How to Add Brushes to Photoshop in 3 Easy Steps

For over thirty years, artists, photographers, and all-around creatives have been using Photoshop to edit photos, create graphics and make digital works of art. Learning how to add brushes to Photoshop is a key step in expanding your creative abilities within the app, personalizing your workflow and creating special effects brushes like smoke or hair.

You might be here because you already know how to add fonts in Photoshop, but are curious about how to add other tools, like brushes. Or you might just want to explore further the various tools and presets Photoshop offers, including adding and editing new brushes.

Learning new skills like how to feather edges or mirror an image in Photoshop, can help you further boost your creativity within the app and even give you a competitive edge if you’re a graphic designer, photographer or web designer. And learning to add brushes in Photoshop can do just the same.

Why Master Photoshop Brushes?

Just like understanding how to resize images in Photoshop, mastering the art of the Photoshop brush can improve your overall Photoshop skills, optimize your workflow and help you achieve a wider range of artistic styles within your work. Photoshop brushes can also enhance your calligraphy, create the lines and shades you need and allow you to create your own set of brushes for a personalized design experience.

Installing New Photoshop Brushes Step-by-Step

While Photoshop comes with a wide variety of default brushes, artists, designers and photo editors often choose to install new brushes in order to have even more brush choices. By learning the steps to importing and installing new brushes, you can add brushes to your brush library that better match your creative style or the project you’re currently working on.

1. Downloading a New Set of Brushes

Depending on your project, you might be looking for smudgy charcoal, hazy spray paint or thick acrylic paint brushes. Start by finding the right brushes for you on websites like Brusheezy, Behance and Adobe. Next, download your brushes to a folder in your computer where you know you can find them later.

The brush panel is open within Photoshop. The mouse is hovering over the “Import Brushes” option from the flyout menu. A design with abstract shapes is open in the background. — Still from Skillshare class Playing with Texture in Procreate & Adobe Photoshop: Glow-Up Your Designs by Sarah Beth Morgan Both the “Import Brushes” and the “Get More Brushes” options will allow you to add new brushes to your brush library.

2. Importing Your Brushes

Now, open your brush panel. In the top right corner you’ll see a tiny gear, which will open up your flyout menu. Here, you’ll see a ton of different options including “Import Brushes.” Clicking on this option will open up your computer’s files. Navigate to the brush files you downloaded, which should be ABR files, and select them to add them to your Photoshop library.

3. Selecting Your New Brushes From the Brushes Window

Your new brushes will automatically be added to your brush panel. You should be able to find them by searching through the brushes in alphabetical order.

How To Create Your Own Photoshop Brushes

If the brushes you previously downloaded or the default Photoshop brushes aren’t exactly perfect for your digital painting or graphic, you can adjust them within the brush settings. Customizing your brushes can help you fine-tune their properties to your style, but you can also make Photoshop brushes to sell them if you’re looking for a new income stream.

1. Selecting the Brush Tool

First, select the brush you’d like to edit.

The “Window” dropdown menu is open in Photoshop. The mouse is hovering over the “Brush Settings” option and a canvas covered in abstract shapes is visible in the background. — Still from Skillshare class Playing with Texture in Procreate & Adobe Photoshop: Glow-Up Your Designs by Sarah Beth Morgan The Brush Settings panel will help you modify existing brushes and create new custom brushes.

2. Opening the Brush Settings Panel

Next, open the brush settings panel which you’ll find in the Window drop-down menu.

A canvas covered in abstract shapes is open in Photoshop. The brush settings panel is open to the right of the canvas. — Still from Skillshare class Playing with Texture in Procreate & Adobe Photoshop: Glow-Up Your Designs by Sarah Beth Morgan This artist added a few abstract shapes to her canvas to see how each brush would look on top of a variety of shapes and colors.

3. Modifying the Brush Tip Shape to Your Preference

Clicking on the “Brush Settings” option in the drop-down menu will open up the brush settings panel to the right of your canvas. Here, you’ll be able to adjust the brush tip size and shape. You can also change the brush’s scatter, texture and more.

Photoshop is open to a canvas containing a few squiggles and circles. The mouse is hovering over the “Flow” slider in the top toolbar. — Still from Skillshare class Playing with Texture in Procreate & Adobe Photoshop: Glow-Up Your Designs by Sarah Beth Morgan You can adjust some brush settings like “Flow” and “Smoothing” in the top toolbar.

4. Choosing the New Brush Attributes

Have some fun playing around with the different brush attributes by changing a lot of different settings and drawing on your canvas as you go. You can also adjust certain brush settings in the top toolbar. The “Flow” option will allow you to adjust how much your brush will build up with each stroke. You can also adjust your brush’s size by using the brackets ([ ]) on your keyboard.

5. Saving Your New Custom Brush

You can simply use the brush settings panel to adjust your brush as you go but if you want to save the settings for later, you’ll need to save it as a new custom brush. To do this, choose the “New Brush Preset” option from the panel menu, type in the name of your brush and then click OK. Finally, click the “Create New Brush” button.

Create Your Own Set Of Photoshop Brushes for Outstanding Designs

Adding and creating new brushes to your Photoshop workflow can help you further customize your projects and add to your overall creative toolbox. Over the next few weeks, spend time downloading a few new brushes and adjusting them as you create. In less than a month, you are sure to be on your way to being a Photoshop brush expert. Make sure to purchase or download your Photoshop brushes from reliable sources to avoid malicious software attacks. If you want even more guidance with creating and adding new Photoshop brushes, Skillshare offers the best classes for mastering Photoshop and its various tools.

Written By

Calli Zarpas

Producer & Writer by occupation. Ceramicist & Newsletter Editor by avocation.