brushes

A Basic Guide to Brushes
By and © Anna Aspnes 2004 of www.fotoscrapix.com
I get many questions about brushes, so I thought it high time to put those fingers to keys
and explain, what has quickly become, a digital scrapbooking phenomenon. I have
included the most frequently asked questions.
What is a brush?
Well apart from being a painters “right hand man” or a garden tool we use to sweep
the leaves from our yard, brushes are also one of the “en vogue” tools within photo-
editing software packages, used to enhance digital scrapbook pages and designs. I can
best  describe a “Brush” as being an “imprint” of an image or a defined part of an
image, whereby the image may be a shape, photo, scan or graphic design. Several
brushes make up a Brush set.
Can I use brushes in my software program?
Brushes are compatible with Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, as well as Jasc
Paint Shop Pro, but not with Microsoft Photo-Editing Software packages, such as Digital
Image Pro or Picture It.
Why use brushes?
Brushes allow you to add a certain depth and character to your digital layouts, therefore
enhancing the emotional impact of the finished layout. As digital scrapbooking is
about  documenting your most heartfelt memories, brushes can significantly enhance
your designs by contributing qualities such as the modern, whimsical, architectural,
sophisticated or traditional, to name a few.
Where can I get them?
Adobe Photoshop installs with a standard set of brushes, which are very useful but
also very basic. Once you have mastered using the basic brushes, you might want to
experiment by creating and saving your own brushes using Photoshop (See tutorial
below).
Brushes are also available for download all over the internet, and while you should read
the terms of use carefully before downloading them, most are link or freeware, meaning
that they are free for personal use, as long as credit is provided to the artist or the website.
The best way to find brushes is to perform a search using your preferred search
engine, for example www.google.com or www.yahoo.com.
Some of my favorite brush sites include:
http://trulysarah.deviantart.com
http://ti-fi.com/digitalbristle/
http://veredgf.fredfarm.com/vbrush/main.html
http://magicbox.ti-fi.com/brushes_main.html
http://www.misprintedtype.com/v3/start.php




How do I use brushes?
There are two ways to use brushes. The brush you want to use and the effect you are
trying to achieve will determine the method you use.
You can paint with the brush and this is method is most suitable for basic round brushes
and often the best choice for Montage layouts. In this method you select the Paint Brush
in your Tool Box, choose your brush and paint using your mouse as though your were
literally painting on a canvas.
You can also use your brush like a rubber stamp. This method is most suitable for
intricate brushes such as the one I created in the above tutorial. The brush then leaves a
single impression on your layout and you can increase or decrease the opacity of this
impression or change the color, as desired. The more you “stamp” with a brush and the
variety of brushes used will eventually lead to a work of art.
Brush Use Tips:
-Create a new layer before adding new brush strokes, so that if you make a mistake then
it is easily fixed.
-Be creative! Brushes are a valuable tool with limitless possibilities!
Image courtesy of Image After

 telecharger ICI

Posted in: photoshop