The basics

ADVANCED PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 5.0 FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS
sections of photographs or original artwork. It is a two-part process – defi ne and save the area
that will be used as the basis of the new brush and then, using the newly defi ned brush shape,
set the brush dynamics to suit your application.
The success, quality and style of the brush you make will be based on the selection of the
artwork at the start of the process. Image parts that are high in contrast work best when used
as a brush. Any selection tool can be used to isolate the area of the photograph that will be
converted to a brush shape. If you don’t want the edge of the selection to act as part of the overall
brush shape then make sure that the picture part that you use is surrounded by white. Dark or
black sections of the source picture will convert to a strong color when your brush is used, mid
tones will correspond to lighter areas and white parts will paint no color at all.
Once you are satisfi ed with your selection then you will need to convert the image to a brush
format. Do this by choosing the Defi ne Brush from Selection (Edit > Defi ne Brush from Selection).
This process changes the picture to a gray and stores the image as a brush tip in the current
Brushes Preset palette. Now you can adjust the brush dynamics of your newly created brush
using the processes detailed in the previous technique.
Step 1 >> Defi ne an area of the
source image to be used for the
brush using one of the selection
tools.
Step 4 >> The brush is saved to the
current Presets palette. To customize,
select your new brush from the
Presets palette.
Step 2 >> With the selection active
choose the Defi ne Brush from
Selection option from the Edit menu.
Step 5 >> Open the Brush Dynamics
palette and make changes to the
settings that control how the new
brush paints.
Step 3 >> A dialog appears that
shows a preview of your brush shape
and provides a space to enter a new
brush name.
Step 6 >> With the shape and style
of brush now designed you can
choose your colors, size, opacity and
blend mode and paint away.
Book resources at: www.adv-elements.com
273
PRODUCING EFFECTIVE
GRAPHICS