Using the Brush Tool in Photoshop

This is a quick tutorial to show you how to open the Brush Tool in Photoshop. This tutorial will show you how to load brushes you download from the Internet into Photoshop so you can start using them. We also show you how to adjust the brush diameter and hardness inside the Brush Tool.

Select the Brush Icon
The image below shows you how to select the brush tool from the tool palette.

Load New Brushes into Photoshop

Loading brush sets that you find on the Internet is easy. After you download the brush set, you will need to extract the files from the .zip folder. Brush files end with an .ABR file extension.Once you have your files extracted, you will need to load them into the right Photoshop directory.

The brush files are stored in the Program Files>Adobe>Photoshop CSx>Presets>Brushes directory.

Once you have uploaded your brush files, they are loaded from the Brush tool palette. You select the arrow as shown in the image below and select LOAD BRUSHES>select the filename you want to try.

Adjust Brush Diameter and Hardness

You can adjust the brush diameter and hardness using the sliders that will appear when you select the brush tool.

Diameter will increase or decrease the size of the brush. Hardness refers to the feathering of the brush edge. If you want a crisp edge, leave the hardness set to 100%. If you want the edge to feather, reduce the hardness value.

It’s as easy as that!