Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
The
Brush Tool
is a large enough topic to warrant its own book, but we are just going to
cover it in enough detail to use it productively in our examples. The brush panels in
Figure
33
and
Figure 34
will give you an idea of the variety of brush tips that are available and
what they do. Graphic artists will often have hundreds of brushes that they have created
with Photoshop (a topic beyond the scope of this topic) and hundreds more that they have
purchased from other Photoshop artists. There is no limit to the variety that is possible.
For a basic brush, size and hardness are the two variables. Size is the diameter of the brush
tip and hardness determines the sharpness of the edges that it creates. Just like a physical
brush, a soft brush will spread out and produce fuzzy edges. This tool can also simulate an
airbrush, and be sensitive to pressure when used with a drawing tablet, just like a physical
brush. Flow rate and opacity are also adjustable.
The patterns in the background of
Figure 33
were made with various brush tips. For ex-
ample, #74 looks like a maple leaf. When selected, it will create a somewhat random pro-
