How to Create Your Own Custom Photoshop Brushes

Procedure1 – Create Brushes From Simple Shapes

First, open a new document in Photoshop, for example, I used the dimensions 538×414 px. Fill the background with black (Edit > Fill > Contents > Black). Then, create a new layer (Layer > New > Layer or Shift+Ctrl+N). With the new layer selected, draw a design that you want to turn into a custom brush. The design that I created for this purpose, using Marquee tools, looks like this:

Draw some shapes with the marquee tool (I used the Elliptical) and don’t forget to select the option Add to selection next to the tool presets options so that all the shapes stay parts of the same selection. When you finish drawing your design, fill it with any color and Ctrl+click on the icon of the design layer.

Having selected the layer, go to Edit > Define Brush Preset and give the name to your new brush. That’s all! Now, you might want to test your new brush. Open a new Photoshop document and fill the selection with black again. Select the brush tool and scroll down to the end of the list to select your new brush. Use your new brush to draw on the document.

Procedure 2 – Create Brushes from Templates and Images

For the creation of a custom brush from a picture or a template, open a desired picture in Photoshop. I am using a smoke texture here.

Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (Shift + Ctrl + U) and then go to Image > Adjustments > Invert (Ctrl+I). Now you just need to define the brush preset by going to Edit > Define Brush Preset and name your brush. Lastly, try it out on a new black Photoshop document.

A tutorial by Bonifacio Cruz