Probably every Photoshop user has experienced unforgettable moments of delight from getting to know the program, and this euphoria is largely due to the abundance and variety of brush sets preinstalled in the program. However, having satisfied the impatient desire to try them all, we come to the fair conclusion that this is not enough and we hastily download (for testing) on ​​the Internet a new set of brushes or several at once. But here events sometimes develop according to this scenario: downloaded, great, but what next, how to load brushes into Photoshop? Doesn't this happen?

Where to put downloaded brushes

Well, firstly, you can “register” files (.abr) along with standard Photoshop brushes in the spacious Brushes folder at: Local disk C: > Program Files > Adobe > Adobe Photoshop CS > Presets (for Windows), or send via the route: Users > (username) > Library > Application Support > Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS3 > Presets > Brushes (for mac OS X).

And secondly, the brushes can be put in any other folder, including a folder specially created for them, and in any place convenient for you, just don’t forget where.

We’ve decided, attached the files, remembered the location, and now let’s talk about how to add a brush in Photoshop.

How to get new brushes into Photoshop

In the first case, new brushes will automatically appear in the editor, adding to the list of installed brush sets, and in the second option, you will have to go to Photoshop, turn on the Brushes tool and click on the tiny triangle next to the brush print thumbnail at the top left of the settings panel .

In the window that opens for the current set of brushes, you again need to click on the triangle in the upper right corner and in the task menu that opens, select the “Load Brushes” command or do the same, but through the “Manage Sets” function (which would be more correct).

In any case, “Downloads” will “open”, in which you will see at the bottom that the file type “Brushes (*ABR)” has already been selected, and all you have to do is indicate any location where the brushes are stored (since you can add a brush in Photoshop from anywhere) and click on the "Download" button. As a result, “newcomers” will immediately be added to the current set (note: they will not appear in the list of installed sets, but will only replenish the current one).

You can also get to the "Manage Sets" dialog box from the "Edit" menu by selecting the "Sets" command there (this is faster). Here, in addition to loading, brushes can be deleted, added to, replaced, sorted, renamed, grouped into new sets and saved in the Brushes folder.

This is the content of information that many people limit themselves to, explaining how to add a brush in Photoshop, but at the same time missing one very important detail.

How to “register permanently” brushes in Photoshop

The fact is that files loaded into the editor from “foreign” folders, ending up in one of the installed sets, will remain in the program until you decide to replace the mixed set with one of those appearing in the list or “Restore Brushes” by default , because when many different brushes accumulate in one set, it is very inconvenient to work.

Thus, in order for new brushes to receive permanent residence in the editor and take a place in the list of installed sets, you need to load files from the Brushes folder in the Presets directory.

Now, having become proficient in the peculiarities of loading files into the editor, you can figure out how to create a brush in Photoshop, because this problem inevitably arises for every serious user of the program.

How to create and add your own brush to Photoshop

And there’s not much to understand here, because it’s hard not to notice in the Edit menu the Define Brush Preset command, which opens a window where you will be asked to name your masterpiece, and as soon as you click "OK", the new brush will immediately take its place at the end of the list of the current set.

But all this will happen only if you have a print drawing ready, although the editor will be happy to “define a brush” from literally everything that you have open at the moment.

So it turns out that such an interesting task as making a brush in Photoshop, in terms of labor intensity, essentially comes down to creating a print pattern and, after “defining the brush” in the program, manipulating the shape parameters in the brush palette. This panel is activated by the button with three brushes at the top right of the settings panel or by the "Brush" command in the "Window" menu.

The pattern for the print can be anything - from a single object to an entire landscape with a complex composition, but when creating your own brush you should adhere to certain rules that determine the quality of the workpiece.

The drawing is created in a new document and preferably with large dimensions, and the background should be transparent. This applies to the finished image or its fragment, but it would be nice to use high-resolution images.

If an object is cut out from the background, you need to limit it as much as possible using the Crop tool. By the way, the edges of the object must be carefully processed at the selection stage, preferably using the Refine Edge tool.

All candidates to become a brush print should be converted to black and white in any way convenient for you, for example, using a Black & White adjustment layer. In addition, you can (if necessary) work on the brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness of the subject.

Having made sure that after executing the Define Brush Preset command, a new brush has appeared in the palette, all that remains is to pin your creation in the editor, unless you have forgotten how to add a brush in Photoshop so that it does not disappear after turning on the program again. A file saved through the Manage Presets dialog will inevitably end up in the Brushes folder and remain in Photoshop until you deport it yourself.

The standard extension for photoshop brush files is .abr. Photoshop brushes are usually downloaded as an archive that needs to be unpacked. Downloaded brushes will not appear in Photoshop themselves. 3 ways to add brushes to photoshop.

How to download downloaded Photoshop brushes?

Photoshop brushes are usually downloaded as an archive that needs to be unpacked. You can download brushes. After unpacking, you will have a file with the extension .abr - this is the standard extension for photoshop brush files (besides this file with brushes, there may be other related files in the archive). Downloaded brushes will not appear in Photoshop themselves. They need to be added there manually.

I know three ways to add brushes in Adobe Photoshop CS4:

First way

To install the brush, you need to copy the file or files with the .abr extension to the brushes folder in Photoshop Brushes. Typically this folder is located at C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS4\Presets\Brushes (instead of C - this may be the name of your system drive where you installed Photoshop.) If you installed the program in another location, look for the "Brushes" folder " there.

After opening Photoshop, a new set of brushes with the name of the copied file will appear in the list of brushes.

Second way

Open Adobe Photoshop, select the Brush tool. In the Brush Tool options bar, there is a small black triangle next to the active brush image (if you don't see the options bar, go to the Window menu and check the Options menu).

Click on the triangle and in the menu that opens, click on another similar triangle. Then select Load Brushes from the list, then go to the folder where you unpacked the downloaded brushes, select them (these are files with the extension .abr) and press Load (Load) or press Enter.

Unlike the previous method, new brushes will be added to the previously installed set.

If your brushes in the set are displayed differently than in the picture, you can adjust the way the brushes are displayed. Choose pictures or pictures with text at your discretion.

Third way

Open Adobe Photoshop, select Preset Manager from the Edit menu.

A dialog box will open containing a list of items. Select Brushes from this list and click the Load button.

Go to the folder where you unpacked the downloaded Photoshop brushes, select them (files with the .abr extension), click Load and in the Preset Manager window click Done.

New brushes will be added to the previously installed set.

After studying this lesson, you will learn How to add brushes to Photoshop. Suppose you downloaded a set of brushes for Photoshop on the Internet, to start using them you need to open graphics editor and install them correctly. It's not difficult at all. So let's get started with the lesson!

Step #1:

Open Photoshop and go to the main menu of the program, which is located at the very top. Open the tab as shown below in the screenshot: Editing/Sets/Manage Sets…

Open the tab: Editing/Sets/Manage Sets…

Step #2:

The “Manage Sets” window will appear in front of you; at the top of this window, click on the slide-out menu, shown by the arrow in the screenshot below. In this "slide-out menu", you can select the type of add-on you want to install (brushes, shapes, styles, gradients, etc.). Select the type of add-on “Brushes”.

Select the type of add-on “Brushes”

Step #3:

To install brushes, left-click on the “Brushes” line and click the “Download” button

An explorer window will appear. In it we indicate the path to the downloaded file with brushes. For example, I have it on my desktop in the brushes folder.

Loading brushes from your computer

Step #4:

Click download. Now move the scroll bar down as shown in the screenshot and see the newly added brushes. That's all, the brushes have been added and you can paint with them! I installed new brushes with you and I can’t resist trying them out!

How to add brushes to Photoshop

Here's what happened:

How to add brushes to Photoshop

If you suddenly want to return the default set of brushes, to do this, in the “Manage Sets” window, click on the gear as shown in the screenshot and click on the “Restore Brushes” line, then “OK”.

Here, you can choose the type of brush display (small thumbnails, large thumbnails, etc.) and the built-in sets of Photoshop brushes (wet brushes, dry brushes, wide brushes, etc.). To select one of the brush sets, simply click on it and click "OK"

How to return brushes to default

P.S. See you in the next lessons!

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In this article you will learn how to install new brushes in photoshop. But, first, I recommend reading and refreshing your memory about what kind of tool this is. Maybe you'll discover something new and won't get lost in its many settings.

The Internet is full of a wide variety of brush sets. Most of them are possible, some are paid (there are not so many of them, the main thing is to be able to look for their free analogue). In any case, after downloading to their computer, novice users are faced with the following problem: “how to install downloaded brushes?”. Let's take a look at this problem, as well as several other important operations with them.

So, after downloading, place the file on your desktop or in some folder so that you can quickly get to it. It’s better to create a library of brushes on your computer, sorting them by general appearance and areas of application. The file must have ABR extension.

Launch Photoshop, create a custom document and select the Brush tool. Then right-click to open a window with basic settings. On the right side of this window, click on the small arrow icon in a circle. A large task menu appears. Here's what it all looks like:

We are interested in the group of tasks: Restore, Load, Save and Replace Brushes.

Click Download. A dialog box will appear asking you to indicate the path to new brush you want to install.

After this, new brushes will appear at the very bottom of the list, select and use:

It happens that among the newly installed brushes there are some that you would never use, and their presence bothers you. You can remove them by right-clicking on the thumbnail and from the drop-down menu - Delete.

Please note that by selecting the Load command, new brushes are added to the list that you already had and are displayed at the very bottom. In some cases, this is inconvenient to work with. So you can use the command Replace. In this case, the selection library will only display the set that you specified.

Another situation - in the process of work you realized that there are some brushes that you will never use and removed them. To avoid having to do this kind of work again - Save them like your own set. Select the appropriate command and tell the program where you will save.

New brushes are good, but where would you go without standard round? You were so busy loading and replacing that you didn’t notice how the standard brushes disappeared. We need to return them. Click - Restore. This command will return everything as it was by default.

The Photoshop program, all in the same task menu, offers the following sets for use: Miscellaneous, Basic, Calligraphic, DP, for creating shadows, Dry, Finishing, Natural, Round, Special effects brushes, Square wide, Wet. Study them, there are sets that are really valuable, for example, square ones. To download a set, just click on it, and then select either add to the existing list or replace it.

If you notice an error in the text, select it and press Ctrl + Enter. Thank you!

This is where you need to move the .abr file. (you can just drag and drop with the mouse, you can copy and paste). For example, I inserted the files custom_brushes.abr And Brushes.abr:

After you place the files, close the window by clicking the cross in the upper right corner of the window.

Restart Photoshop, repeat the steps shown in the picture below. Your loaded brushes appear at the very bottom of the list, to select them you just need to click on the corresponding line:

2. Install directly into a folder

Just place the .abr file in the folder:
For Windows Vista, 7, 10:
C:\Users\-username-\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2014\Presets\Brushes
For Windows XP:
Start Menu --> My Computer--> Documents and Settings\-username-\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop\Adobe Photoshop CC 2014\Presets\Brushes

Don't forget that these folders are hidden, you need to enable the display of hidden folders.

After downloading to the folder, you need to restart Photoshop, and the brushes can be opened, as in the first method.

3. Installation in the Photoshop folder

Brushes can also be loaded into another folder:
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CC 2014\Presets\Brushes

Then they will appear in the menu along with the brushes originally installed in Photoshop after restarting the program. For example, I put a file in this folder brushessite.abr:

4. Quick installation

Most quick way- just double-click on the .abr file located on the hard drive of your computer. Immediately after this, the brushes from the set will appear in the brush selection menu. They will be added to the existing ones and will be located at the bottom of the menu, and there is no need to restart Photoshop:

Note: If you are a beginner Photoshop user, then I strongly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the material