How to Make Photoshop Brushes from Garden Plants

Collect Plant Stems to Use for Your Brushes
I like to select plants that have tall stems and a distinct profile. You can see a set of plant cuttings that I collected from my garden in the picture below. This is the set of stems used to create the Meadow Plant Brushes.

Once you select the plants you want for your brushes, you need to photograph them. I always place my cuttings on a large sheet of white paper to help make it easier to manipulate the images in Photoshop.

Step #1: Adjust the Brightness of Your Image
The first thing I like to do when I am creating brushes from photographs, is to adjust the brightness and contrast of the image. Just click on Image > Adjustments > Brightness/Contrast as shown below. This helps to reduce some of the shadows that may be present in your photos.

Photoshop brushes are made from black and white images. The portions of the image that are white will be transparent and the portions of the image that are black will make up the brush. The object here is to manipulate the image so you end up with a strong black and white image that can be used for your brush.

Step #2: Desaturate the Image
Since brushes are made from black and white images, it is easier to see what you brush will look like be desaturating the image. To desaturate your image (which means to make it greyscale instead of color), just click on Image > Adjustments > Desaturate as shown below.

Step #3: Adjust the Levels of Your Image
Next, you need to adjust the levels of the image. This allows you to darken up portions of the image that will be used to create the brush. Again, what we are trying to achive is a black and white image to make our brush. Just click on Image > Adjustments > Levels as shown below. The amount you need to move the sliders will depend on the specific photograph and will be different for every different image. Just start by making sure that preview is selected and move the arrows in towards the peaks. Adjust the arrows until you are happy with the preview image.

Step #4: Copy the Portion of the Image You Want for Your Brush onto Its Own Layer
Once you have adjusted your image, copy the portion of the image you want to use for your brush. In this example, I am planning to use the garlic chive image on the far right end of the photograph. I select the image using the selection tool and copy it to a new layer.

Step #5: Define Your Brush
Once you have isolated the image you want to use for your brush onto a separate layer, it is time to define your brush. All you need to do is select Edit > Define Brush. A dialog box will pop up where you can enter the name of your new brush as shown below.

And that is all there is to it. Once you have defined your brush, you are able to access it from the brush palette and use it to create new designs. If you want to know how to better use the brush palette, just check out the brush palette tutorial HERE.

The last thing that I do when I make my own Photoshop brushes is to upload them into Adobe Illustrator and vectorize them. This allows me to turn the images into vector images instead of raster images. This way, I am able to create high resolution brushes that can be sized to the maximum allowable brush size which is 2500 pixels in Photoshop CS3 and CS4. This last step is not a requirement, but it is a nice extra step to make your brushes more useful.