Painting and Drawing > Customizing brush libraries > Creating and editing brushes
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Creating and editing brushes


You can create new brushes and delete brushes you no longer need, and you can use part of an image to create a custom brush. You can also create a temporary brush that you only expect to use one time.

A. Brush options B. Pop-up palette

To create a brush:

Do one of the following:
  • Click the inverted arrow () next to the brush sample to display the pop-up palette in the options bar, and choose New Brush from the pop-up palette menu. The preview box in the lower right corner of the New Brush dialog box shows the current brush tip. The box in the lower left corner shows the current brush angle and roundness. As you enter new options, the brushes in these boxes update. Set the brush options as described in Setting brush options, then click OK.
  • Click the brush sample in the options bar to display the options of the selected brush. Then click New () to save this brush as a preset. Enter a name for the brush, and set the brush options as described in Setting brush options.

    • The new brush is selected in the options bar and is added at the bottom of the pop-up palette.

    To create a temporary brush or temporarily change a brush:

    1 Click the brush sample in the options bar.

    2 Set the brush options. (See Setting brush options.)

    3 Draw in the image.

    To delete a brush:

    Do one of the following:
  • In the pop-up palette in the options bar, press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and click the brush you want to delete.
  • Click the brush in the pop-up palette, and choose Delete Brush from the pop-up palette menu.
  • Choose Edit > Preset Manager, select Brushes from the Preset Type list, select the brush from the list in the dialog box, and click Delete.

    • To create a custom brush shape:

    1 Use the rectangle marquee () with Feather set to 0 px to select part of an image to use as a custom brush.

    The brush shape can be up to 1024 pixels by 1024 pixels in size. To be most effective, the shape should appear on a solid white background. If you want to define brushes with soft edges, select brush shapes composed of pixels with gray values. (Colored brush shapes appear as gray values.)

    2 Choose Define Brush from the Edit menu.

    3 Name the brush and click OK.

    You can set the spacing and anti-alias options by selecting the brush from the pop-up palette in the options bar and clicking the brush sample. If you make changes, click the New Preset button () to save your changes as a new preset item.
    Pear painted with custom brush shown in inset

    You can easily save, load, replace, or delete brushes using the pop-up palette menu. You can also customize the view of the pop-up palette. (See  Using pop-up palettes.) You can also load or save brushes using the Preset Manager. (See Working with presets.)

    Exiting Photoshop Elements saves the contents of the current pop-up palette in the Preferences file.

    Painting and Drawing > Customizing brush libraries > Creating and editing brushes