Custom brushes

To create a custom brush
To create a brush nib from an editable area
To load a preset brush texture

You can create a custom brush by modifying brush attributes. Once you have created a custom brush, you can save it and use it again.

Nib properties

The shape of a brush is determined by the brush nib. The preset nib shapes can be modified or a nib can be created from an editable area and saved. The nib attributes you can adjust are

• Transparency — lets you specify the transparency level for the nib
• Rotation/Direction — lets you specify the angle at which the nib is rotated. You can use a value between 0 and 360. When you enable pen bearing, this value determines the start angle of rotation. As you rotate the pen or stylus, values are added to the start angle of rotation to determine the overall rotation of the brush nib.
• Flatness— lets you specify the amount by which the nib is flattened. The default value of 0 does not flatten the brush nib. When you enable pen tilt, the flatness value determines the starting flatness of the nib. As you tilt the pen, the nib flatness varies.
• Elongation — lets you elongate the brush nib. You can use a value between 1 and 999 for the elongation distance. The default value of 0 has elongation turned off. The direction in which the brush nib is elongated is determined by the value in the Rotation/Direction box as well as the bearing and rotation of your stylus. For example, a value of 0 in the Rotation/Direction box elongates the brush nib straight up vertically. You can use only elongation or only flatness but not both at the same time.
• Soft Edge — lets you specify the transparency and width of the edges of the nib

Stroke attributes

The stroke attributes you can modify are

• Smoothing — lets you specify a value for the smoothing of the stroke when the mouse moves fast. A higher value results in a rounder curve.
• Fade out — lets you specify the intensity of the fade-out effect for the brushstroke. A higher value results in a shorter brushstroke, i.e., the brushstroke runs out of paint faster. A negative value results in a fade-in effect.

Dab attributes

The dab attributes you can adjust are

• Number of dabs — lets you specify the number of dabs in a brushstroke
• Spacing — lets you specify the amount of space between dabs along the length of the brushstroke. A value of 1 produces a solid line. A higher value separates the dabs in the brushstroke.
• Spread — lets you specify the distance between dabs along the width of the brushstroke. A higher value results in a thicker brushstroke.
• Hue — lets you specify the hue variation in the brushstroke
• Saturation — lets you specify the saturation variation in the brushstroke
• Lightness — lets you specify the lightness variation in the brushstroke

Brush texture

Loading a preset brush texture gives you additional design options. The texture attributes you can adjust are

• Brush Texture — lets you specify how much of the texture is applied to the brushstroke
• Edge texture — lets you specify how much of the texture is applied to the edges of the brushstroke. The Edge Texture box is available only if the nib has a soft edge.
• Bleed — lets you specify the extent to which brushstrokes become diluted throughout the stroke. If a Sustain Color value is specified, traces of the paint remain throughout the brushstroke.
• Sustain color — lets you specify the extent to which traces of the paint color appear in a brushstroke with a specified bleed value

Color variation

The color attributes you can modify are

• Hue range — lets you specify the amount of hue variation in the brushstroke
• Hue speed — lets you specify how fast the hue value changes
• Saturation range — lets you specify the amount of saturation variation in the brushstroke
• Saturation speed — lets you specify how fast the saturation value changes
• Lightness range — lets you specify the amount of lightness variation in the brushstroke
• Lightness speed — lets you specify how fast the lightness value changes

To create a custom brush

Back to Top
1 In the toolbox, click the Paint tool .
2 Open the Brush picker on the property bar, choose a brush category, and then choose a brush.
3 Choose a preset brush in the Brush type list box on the property bar.
4 In the Brush Settings docker, move the Size slider.
If the Brush Settings docker is not open, click Window Dockers Brush Settings.
5 In the Brush Settings docker, click the roll-down arrow on any of the following bars, and specify values for any attributes:
• Nib properties
• Stroke attributes
• Dab attributes
• Brush texture
• Color variation

 

You can also
 
Add a custom nib to the Nib shape picker
Click the Nib options button on the Nib properties bar, and click Add current nib.
Save a custom brush
Click the flyout arrow on the Brush Settings docker, and click Save brush. In the Save brush dialog box, type a filename.

To create a brush nib from an editable area

Back to Top
1 Define an editable area.
2 In the toolbox, click the Paint tool .
3 Open the Brush picker on the property bar, choose a brush category, and then choose a brush.
4 In the Brush Settings docker, click the Nib options button on the Nib properties bar.
If the Brush Settings docker is not open, click Window Dockers Brush Settings.
5 Click Create from contents of mask.
6 Type a value in the Nib size box.

To load a preset brush texture

Back to Top
1 In the toolbox, click the Paint tool .
2 Open the Brush picker on the property bar, choose a brush category, and then choose a brush.
3 In the Brush Settings docker, click the Load texture button on the Brush texture bar.
If the Brush Settings docker is not open, click Window Dockers Brush Settings.
4 Choose a texture, or click More to locate the texture file you want.
5 Double-click the filename.
6 In the Brush Settings docker, click the roll-down arrow on the Brush texture bar, and type a value from 0 to 100 in any of the following boxes:
• Brush texture — lets you adjust the amount of texture applied to a brushstroke
• Edge texture — lets you adjust the amount of texture applied to the edge of a brushstroke

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