
We will not be focusing on this area, so let’s look at the next section in the Options panel.
A tool tab of the brush tool option containing mode normal, opacity 100 percent, flow 100 percent, smoothing 100 percent, and angle 0 degrees.
The Brush tool’s Options panel
A panel of a brush preset picker has a size of 200 pixels, a hardness of 100 percent, search brushes, and general brushes followed by a list of brush tips.
Select a Hard Round brush from the Brush tool’s Preset Picker menu
A panel and context menu window of the brush tool options. The context menu exhibits the different options for the brushes.
Brushes panel and menu options
Brushes that were previously created by Photoshop are stored in collapsible group folders. As well, you can create your own and save them in these folders to share with others. Any current brush can be modified and saved as a new brush. This is what you are going to do.
A tool tab panel for the brush tool. An information dialog box reads toggle the brush settings panel.
Options panel link to the Brush Settings panel
Brush Settings Options
Two panels of the brush tool. It has the brush tip selection menu and the brush settings menu. It lists different brush tips designs and size, hardness, and spacing.
Brushes panel and the link to the Brush Settings panel
Brush Tip Shape
Size of the brush stroke using the slider (1-5000 px)
Flip on the X or Y axis by enabling one of the check boxes
Adjust the angle of the brush (-180, 0, 180) degrees
Roundness of the brush head from 0-100% (use the preview on the right to adjust the angle and roundness)
Hardness of the brush stroke using the slider (0-100%)
Spacing of the brush stroke using the slider (0-1000%). The slider is activated when enabled.
A panel of brush settings has brushes with the brush tip list, size at 200 pixels, angle at 38 degrees, roundness at 59 percent, hardness at 5 percent, and spacing at 87 percent.
Brush Settings panel showing brush tip shape options
I set the size to 200 px, enabled flip on X and Y, and set the angle to 38°, the roundness to 59%, the hardness to 5%, and the spacing to 87%. Notice how moving the spacing higher than 25% gives a more dotted appearance because the brush strokes are farther apart.
Make sure, as you build your brushes, to test and move the sliders associated with the next several tabs located on the left. However, for this project, just follow along with me for now as I describe each tab.
Shape Dynamics Tab
A panel for brush settings has the options shape dynamics and smoothing selected, with size jitter, angle jitter, and roundness jitter at zero percent.
Brush Settings panel showing shape dynamics options
A dropdown list of brush settings has off, fade, pen pressure, pen tilt, and stylus wheel. Highlights fade option.
Brush Settings panel in the shape dynamics control options
Size of Jitter randomness : (0-100%) you can keep the dynamic control for size Off or from the dropdown menu choose from the options of Fade, Pen Pressure, Pen Tilt or Stylus Wheel. If you don’t have a pen or stylus to work with, Fade is the best option as you will not get a warning message saying you need a tablet that is either an input device with a pressure sensitive tablet, a tilt sensitive tablet or has a tablet with a thumbwheel. Refer to Figure 2-19.
Three panels of different settings with the control as fade, pen pressure, and pen tilt and minimum diameter, all at zero percent.
Brush Settings panel showing shape dynamics options and warnings
With the setting of Fade, you can set the steps of the Fade from 1-9999 and you can alter the minimum diameter from 0-100%. However, only with Pen Tilt can you set the tilt scale from 0-200%.
Size Jitter to 100%
Contol to Fade: 25
Minumum Diameter to 0%
A preview image of curved stroke using the brush tool. The image has varying degrees of clarity from end to end.
Brush Settings panel with a shape dynamics preview
Angle Jitter can be set from 0 to 100%. You have similar dynamic control options for the angle. By default, it is set to Off, but there are options of Rotation, Initial Direction, and Direction. Rotation requires a tablet that supports rotation. Initial direction and Direction give no warning message, but you will not have access to the Fade steps options, which you can set from 1-9999.
A brush settings panel has the control dropdown menu off, fade, pen pressure, pen tilt, stylus wheel, rotation, initial direction, and direction, fade option selected. A preview of the image is at the bottom.
Brush Settings panel showing shape dynamics options and preview
The Roundness of Jitter is set from 0-100% and it sets the randomness. You have the same control setting for roundness as the Size Jitter, including rotation. By default, it is set to Off. Fade steps (1-9999) allow you to access the minimum roundness of 1-100%. Refer to Figure 2-22.
A brush settings panel has a roundness jitter of 3 percent, control fade of 25, minimum roundness of 18 percent, and control as fade.
Brush Settings panel showing shape dynamics options
An image of a brush stroke has varying degrees of clarity from end to end. It has elliptical shaped strokes.
Brush Settings panel showing the shape dynamics preview
With the following checkboxes enabled, you can also flip the jitter on the X or Y axis randomly as well as use Brush Projection. Note that Brush Projection disables the Roundness Jitter slider and controls. Refer to Figure 2-24.
Two panels of brush settings have flip x and y jitter, brush projection, build-up, smoothing, protect texture, and minimum roundness at 18 percent. It has elliptical shaped strokes.
Brush Settings panel showing shape dynamics options and preview
A brush settings panel tab has flip x jitter, flip y jitter, and brush protection with elliptical shaped strokes.
Brush Settings panel showing shape dynamics options and preview
Scattering Tab
A brush settings panel option has shape dynamics, scattering, and smoothing options selected, scatter, count, count jitter, and control as off. Bottom control option fade selected.
Brush Settings panel in Scattering options
The Scatter randomness slider can be set from (0-1000%). The option Both Axes allows for scatter in both directions. It’s like Jitter in the Shape Dynamics tab and can be dynamically controled for scatter by choosing a setting from the dropdown menu. The default is Off but you can set to Fade steps (1-9999).
A panel of brush settings has scatter at 123 percent, control at fade for 25, count at 1, count jitter at 0 percent, and control off with elliptical shaped strokes at the bottom.
Brush Settings panel in Scatter options and preview
Set the Tip Count (1-16) to compress the tips and enlarge the area of scatter as well. Set the Count to 2 as higher settings appear quite congested. Refer to Figure 2-28.
A brush settings panel of scatter options has scatter at 123 percent, controls at fade 25, and count at 2 with the preview of elliptical shaped strokes.
Brush Settings panel in Scatter options and preview
Count Jitter sets the randomness of the scatter (0-100%) and also has a dynamic Control for the count dropdown menu with the same settings as Scatter, including Fade steps (1-9999). Set the Count Jitter to 85% and leave the Control set at Off. Refer to Figure 2-29.
A panel of brush settings has scatter at 123 percent, control at fade for 25, count at 2, count jitter at 85 percent, and control off with elliptical shaped strokes at the bottom.
Brush Settings panel in Scatter options and preview
As you drag over the layer on the canvas, the scattering will stop when you reach the end of the scatter.
Texture Tab
Two panels of brush settings options has brushes, scale 100 percent, brightness 10, contrast 29, texture each tip, mode height, depth 100 percent, depth jitter zero percent, and controls off and the preview pattern.
Brush Settings panel in Texture options and texture pattern settings
A panel and a context menu window for the patterns settings have search patterns and the legacy patterns and more options highlighted.
The Patterns panel and menu
A brush settings panel has a subfolder for stone toggled and stone underscore granite 946 by 946 pixels, indexed mode option selected.
Brush Settings panel in Texture options with the Stone_Granite pattern selected
Scale (1-1000%) alters the size of the texture.
Brightness (-150, 0, +150) effects the distictness of the texture.
Contrast (-50, 0, +100) changes the sharpness of the texture.
A brush settings panel and preview have a scale of 60 percent, brightness at negative 3, and contrast at 18.
Brush Settings panel in Texture options and preview
Texture Each Tip is enabled by default. Set it to blend the texture with each individual tip rather than on the entire stroke. However, when disabled, some settings are not available, such as Depth Jitter. Refer to Figure 2-34.
Two brush setting panels has the following options, texture each tip, mode height, depth at 100 percent, minimum depth, and depth jitter at 0 percent with previews of each tip.
Brush Settings panel in Texture options and previews of the texture of each tip
Mode sets a type of texture blending mode or method of interaction between the brush and texture. By default, it is set to Height, but other options include Multiply, Subtract, Darken, Overlay, Color Dodge, Color Burn, Linear Burn, Hard Mix, and Linear Height, each of which gives a slightly different disolved appearance. Note that Height and Linear Height affect texture depth and detail. We will look at some of these other modes in more detail later in the chapter. Refer to the section on brush options and blend modes. Refer to Figure 2-35.
A drop down menu for the mode option of brush settings has multiply, subtract, darken, overlay, color dodge, color burn, linear burn, hard mix, linear height, and height with the preview of mode settings.
Brush Settings panel in Texture options and preview of mode settings
A preview image for texture options has connected elliptical brush tip images in varying degrees of thickness.
Brush Settings panel in Texture options and preview of mode height
After setting the mode, you can set the Brush Depth (0-100%).
Mimimum Depth (0-100%) is only available when the Depth Jitter Control area is set to a setting other than the default of Off, such as Fade. Refer to Figure 2-37.
A drop-down menu of control options for the brush settings has off, fade, pen pressure, pen tilt, stylus wheel, and rotation. The option fade selected.
Brush Settings panel in the Texture options Control menu
Depth Jitter controls the randomness (0-100%) and has the same control settings for depth as the Shape Dynamics tab including Fade steps (1-9999).
A brush settings panel has the invert, scale, brightness, contrast, texture of each tip, mode height, depth at 100 percent, minimum depth at 100 percent, and depth jitter at zero percent with the preview.
Brush Settings panel in Texture options and preview
Dual Brush Tab
Three panels of brush settings with the dual brush options selected, mode color burn, size 30 pixels, spacing at 25 percent, scatter at 0 percent and count at 1, and a preview pattern.
Brush Settings panel in Dual Brush options and preview
Blending Mode sets the method of interaction between the primary brush and dual brush. Change to Multiply, Darken, Overlay, Color Dodge, Color Burn, Linear Burn, Hard Mix, or Linear Height. We will review many of these modes later in the chapter. However, in regards to Linear Height, refer to the Note for the Texture tab. By default, the Mode is set to Color Burn. However, a setting of Mutiply can overide the current brush. Refer to Figure 2-40.
A preview image of the multiply mode of the dual brush settings depicts a curved line with segments across the length of the line.
Dual Brush options preview of Mode Multiply
The Flip check box, when enabled, depending on the type of dual brush used, makes the random flip more apparent.
Size or brush diameter (1-5000 px)
Spacing (1-1000%)
Scatter (0-1000%)
Both axes, to control direction scatter in both directions
Tip Count (1-16)
A brush settings panel of dual brush options has mode color burn, size 33 pixels, spacing 1 percent, scatter zero percent, and count at 1 with the preview.
Brush Settings panel in Dual Brush options and preview of Color Burn
Change the setting to Size 33 px, Spacing 1%, Scatter 0%, and Count 1. Refer to Figure 2-41.
Color Dynamics Tab
A brush settings panel of the color dynamics options has apply per tip foreground or background jitter of 36 %, control fade of 25, hue jitter of 48 %, saturation jitter of 38 %, brightness jitter of 58 %, and purity negative of 22 %.
Brush Settings panel in Color Dynamics options
Color and fade dynamics can be altered by enabling the checkbox called Apply per Tip. This randomness can also be affected by the current forground/background jitter or colors in the Tools panel (0-100%). As well, you can use dynamic controls for color from the dropdown menu including Fade steps (1-9999). By default, it is set to Off.
A panel for the default background color has black or white options. A sample image made using the brush is depicted on the side.
Set your brush to the default black foreground and white background (D) in the Tools panel and paint in grayscale
A panel for color picker has the options ok, cancel, add to swatches, and color libraries with the fields for changing the color qualities.
Set your brush to a red foreground and white background in the Tools panel using the color picker and paint in color
Hue Jitter randomness: (0-100%)
Saturation Jitter randomness: (0-100%)
Brightness Jitter randomness: (0-100%)
Purity: Sets the color shift towards or away from the neutral axis (-100, 0, +100%). A higher number results in brighter colors while lower numbers are more dull and muted.
Set the Foreground/Background Jitter to 36%, Control to Fade 25, Hue Jitter to 48%, Saturation Jitter to 38%, Brightness Jitter to 58%, and Purity to -22%. Refer to Figure 2-42.
Try other slider settings and see how they effect the color as you paint.
Transfer Tab
A brush settings panel of the transfer tab has an opacity jitter of 0 percent, control fade of 25, minimum 0, flow jitter of 0 percent, control fade of 25, and minimum 0 percent.
Brush Settings panel in Transfer options and preview with test paint on canvas
A drop-down menu of the controls option has off, fade, pen pressure, pen tilt, and stylus wheel. Highlights the fade option.
Brush Settings panel in the Transfer options Control dropdown menu
Flow Jitter randomess (0-100%) also has dynamic controls for flow, including Fade steps (1-9999). By default, it is set to Off and Minimum Brush flow (0-100%). Refer to Figure 2-45 and Figure 2-46.
Wetness Jitter randomness is disabled by default and can only be accessed by the Mixer Brush tool, which also has dynamic controls for wetness, including Fade steps (1-9999) and Minimum Brush wetness (0-100%). Refer to Figure 2-47.
Mix Jitter randomness is disabled by default and can only be accessed if you are using the Mixer Brush tool, which also has dynamic controls for mix including Fade steps (1-9999) and Minimum Brush mix (0-100%) See the earlier Note in the chapter on the Mixer Brush tool. Refer to Figure 2-47.
A panel of mixer brush tool has a wetness jitter of 0 percent, control fade of 25, minimum of 47 percent, mix jitter of 24 percent, control fade of 25, and minimum of 80 percent.
Brush Settings panel in Transfer options that can only be accessed by the Mixer Brush tool
As you use other tools that use the Brush Settings panel, some options may not be accessible or will be disabled for that tool, as you will see later in the chapter.
I often disable the Tranfer option as I find that it masks some of my smear. This is likey because of my dual brush tab being enabled. But in your case, this might be the exact brush effect you are looking for. Refer to Figure 2-48.
Brush Pose Tab
Tilt X (-100,0-100%) sets the default brush stylus X pose.
Override Tilt X, when enabled, overides stylus tilt X data.
Tilt Y (-100,0-100%) sets the default brush stylus Y pose.
Override Tilt Y, when enabled, overides stylus tilt Y date.
Rotation (0-360°) sets the default brush stylus rotation.
Override Rotation, when enabled, overrides stylus rotation data.
Pressure (0-100%) sets the default brush stylus pressure.
Override Pressure, when enabled, overrides stylus pressure data.
A brush settings panel of the brush pose settings has tilt x and tilt y at zero percent, rotation at 0 percent, and pressure at 100 percent with preview.
Brush Settings panel in Brush Pose and preview. The Transfer tab disabled
I leave this tab disabled, but you can adjust the settings if you have a stylus. Refer to Figure 2-53.
Additional Tabs
A tickbox panel for brush settings has noise, wet edge, build-up, smoothing, and protect texture options.
Brush Settings panel with Noise, Wet Edges, Build-up, Smoothing, and Protect Texture enabled
Noise adds noise to the brush tip. Refer to Figure 2-50.
A preview image using the noise option in brush settings. It has elliptical shaped strokes.
Brush Settings panel in Noise preview with test paint on the canvas
Wet Edges emphasizes the edges of the brush stroke, but blends colors as they paint over each other mulitple times. Refer to Figure 2-51.
A preview image using the wet edges option in the brush settings. It has elliptical shaped strokes.
Brush Settings panel in Wet Edges preview with test paint on the canvas
Build-up enables an airbrush-style build-up effect. When you enable this checkbox, look in the Options panel; the Enable airbrush button is also active there. Refer to Figure 2-52.
An illustration of a preview image made using the brush tool with the airbrush mode toggled at 100 percent.
Test of Build-up on the canvas, with the airbrush enabled when this setting is checked in the Brush Setting panel
Smoothing is enabled by default and allows for mouse path smoothing.
Protect Texture preserves the texture pattern while applying brush presets.
A panel of brush settings. It lists shape dynamics, scattering, texture, dual brush, color dynamics, transfer, brush pose, noise, wet edges, build-up, smoothing, and protect texture.
Brush Settings panel with my current options enabled for a custom brush
Saving the Brush
A brush settings panel has a preview and a prompt message at the bottom that reads create a new brush.
Brush Settings panel preview and the Create new brush button
A dialog box for new brush settings has the name as soft scatter brush J H, captures brush size in preset, include tool settings, and includes color with 2 buttons ok and cancel.
New Brush dialog box with Include Tool Settings enabled
Change the name of the new brush to a name you will remember. Mine is Soft Scatter Brush JH. I add my intials so I remember that I created the brush .
Then choose whether to capture the brush size in the preset, or to include tool settings to remember the current setting for the brush. Also, enable the Include color check box if you want the current brush color remembered.
A dialog box of new brush settings. It has a name as, soft scatter brush J H, capture brush size in preset, with the include tool settings de selected with 2 buttons ok and cancel.
New Brush dialog box with Include Tool Settings disabled
A tool tab panel of 3 icons, a folder, a box with a plus sign, and a trash bin that represents create a new group, create a new brush and delete brush options, respectively.
Brushes Panel’s Create New Group, Create New Brush, and Delete Brush buttons
A dialog box of group name with name custom brushes ch1 with 2 buttons ok and cancel.
Group Name dialog box for creating a group in the Brushes panel
An illustration of a subfolder labeled custom brushes ch1 has the preview image of the soft scatter brush option.
Custom brush dragged into the new group folder in the Brushes panel
A panel of the legacy brush has default brushes, assorted brushes, and basic brushes subfolders.
Add Legacy Brushes to your Brushes panel for more options
A panel of saving a brush as a file. It has file name untitled brushes dot a b r, save as type brushes open parenthesis asterisk A B R close parenthesis, and 2 buttons, save and cancel.
Save and export a brush as a (.abr) file
Creating a round brush was useful. However, what if you want to create your own custom designed brush that is not round?
Project: Create a Custom Brush
A layer panel has layer 3, layer 2, layer 1, and background layers, and highlights create a new layer option.
Add a new layer to your file for creating a custom brush
A panel of rectangular marquee tool options. It has a feather of 0 pixels, a style fixed size, width and height of 200 pixels, and select and mask.
Rectangular Marquee tool options panel with Style set to Fixed Size
An image of a dashed line square represents the zooming function.
Use the Zoom took to get closer into the selection created
A dialog of fill option has contents black, blending mode normal, opacity 100 percent, and preserve transparency.
Use the Fill dialog box to fill the selection with black
You should now have a black square.
A tool tab of the elliptical marquee tool has feather 0 pixels, anti alias, style fixed size, width, and height at 175 pixels, and select and mask.
Elliptical Marquee tool options panel with Style set to Fixed Size
An image of a dashed line circle in a square dark background.
Elliptical selection on top of the square
Now press the Backspace/Delete key on your keyboard to remove the center. Photoshop generally likes to use black and white shapes for its brushes, but you can use grayscale or transparent areas to enhance faded effects.
A tool tab for the magic wand tool has sample size point sample, tolerance 32, with the tick boxes for anti-alias, contiguous, and sample all layers checked.
Magic Wand tool
An image of a circle inside a square has a selection line over it, represented by the broken lines.
Creating a selection of the brush shape
A dialog box of brush name. It has a name as sampled brush 057, and 2 buttons, ok and cancel.
Brush name dialog box for new custom brush with a recorded size of 200 px
An image of a circle inside a square.
Deselect your custom brush design on the canvas
A panel of the subfolder named custom brushes c h 1. It has 2 images of brushes labeled sampled brush 507 and soft scatters brush J H with previews.
Place the new custom brush in the group folder
A panel of alter brush settings. It has a size of 200 pixels, flip x and y, an angle at 38 degrees, roundness at 59 percent, and spacing of 87 percent.
Alter the brush settings for your custom brush, except for Hardness , and paint on the canvas
Saving Your Custom Brush with New Settings
A dialog box for saving a custom brush has name sampled brush 507 508, captures brush size in preset, and include tool settings.
After you have created new settings in the Brush Settings panel, make sure to create a new brush to save those settings
A panel of custom brushes subfolder is labeled custom brushes ch1 with the saved brushes sampled brush 507, sampled brush 507 508, and soft scatter brush J H.
The new brush is added to the group folder in the Brushes panel and is ready to use
Additional Custom Brush Ideas
A monochromatic image of a leaf.
Create a custom brush from a black and white image
A tool tab panel of custom shape option has shape, fill, stroke 10.14 pixels, w, and h 0 pixels, shape, and align edges.
Custom Shape Options panel to create a brush from a custom shape
Remember, as you build your collection, make sure to save or export. Keep the .abr copies as backup for future projects. In the Chapters folder you will find a copy of the brushes used in this chapter.
Now let’s return to the Brushes Options panel.
Brush Options and Blend Modes
Two panels of brush tool options in dropdown menu. Highlights normal mode in two panels.
Brush Tool options panel , paint blend modes , and the Layers panel blending modes
The modes of Height and Linear Height are exclusive to the brush settings of Texture but the brush setting of Dual Brush just uses Linear Height and you can see my earlier reference in the brush settings area.
Two 3 dimensional images of the process of color blending using blend and the base color. The images has different color range.
Diagram of how blend and base colors work to create a result color
Channel: In the following examples, channel refers to the RGB or red, green, and blue channels.
A panel exhibits 2 columns of paint, depicting the process of blending modes.
On the left are paint blend modes ; on the right are the layer blending modes
Normal: Paints the current brush foreground blend color (default). There is no blend because opacity for both is 100%. Refer to Figure 2-81.
A panel with 2 columns of color depicts the difference between the normal and dissolved blending modes of colors.
Paint blend and layer blend of Normal
Dissolve: Paints the current brush foregound blend color, but as a more air brush, random pixilated pattern with some noise distortion arround the soft edges. Refer to Figure 2-82.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between normal and dissolve blending modes.
Paint blend and layer blend of Dissolve
Behind: Edits or paints the current brush foreground blend color only on the transparent areas of the layer. Make sure that Lock transparent pixels for the layer is not enabled when painting in this mode. This blend option is not available for the Layers panel blending modes. It can only be accessed by a Brush, History Brush, Clone Stamp, Pattern Stamp, or Pencil tool. Refer to Figure 2-83.
A layer panel has the options kind, normal, opacity 100 percent, lock, and fill at 100 percent. Highlights lock transparent pixels
Paint blend of Behind
Clear: Similar to an Eraser tool , it edits or paints the pixels and makes them transparent. Make sure that Lock transparent pixels for the layer is not enabled when painting in this mode. This option is not available for the Layers panel blending mode, only for the Brush and Pencil tools. Refer to Figure 2-84.
An image of six columns with motion blur depicts the paint mode of clear.
Paint blend of Clear
Darken: Based on color data from each channel, the base or blend color (whichever is darker) is the result color. Pixels lighter or transparent do not change. White or transparent base areas do not affect the blend color and a white blend has no effect on the base and disappears. Refer to Figure 2-85.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode darken.
Paint blend and layer blend of Darken
Multiply: Similar to Darken, based on color data from each channel, the base color is multiplied by the blend color. A darker color results. White or transparent base areas do not affect the blend color and a white blend has no effect on the base and disappears. Refer to Figure 2-86.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode multiply.
Paint blend and layer blend of Multiply
Color Burn: Based on color data from each channel, the blend darkens the base color via the blend color by increasing the contrast between them. White or transparent base areas do not affect the blend color and a white blend has no effect on the base and disappears. However, there are slight differences in how the resulant color appears when painting with a brush in this mode or simply changing the above layer’s blending mode after painting in Normal mode, as seen on the right of Figure 2-87.
A panel with 2 columns of color depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode color burn.
Paint blend and layer blend of Color Burn
Linear Burn: Based on color data from each channel, the blend darkens the base color and the brightness between the blend and base is decreased. White or transparent blends do not affect the base color and disappear . Refer to Figure 2-88.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of linear burn mode.
Paint blend and layer blend of Linear Burn
Darker Color: Compares all the channel values for both the base color and the blend color and displays a lower color value from choosing lower channel values. For example, painting over a black area does not produce a third color and the blend will pass over that area and disappear. Refer to Figure 2-89.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode's darker color.
Paint blend and layer blend of Darker Color
Lighten: Based on the color data from each channel (whichever is lighter, the base or the blend), the result color is created. As the blend is painted over, those base pixels that are darker are replaced by lighter pixels. A white blend is unaffected, and black disappears and does not blend with the base. Refer to Figure 2-90.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode lighten.
Paint blend and layer blend of Lighten
Screen: Based on the color data from each channel, the inverse base color is multipled by the inverse of the blend color. A lighter third color results . A white blend is unaffected, and black disappears and does not blend with the base. Refer to Figure 2-91.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode screen.
Paint blend and layer blend of Screen
Color Dodge: Based on the color data from each channel, the base color is brightened to reflect the blend color. The result color is a decreased contrast between the base and blend. Painting with black does not affect the base color and it disappears. Painting on transparent areas does not affect the blend unless you are applying a Layer Blend mode . However, there are slight differences in how the result color appears when painting with a brush in this mode or simply changing above the layer’s blending mode after painting in Normal mode. Refer to Figure 2-92.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode color dodge.
Paint blend and layer blend of Color Dodge
Linear Dodge (Add): Based on the color data from each channel, the base color is brightened. The result color is an increased brightness between the base and the blend. Painting with black does not affect the base color and it disappears. Painting on transparent areas does not affect the blend, unless you are applying a Layer Blend mode. There are slight differences in how the result color appears when painting with a brush in this mode or simply changing the above layer’s blending mode after painting in Normal mode. Refer to Figure 2-93.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode linear dodge.
Paint blend and layer blend of Linear Dodge
Lighter Color: Compares all the channel values for both the base color and the blend and dlsplays a higher color value from choosing highest channel values. A white blend is unaffected, and black disappears and does not blend with the base. Refer to Figure 2-94.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode lighter color.
Paint blend and layer blend of Lighter Color
Overlay: Depending upon the base, the blend color will be multiplied or screened. As the colors overlay the base, the highlights and shadows are preserved, mixing with the blend to preserve the lightness and darkness of the original blend. Refer to Figure 2-95.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode overlay.
Paint blend and layer blend of Overlay
Soft Light: Depending on the blend color, the base is lightened or darkened. The color’s light is considered diffused or more gentle. If the blend is less than 50% gray, the result is lightened or dodged. If it’s more than 50%, the result is like a darker burned area. Painting over colors using black will darken and painting with white will lighten. Refer to Figure 2-96.
A panel with 2 columns depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode soft light.
Paint blend and layer blend of Soft Light
Hard Light: Depending on the blend color, the base is screened or multiplied. The color’s light is considered harsh or more intense . If the blend is less than 50% gray, the result is lightened or screened. If it’s more than 50%, the result is like multiply. Blend colors of black and white over a black or dark base will cover and no blend will result. This blend is more apparent when woking with more dull or muted hues that have a mixture of RGB not 100% pure. Refer to Figure 2-97.
Two panels with 2 columns where each depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode hard light.
Paint blend and layer blend of Hard Light is more apparent with muted colors
Vivid Light: Depending on the blend color, a burn or dodge occurs when the contrast is increased or decreased. If the blend is less than 50% gray, the result is lightened or there is a decrease in contrast. If it’s more than 50%, the result is darkened or there is an increase in contrast. Vivid light can give a more blurred or smeared appearance when painted with a blend over the base. However, the result using a brush verses later appying the blending mode to the layer after painting in Normal mode can be dramatically different. Refer to Figure 2-98.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode vivid light.
Paint blend and layer blend of Vivid Light
Linear Light: Depending on the blend color, a burn or dodge occurs when the brightness is increased or decreased. If the blend is less than 50% gray, the result is lightened or increased brightness. If it’s more than 50%, the result is darkened or decreased brightness. Linear light can give a more blurred or smeared appearance when painted with a blend over the base. However, the results vary when using a brush versus later applying the blending mode to the Layer after painting in Normal mode. Refer to Figure 2-99.
A panel with 2 columns of color depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode linear light.
Paint blend and layer blend of Linear Light
Pin Light: Depending on the blend color , colors are replaced. If the blend is less than 50% gray, the result is that the darker base colors are replaced and the lighter the blend color is unchanged. If it’s more than 50% gray, the result is that lighter base colors are replaced and the darker the blend color is left unchanged. This is more apparent in the green and red channels and the brush strokes appear slightly pinched. This blend is more apparent when woking with more dull or muted hues that have a mixture of RGB that is not 100% pure. Refer to Figure 2-100.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode pin light.
Paint blend and layer blend of Pin Light , which is more apparent with muted colors
Hard Mix: Add the RGB channel values of the blend color to the same channels of the base color. Each channel has a value of 0-255, and when combinined, the channel will either be 0 or 255, resuting in a harsh contrast of one range or the other. However, the results vary when using a brush versus later applying the blending mode to the layer after painting with the Brush in Normal mode . Refer to Figure 2-101.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode hard mix.
Paint blend and layer blend of Hard Mix
Difference: Based on the color data from each channel, either the base or the blend is subtracted from the other and can produce a black or darker result over similar colors. This choice is dependant upon which has the greatest brightness value. White causes an inverse result while a black blend produces no change to the base and disappears. Refer to Figure 2-102.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode difference.
Paint blend and layer blend of Difference
Exclusion: Creates a blend similiar to Difference , but with a lower contrast. Like Difference, white can cause an inverse result, while a black blend produces no change to the base and disappears. Refer to Figure 2-103.
A panel with 2 columns of colors depicts the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode exclusion.
Paint blend and layer blend of Exclusion
Subtract: Based on the color data from each channel, the result is that the blend is subtracted from the base. White painted over a color turns black while a black blend produces no change to the base and disappears. Refer to Figure 2-104.
A panel with 2 columns of colors of the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode subtract.
Paint blend and layer blend of Subtract
Divide: Based on the color data from each channel, the blend is divided from the base color. Black painted over certain colors turns white and a white blend does not effect the base color and disappears. Refer to Figure 2-105.
A panel with 2 columns of colors of the difference between the paint and layer blend of the mode divide.
Paint blend and layer blend of Divide
Hue: The base color’s luminance and saturation plus the blend color’s hue equals the result color, often in shades of gray. Note that areas of grey are unaffected by the blend color and it disappears. Refer to Figure 2-106.
An image of the paint blend and layer blend of hue separated by a broken line. The lower part of the image has gray and shaded areas.
Paint blend and layer blend of Hue
Saturation: The base color’s luminance and hue plus the blend color’s saturation equals the result color. Areas of no satauration and just gray are unaffected by the blend. Red, green, and blue blends produce little or no result, while black and white do produce a grey result in colorful areas. Refer to Figure 2-107.
An image of the paint blend and layer blend of saturation separated by a broken line. Some parts of the colored areas have gray strips, and the lower part of the image has gray and shaded regions.
Paint blend and layer blend of Saturation
Color: The base color’s luminance plus the blend color’s hue and saturation equals the result color. Gray levels in the dark and light range are preserved and are ideal for tinting black and white images. Note that some RGB color will appear in the mid-tone grayscale range. Refer to Figure 2-108.
An image of the paint blend and layer blend of color separated by a broken line. The lower part of the image has gray and shaded areas but also streaks of colored lines.
Paint blend and layer blend of Color
Luminosity: The base color’s hue and saturation plus the blend color’s luminance equals the result color. It is an inverse of the Color mode and produces a result in various grayscale shades. White and black do not blend into the base. Refer to Figure 2-109.
An image of the paint blend and layer blend of luminosity separated by a broken line. It has 3 color lines.
Paint blend and layer blend of Luminosity
An illustration of a custom brush of soft scatters Brush J H with preview.
A custom brush in the Brushes panel selected
A Tools panel of the foreground color is set to red with normal luminosity. A custom brush is used to paint with the foreground color in different painting blend modes.
Painting with a custom brush with red in various panting blend modes directly over the gradient
Depending on where you paint, the colorful brush changes.
An illustration of the history panel has a new layer, five brush tools, one of which is undone, and eraser options.
History panel for undoing steps with the Brush tool
A Layers panel is on the right with a dropdown list for blending modes and chosen luminosity. On the left are two layers of a blending mode.
Paint with the brush in normal paint blending mode and then change the blending mode of the layer itself to another mode like Luminosity
For more details on blending modes , refer to this link and see the modes on other images: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/blending-modes.html .
Brush Options Continued
In the next section of the Options panel you can set the brush’s opacity (1-100%). Opacity can interact with the blending mode as well.
Always use presure for opacity when enabled. When off, the Bush Preset controls presure. Set the Flow rate (1-100%) for the stroke to enable airbrush-style build-up effects
Smoothing (1-100%): Set the smoothing for the stroke. Use higher values to reduce the shakiness of brush strokes.
A brush tool options panel has a brush tool with mode as normal, opacity and flows as 100 percent, smoothing at 10 percent, smoothing options lists 4 options, and selected stroke catch up and adjust for zoom options.
Brush tool Options panel and Smoothing options
A pop up warning dialog box of adobe photoshop. It has the message that states an integer between negative 180 degrees and 180 degrees is required. The closest value inserted with the ok button.
The Brush Preset Picker angle preview and angle in the Options panel are the same setting and must be set to a value between -180 ° and 180 °
A portion of the Options panel has the pressure button and brush symmetry paint menu icons.
Pressure button icon in the Options panel next to the Brush Symmetry Paint menu
An illustration has two lines on top, one with text click at one end and shift plus drag on the other end. The bottom line is slightly inclined with text click and shift plus click.
Create straight lines using your Brush tool
Using Your Custom Brushes with Other Tools to Warp Your Artwork Further
After you have created a warped brush tip, you do not have to limit yourself to using just the Brush tool. You can test it with the Pencil or Eraser tool as well.
If you use the current brushes settings that you set for your brush, you will not have access to all of the brush settings for that brush. This includes the following:
A Brush Settings panel lists all the options for pencil tools. The wet edges, build up are not available for pencil tools, and select the smoothing option.
Available brush setting options for the Pencil tool
A Brush Settings panel lists available options for eraser tools. The color dynamics and wet edges are not available for pencil tools and select the smoothing option.
Available brush setting options for the Eraser tool
Test your custom brush with these tools.
Pencil Tool Options (Review)
An options panel of the pencil tool has a normal mode, 100 percent opacity, 10 percent smoothing, 0 degree angle, auto race, and the preview of a curve with foreground and background color.
The Pencil tool’s Options panel . You can paint over a foreground with a background color when Auto Erase is enabled
Eraser Tool Options (Review)
An Eraser tool options panel lists the mode options as brush, pencil, and block and highlights the brush option. The tool has 100 percent opacity and flow and 0 percent smoothing.
The Eraser tool’s Options panel . Set the mode to either Brush or Pencil to work with a custom brush
An illustration of an erase to history check box, an icon of pencil points at the center of the stacked circle, a butterfly pattern icon, and in the history tab has a CH2 underscore gradient copy option.
Erase to History, when enabled in the Options panel, works with the History panel
Let’s now move on to the other tools you can test using your new brush tip to create some actual painterly distorts.
Garden Project
A duplicate image dialog box duplicates by entering C H 2 underscore I M G underscore 3348 copy in the input box. It has 2 buttons, ok and cancel.
Duplicate Image dialog box
A macro shot of the Zulu Prince daisy flower. The different colors of the rings are vivid in the shot.
A picture of a Venidium “Zulu Prince” flower in a garden
An illustration of the zoom tool and hand tool icons.
Zoom tool and Hand tool in the Tools panel
Blur tool
Sharpen tool
Smudge tool
A Tools panel has the blur tool, sharpen tool, and smudge tool represented by a water drop, triangle, and index finger pointed downward, respectively.
Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge tools in the Tools panel
A brush preset picker panel has a general brush folder with a soft round with a preview of sample output.
General Brushes folder with Soft Round in the Brush Preset Picker
A layers panel has a mode as normal, opacity and fill as 100 percent, a background layer with Zulu prince flower, a blank layer, and highlights create a new layer option.
Layers panel and the Create a new layer button
Two images of renaming a layer as a blur. The first image has a text area typed as a blur.
Renaming a layer
Blur Tool
The Blur tool allows you to blur or make fuzzy areas in an image, so that those areas appear out of focus. I like the way the camera created the background blur, but maybe I want to blur some other areas as well.
Blur Options
An Options panel for the blur tool. It has a water drop icon, mode as normal, strength as 50 present, angle as 0, and selected the sample all layers options.
The Blur tool’s Options panel
A panel of a blur tool preset. It contains the message, no tool presets defined for the current tool, and selects the tickbox of the current tool only.
Blur tool preset are empty
A tool panel and the context menu of blur tools brush preset pricker. The panel has a size of 97 pixels, a hardness of 0 percent, list of general brushes with a preview.
The Blur tool’s Brush Preset Picker options panel
Select Soft Round with a Size of 97 pixels and Hardness of 0%.
A brush setting panels for the blur tool. It contains brush tip shape and size, flip X and Y, angle as 0, the roundness of 100 percent, hardness of 0 percent, and spacing of 25 percent with preview.
Brush settings panel for the Blur tool
Notice that some areas are greyed out and are not accessible, as they were with the Brush tool. You do, however, have access to the settings of Brush Tip Shape, Shape Dynamics, Scattering, Transfer, Brush Pose, Noise, and Smoothing. For details on those tabs, refer to earlier in the chapter about creating custom brush settings. Likewise, the accessible settings that you created earlier with your custom brush should be retained as you paint with the Blur tool.
A tool panel of the painting blend mode. The mode option has dropdown lists of normal, darken, lighten, hue, saturation, color, and luminosity.
Blur tool options for painting blend mode
Normal: How the tool normally blurs
Darken: Blurs and darkens the colors
Lighten: Blurs and lightens the colors
Hue: Blurs and alters the hue of the colors
Saturation: Blurs and greys the colors
Color: Blurs and alters the color to blend
Luminosity: Blurs and alters the brightness of the colors
Let’s paint in Normal mode for now.
A portion of a blur tool options panel. It has a strength of 50 percent, an angle of 0 degrees, and selects the tickbox of sample all layers.
Blur tool options for Strength, Angle, and Sample All Layers
The angle is the same as what is set in the Brush Preset Picker dropdown menu (-180, 0, 180) when you alter the angle of the brush.
A Layers panel of two layers, the blur layer and the background layer. Two images of the flower's petals, original and blurred images.
Painting on the Blur layer when Sample All Layers is enabled so I don’t alter the background layer. Without Blur and with Blur on the image
An illustration has a zoom tool icon, the strength is increased to 80 percent and with an angle of 0 degrees.
Get closer to the image with the Zoom tool and increase the strength of the blur if it is not fast enough
A panel of blur tool options of pressure for size has an icon as a pencil pointed at the center of 2 layered stacked circles. The highlighted text reads, always use pressure for size, when off brush present controls pressure.
Blur tool options for Pressure for Size
An illustration has two lines on top, one with text click at one end and shift plus drag on the other end. The bottom line is slightly inclined with text click and shift plus click.
Paint a straight line with the Blur tool
Continue to paint around the edge of the flower to achieve the subtle blur you want. Then try some of the Blend modes to see if they improve the blur. They will be quite subtle compared to the Brush tool. Then set the Blend mode back to Normal. Refer to Figure 2-134.
A preview image of a custom blur painting made up of a soft scatter brush J H option in the custom brush settings.
Painting a custom blur with the custom brush
A photograph of flower petals marked with dashed lines. The layer panel selects the sample of all layers of the selected area and layer mask thumbnail. Below, the panel highlights add layer mask option.
Use a selection to restrict or a layer mask to hide part of the blur
A preview illustration of blurred parts removed with erasers. The eraser tool has erase to history option.
Remove part of the blur with your Eraser tool set to Erase to History
You will see more intense blur-related filters in Chapter 8.
A Layers panel has two layers, a sharpen and a blur layer. It has a normal mode, 100 percent of opacity, fill, and highlights create a new layer. On the right lists three tools, blur, sharpen, and smudge tools.
Adding a new layer to test the Sharpen tool
Select the Sharpen tool. Refer to Figure 2-143.
Sharpen Tool
The Sharpen tool , while not really used to create a warp or distort, can be used to adjust or correct blurs and make pixels appear slightly clearer. However, sometimes sharpening too much can make the image appear grainy and pixelated.
Sharpen Tool Options
An options panel of a sharpen tool has a brush preset picker, mode as normal, 50 percent strength, 0 degree angles, and ticked the sample all layers, product details options.
Options panel for the Sharpen tool
The first section allows you to save and store presets for your tool.
A panel of brush preset picker setting. It has a size set to 97 pixels, hardness at 0 percent and different brush tips list soft round, elliptical custome 41, elliptical 41C2, and hard round.
Brush Preset Picker setting for the Sharpen tool
A brush tip shape panel lists available brush settings for the history brush. Texture, dual brush, color dynamics, wat edges, build up, and product texture are not available for the sharpen tool.
Brush settings available for the Sharpen tool
Normal: How the tool normally sharpens
Darken: Sharpens and darkens the colors
Lighten: Sharpens and lightens the colors
Hue: Sharpens and alters the hue of the colors
Saturation: sharpens and greys the colors
Color: Sharpens and alters the color to blend
Luminosity: Sharpens and alters the brightness of the colors
Let’s paint in Normal mode for now.
A portion of the Sharpen tool Options panel has strength at 50 percent, the angle at 0 degrees, and ticked sample all layers and protect detail options.
Sharpen options for Strength, Angle, Sample All Layer, and Protect Detail
The angle is the same as what is set in the Brush Preset Picker dropdown when you alter the angle of the brush.
Two photographs of a daisy flower. 1, normal photograph before sharpening. 2, Sharpening enhanced photograph.
The Sharpen tool before and after use on the center of flower
You will notice that the image now appears clearer and sharper in the center and even brighter than before.
Make sure to keep Protect detail enabled so that you minimize pixelation while protecting details. Refer to Figure 2-147.
An icon of sharpen tool represents a pencil point at the center of 2 staked circles. The text highlights always use pressure for size, when off, the brush present controls pressure.
Sharpen tool option called Always use Pressure for Size
Click this button to compare how it effects the sharpening. The change may be subtle, depending on what brush is used.
As with the Brush tool, you can click and then Shift+Click in another location if you want a blur in a straight, direct line from point to point. Refer to Figure 2-139.
A close up shot of the Zulu prince flower has a dashed line circle at the center. Below, two layers of the selected portions of sharpening and highlights add layer mask option.
Use a selection to restrict or a layer mask to hide part of the sharpened area
A preview of an illustration made up of a custom brush of soft scatter brush J H. The output is on the left side.
Painting a custom sharpen with the custom brush
You will see other sharpening-related filters briefly in Chapter 8.
A layer panel to test the smudge tool. It has two layers smudge, sharpen, mode as normal, 100 percent opacity, and fill, selects the create new layer options and lists the 3 tools, blur, sharpen, and smudge.
Adding a new layer to test the Smudge tool
Smudge Tool
A mixer brush tool option represents a painting brush with water drops and foreground and background icons.
The Mixer Brush tool shares some similarities to the Smudge tool but smears color, not pixels
The difference is that it alters pixels, rather than foreground colors from the Tools panel or color picker. You will drag the mouse up and down on the petals to smudge.
Much of what you saw in the Blur tool options panel is the same for the Smudge tool. I will just point out the key differences, and you can refer to the Blur tool for more details.
Smudge Tool Options
An options panel of the smudge tool has index finger points down, normal mode, 50 percent of strength, 0 degrees of angle, and ticked the sample all layer options.
Options panel for the Smudge tool
A brush preset picker setting has the size set to 97 pixels, 0 percent hardness, and general brushes, which list soft round, elliptical custome 41, elliptical 41C2, and hard round with a preview of each.
Brush Preset Picker setting for the Smudge tool
A brush setting panel lists available options for the smudge tools. Texture, Dual brush, color dynamics, wet edges, build up, and protect texture are not available for the smudge tool.
Brush settings available for the Smudge tool
Normal: How the tool normally smudges
Darken: Smudges and darkens the colors
Lighten: Smudges and lightens the colors
Hue: Smudges and alters the hue of the colors
Saturation: Smudges and greys the colors
Color: Smudges and alters the color to blend
Luminosity: Smudges and alters the brightness of the colors
Keep the mode on the setting of Normal for now.
Next, you can set the strength for the smudge stroke. By default, it is 50% but it can be reduced to 1% or increased to 100%. This will allow the smudge to appear slower or faster, increasing or reducing the amount of time you click and drag over an area. Keep it at the default of 50%. Refer to Figure 2-154.
A photo of the Zulu prince flower has diagonal arrows pointing upward and downward. Two close-up shots of the petals depict the appearance before and after the smudge tool is used.
Drag outward with your smudge brush to create a smudge of color
A photograph of daisy flowers with a finger painting check box and a finger painting checkbox with a icon represents the pencil points to the center of the 2 stacked circles.
Enable Finger Painting mode in the Options panel for a more dramatic smudge
A panel has an icon represents a pencil pointed at the center of 2 stacked circles. The highlighted text reads, always use pressure for size, when off brush present controls pressure.
Smudge Tool option of Always use Pressure for Size
Click this button to compare how it affects the smudging. The change may be subtle depending on what brush is used.
As with the Brush tool, you can click and then Shift+Click in a new location if you want a smudge in a straight, direct line from point to point. Refer to Figure 2-139.
A close up shot of the Zulu prince flower has a dashed line circle at the center. Below, two layers of the selected portions of smudge and highlights add layer mask option.
Use a selection to restrict or a layer mask to hide part of the smudged area
A painting of a smudge with the custom brush of soft scatter brush J H. The preview of an output image is at the left.
Painting a custom smudge with the custom brush
A photograph of a Zulu prince flower with more vivid. Separate layers of a flower has blur, sharpen and smudge paintings.
Flower with Blur, Sharpen, and Smudge painting on separate layers
You will see other smudge-related filters in Chapters 8 and 9.
Other Tools to Enhance or Correct Distorts
A set of three tools, dodge, burn, and sponge.
Tools panel showing the Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools
A two layers panel to create a duplicate layer. Panel 1 has two layers of smudge and sharpen. Panel 2 has two layers of smudge copy and smudge. Both has a normal mode and 100 percent of opacity and fill.
Create a duplicate of the layer in the Layers panel to test tools
A history panel lists 5 enabled dodge tools and 2 disabled dodge tools.
Use your History panel to go back a step or two while practicing with a tool
I will just talk briefly about these three tools and uses. You can view their settings in the Options panel when you select each tool.
If you want to test these next tools, just make copies of your smudge layer and test the tools one at a time. Make sure to rename each layer to remind yourself what current tool is you are using.
Dodge Tool
The Dodge tool is used to lighten the areas of an image without affecting the hue or saturation. You can see the options in the Options panel from left to right.
Dodge Tool Options
An options panel of the dodge tool has a highlights range, 72 percent exposure, 0 degree angle, and ticked protect tones. The brush setting has size, hardness, and a list of general brushes. The color dynamics is not an available brush for dodge.
Options panel for the Dodge tool and its brush presets and available settings
Two zoomed photographs of flower petals show before using the dodge tool and after using the dodge tool.
Before and after using the Dodge tool to brighten the yellow area of the flower
Then enable the airbrush style to build up effects as you would with the Brush tool .
The angle is the same as what you set in the Brush Preset Picker. Refer to Figure 2-166.
A smudge tool panel has protect tones with a text of minimizes clipping in shadows and highlights and keeps colors from shifting hue.
Smudge tool options for Protect Tones and Always use Pressure for Size
The Always use Pressure for Size button can be used to adjust the pressure of the dodge; when off, the original brush presets control the pressure instead.
For more details on using this tool, refer to this link: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/tool-techniques/dodge-tool.html .
Now try your custom brush or just use a General Brushes: Soft Round Brush to create the dodge.
Burn Tool
The Burn tool does the opposite of the Dodge tool and is used to darken the areas of an image without affecting the hue or saturation. You can see the options in the Options panel.
Burn Tool Options
An options panel of the sponge tool has midtones range, exposure at 50 percent, 0 degrees of angle, and ticked protect tones.
Options panel for the Burn tool
Two close-up shots depict the petals before and after the burn tool is used. The burn tool darkens some areas as depicted in the shots displayed.
Before and after using the Burn tool to darken the purple-red area of the flower
Then enable the airbrush style to build up effects as you would with the Brush tool .
The angle is the same as what you set in the Brush Preset Picker. Refer to Figure 2-169.
A burn tool panel has protect tones with a text of minimizes clipping in shadows and highlights and keeps colors from shifting hue.
Burn tool options for Protect Tones and Always use Pressure for Size
The Always use Pressure for Size button can be used to adjust the pressure of the burn; when off, the original brush presets control the pressure instead. Refer to Figure 2-171.
For more details on the using this tool, refer to this link:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/tool-techniques/burn-tool.html .
Now try your custom brush or just use a General Brushes: Soft Round Brush to create the burn.
Sponge Tool
The Sponge tool is used to saturate or desaturate color in an image. You can see the options in the Options panel.
Sponge Tool Options
An options panel of the sponge tool has saturate mode, flow at 50 percent, 0 degrees angle, and selected vibrance option.
Options panel for the Sponge tool
For range or painting mode, you can set whether you want to saturate or desaturate from the list. Saturate brightens and desaturate dulls.
The flow rate of the stroke saturation change can be set from 1-100%. It is at the default of 50%.
Then enable the airbrush style to build up effects as you would with the Brush tool .
The angle is the same as what you set in the Brush Preset Picker. Refer to Figure 2-172.
A smudge tool panel for the vibrance has protect tones with a text of minimizes clipping for fully saturated or desaturated colors
Sponge tool options for Vibrance and Always use Pressure for Size
The Always use Pressure for Size button can be used to adjust the pressure of the sponge; when off, the original brush presets control the pressure instead. Refer to Figure 2-173.
For more details on using this tool, refer to this link:
https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/change-color-saturation-sponge-tool.html .
Now try your custom brush or just use a General Brushes: Soft Round Brush to create the sponge effect .
An illustration of layers panel with two layers smudge DBS and smudge. Also, two photos of flowers before and after using the tools to smudge.
Before and after using the Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools on various areas of a copy of the Smudge layer
History Brushes
History Brush (Y)
Art History Brush (Y)
A set of two tools, the history brush tool, and the art history brush tool.
Tools panel History and Art History Brush tools
Let’s look at what makes them different than the Brush tool.
History Brush
An illustration of a erase icon and erase to history option.
Eraser tool options panel with Erase to History enabled
History Brush Options
An options panel of the history brush has a normal mode, 100 percent of opacity and flow, and 0 degree angles.
Options panel for the History Brush
A brush preset picker setting has the size set to 72 pixels, hardness at 0 percent, and a list of general brushes of soft round, elliptical custome 41, elliptical 41 C 2, and hard round.
Brush Preset Picker for Brush History panel
A brush tip shape panel lists available brush settings for the history brush. Color dynamic settings is not available for the history bruch.
Available brush settings for the History Brush
A drop down menu of the mode lists the various mode and highlights the normal mode option, the context menu appeared. It lists the various options.
History Brush paint blend mode options
You can set the Opacity (1-100%), Always use Presure for Opacity when enabled, Flow rate for stroke (1-100%), Enable airbrush style build-up effects when enabled, and Brush Angle (-180, 0, +180°), which is the same as in the Brush Preset Picker.
The last option is Always use Pressure for Size; when off, the brush preset controls pressure. Refer to Figure 2-177.
For a straight line, click and then Shift+Click in the next location. Refer to Figure 2-139.
Three panels of custom brush setting and history panels. The custom brush settings has size, hardness, and a list of custom brushes ch 1. History panels has performed tasks of layer visibility, duplicate layer, history brush, and dodge tool.
Paint back parts of an image using your custom brush and the History panel’s last state
Make sure to File ➤ Save your files at this point.
A set of two illustrations. A layer panel with 3 layers, Smudge History 2, Smudge History, and Smudge. A close-up shot of the cape daisy made up of different brush effects.
Added brush effects using the History Brush tool and a custom brush on a copy of the Smudge layer
Art History Brush Tool
The Art History Brush tool has many similarities to the Brush tool and the History Brush tool. Like the History Brush tool, it can restore a pixelated area to a previous state after using other brush tools first, but in a more spreading, artistic way. After you have created a custom brush, there are a few surprising effects the longer you hold down the brush with your mouse key.
An options panel of the history brush tool. It has a mode as normal, 100 percent opacity, style as tight short, area as 50 pixels, 0 percent tolerance, 30 degrees angles, and others.
Options panel for the Art History Brush tool
Art History Tool Options
First is the tool preset . The next is the Brush Preset Picker where you can set the brush size’s hardness, angle, and roundness. Refer to Figure 2-183.
A brush tip shape panel lists available brush settings for the history brush. Scattering, dual brush, build up are not available for the art history brush.
Available options in the Brushes Settings panel for the Art History Brush
A drop down option of the mode lists normal, darken, lighten, hue, saturation, color, and luminosity.
Options for paint blending modes of the Art History Brush tool
You can set the Opacity for the stroke (1-100%), and the Always use Presure for Opacity option . Refer to Figure 2-183.
A drop down menu of styles lists tight short, medium, long, loose medium, long, dab, tight curl, curl long, loose curl, and curl long.
Style, Area, and Tolerance options for the Art History Brush
The Area is the painting area diameter of 0-500 px, and the Tolerance can be set from 0-100% to limit where the paint strokes will be applied.
Brush angle (-180, 0, +180°) is the same as in the Brush Preset Picker. Refer to Figure 2-183.
An art history brush option of pressure for size icon represents a pencil pointing at the center of 2 stacked circles.
Art History Brush option named Always use Pressure for Size
A history panel for the art history brush depicts a layer for C H 2 underscore I M G underscore 3348 copy.
History panel last state for the Art History Brush tool
Working from a history state or snapshot then allows you to use your Eraser tool to erase from history.
For more details, go to https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/painting-stylized-strokes-art-history.html .
A layers panel of two layers, smudge copy and smudge. A brush preset picker panel has a size set of127 pixels, hardness of 5 percent, and the choice of soft scatter brush J H.
Paint on a copy of the Smudge layer with your custom brush to test the Art History Brush tool
A set of two illustrations. 1, an original photo of a Zulu prince flower. 2, An edited illustration of a Zulu prince flower using different brush styles.
Before and after painting with the Art History Brush tool using various styles
Make sure to File ➤ Save your document at this point.
You can refer to my file CH2_IMG_3348_final.psd and the Smudge Art History layer to compare to the original smudge layer.
Stamp and Healing Brush-Related Tools
Clone Stamp tool (S)
Pattern Stamp tool (S)
A tools panel of the clone stamp tool and pattern stamp tool.
Clone and Pattern Stamp tools
Clone Stamp Tool
A close up shot of the petals of a circle with an x inside, which serves as the source location. An arrow points to a circle to place the cloned pixels.
Clone Stamp tool cloning a source location and then clicking in a new location to add the clone source pixels
Clone Stamp Tool Options (Review)
An options panel of the clone stamp tool has mode, opacity, flow, sample, and other options. A brush settings panel lists different brush tip shapes and disables the color dynamics and smoothing option.
Options for the Clone Stamp tool and available brush settings
A clone source panel has five cloning locations, rotation settings, offset, angle, opacity, and enables the show overlay and clipped options.
Clone Source panel
A context menu of modes lists various modes and highlighted the normal mode. The normal has lists of a submenu.
Effect Blending Mode options for the Clone Stamp tool
A portion of the clone stamp options panel has an opacity and flow at 100 percent, an angle at 0 degrees, and the sample is current and below.
Clone Stamp options
The last section list menu is Sample from either: Current layer, Current and Below, or All Layers. Beside this list is the currently disabled icon “Turn on to ignore adjustment Layers when Cloning.” The last button is Always use Pressure for Size. When off, the brush preset controls pressure . Refer to Figure 2-196.
A photograph of the Zulu Prince daisy used a clone stamp with custom brush effects.
Testing the Clone Stamp tool with a custom brush and effect blending modes
Make sure to File ➤ Save your document at this point.
You can refer to my file CH2_IMG_3348_final.psd and the Clone Stamp layer.
Pattern Stamp Tool
A diagram illustrates a toolbar on the top, a brush tip shape checkbox list in which shape dynamics and smoothing are selected, and an opacity dropdown has normal as a set and a submenu.
Options panel for the Pattern Stamp tool , available brush settings, and effect blend modes
In Chapter 3, we will look at pattern, alignment, and the impressionist settings.
Notes on Healing Tools
A tools panel of the following options, spot healing brush tool, healing brush tool, patch tool, content-aware move tool, and red eye tool.
Tools panel showing the Spot Healing Brush , Healing Brush, Patch, Content-Aware Move, and Red Eye Tools
An options panel of the spot healing tool with mode as normal, type as content aware, and angle as 0 degrees. Below, the brush option has a size of 45 pixels, 0 % hardness, 25 % spacing, 0 degree angles, and 100 % roundness.
Options panel for the Spot Healing tool and Brush options
A set of three option panels. 1, healing brush tools. 2, brush options with size, hardness, spacing, angle, and roundness. 3, clone source panel with offsets, frame offsets, opacity, and others.
Options panel for the Healing Brush tool , Brush options, and Clone Source panel
Finally, it should be mentioned that while the Patch Tool , Content-Aware Move Tool , and Red Eye Tool are a part of the healing tool collection for cosmetic touch-ups, they do not use any brush tool settings and are not relevant to this chapter. However, the Patch tool will be briefly mentioned in Chapter 3 as it relates to patterns. You’ll explore the Content-Aware tool in Chapter 7 and the Red Eye tool in Chapter 9.
For reference on healing tools , refer to https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/retouching-repairing-images.html .
Project: A Review of the Perspective Crop Tool
In my book Accurate Layer Sections using Photoshop’s Selection Tools, I talk about selection tools as well as how to use the Crop tool to reduce the size of the page. I also demonstrate the Perspective Crop tool , which you can review in detail in Chapter 4 of that book. It is very useful for when you want to correct a distort rather than create one, as I will demonstrate here.
An illustration of a duplicate image dialog box and the painting of the 6 chickens, clouds, and 3 sunflowers. A dialog box of the duplicate image named as C H 2 underscores I M G 2577 underscore Chicken underscore painting underscore copy.
Duplicate Image dialog box and a painting of chickens with a slight keystone distortion
A Tools panel of the Crop tool and Perspective crop tool.
Tools panel showing the Crop tool and Perspective Crop tool
Perspective Crop Tool Options
Refer here to the Options panel and look from left to right. In this area, you can adjust the preset, width, height, swap the width and height measurements, and change the resolution to pixels/inches or pixels/cm from the dropdown menu.
An options panel of the Perspective crop tool. It has width, height, resolution, pixels, front image, clear, and a tickbox of show grid.
Options panel for the Perspective Crop tool
In this example, besides cropping, we can see a slight keystone distortion and a slight angle tilt because I was not able to photograph the image straight on without my shadow getting in the way. I did, however, make sure to take a picture of this artwork on a grid so that it would help me to line up the sides better. I also used the grid lines in my camera so that it was not too misaligned. Nevertheless, the keystone effect makes the picture appear trapezoid rather than rectangular, so we need to correct this.
A painting of 6 chickens on the wooden fence, 3 sunflowers, and clouds placed on the Grid board. The painting corners crop using the perspective tool by 1 click, 2 click, 3 click, and 4 click.
Click out the grid with the Perspective Crop tool
A warning dialog box of adobe photoshop to crop the image. It has three buttons crop, cancel, and don't crop.
Warning message if you select another tool while using the Perspective Crop tool
An illustration of a hand tool icon.
Use a key command instead if you need to access the Hand tool rather than selecting it from the Tools panel
An optional panel of cancel and check icons. The circle with a backward slash is the cancel icon, and a tick symbol is the check icon.
Click the check in the Options panel to commit the perspective crop
A painting of 6 chickens on the wooden fence and 3 sunflower plants.
The keystone effect is removed from the chicken painting and the image is cropped
A save as dialog box of the file name as C H 2 underscore I M G underscore 2577 underscore Chicken underscore painting underscore J H dot p s d and saved as photoshop type.
Make sure to save your work as you complete each project with the Save As dialog box
You can see my final file, CH2_IMG_2577_Chicken_painting_final.psd.
Later, you will look at more complex distorts in Chapters 4 through 8. In Chapter 9, you will look at advanced lens correcting filters for distortion.
I saved a copy of the brushes used in this chapter as an .abr file that you can find in this chapter’s folder.
Summary
In this chapter, you looked at several brush settings and how they relate to custom brush creation. After creating custom brushes, you also looked at many of the brush tools that can utilize these brush setting presets, such as Blur, Sharpen, Smudge, History Brushes, and Clone Stamps. They allow you to continue to warp and distort in different artistic ways based on choices made in the tool’s Options panel. You saw how to use many of these brushes in a non-destructive way by painting on a blank or copy layer so that the original was not destroyed. Finally, you looked at the Perspective Crop tool as another basic warping tool that you can use to correct basic keystone and angle distorts at the same time. In the next chapter, you will look at some more tools and hidden features for pattern creation.