Spring Particle brushes

Spring Particle brushes consist of a net of particles held together by elastic springs. Since the particles are connected to each other, they don’t spread out across the canvas but bounce back toward the center of the brushstroke. The brushstroke mark is determined by the individual paths of the particles and the flexibility of the springs between them.

Spring Particle brushstrokes

Spring brushes include the following variants:

Spring Particle brush controls

You can customize Spring Particle brushes by using the Spring Particles control panel, which includes the Appearance, Stiffness, Stiffness Jitter, Length Jitter, and Minimum Length controls.

The Appearance controls let you choose a Nucleus, Chain, or Geometric appearance for the particle pattern.

A brushstroke with Appearance set to Nucleus

A brushstroke with Appearance set to Chain

A brushstroke with Appearance set to Geometric

The Random Length slider randomly varies the length of individual springs. Once adjusted, the lengths remain constant during the brushstroke.

Low random length (left) and high random length (right)

A brushstroke with low random length (left) and high random length (right)

The Stiffness slider controls the strength of the springs. Low values produce more relaxed springs, which allows the particles to move more freely in relation to each other. You can also associate the stiffness with an expression by choosing an option from the Expression list box. The Stiffness Jitter slider randomly varies the strength of individual springs.

Low stiffness (left) and high stiffness (right)

A brushstroke with low stiffness (left) and high stiffness (right)

You can also link stiffness to audio input from your microphone, or internal audio such as streaming music. For more information, see Audio Expression.

Using Audio Expression to vary stiffness

The Minimum Length slider sets the initial length of the springs. Low values allow springs to stretch more.

Low minimum length (left) and high minimum length (right)

A brushstroke with low minimum length (left) and high minimum length (right)

To choose a Spring Particle brush variant

1 .	In the toolbox, click the Brush tool .

To customize a Spring Particle brush variant

1 .	Choose Window Brush Control Panels Brush Shape Spring Particles.

3 .	Choose Window Brush Control Panels Brush Shape Particles - Common.

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