This is a list of the most useful default Photoshop keyboard shortcuts that you can use to speed up your workflow. Some are rarely mentioned, some are better known, and some are only available in Photoshop CS5.

1. Enlarge the image.

Hold Ctrl + Space and by pressing RMB (a cursor with a magnifying glass will appear), dragging left or right. This is the most quick way zoom in and out with one key (only in CS5 and only with the GPU enabled).

2. Choose a color.

Alt + Shift + Right Click (Win) or Ctrl + Alt + Ctrl + Click (Mac). Very handy color picker (only in CS5 and only with GPU included). In the General tab, we can change the appearance of this palette, you want round, you want square, well, its size is also optional:

3. Watching from a bird's eye view.

Hold down the H key + right click, the image will be resized. This works great with large images that don't fit 100% of the screen in Photoshop. A quick way to fit the image on the screen, and then move the area to view the image in the desired location.

4. The size and hardness of the brush.

Ctrl + Alt + Right Click (Win) or Control + Option + Click (Mac). Drag right and left to resize the brush. And if you move the mouse up or down, then the hardness of the brush will change. This only works with CS5 both ways. In CS4, only brush size changes work. You can change the brush color in the preview from red to any other in the Cursors settings. Also, to be able to see the brush preview, the GPU must be enabled. This is in Settings (Performance):

5. Draw straight lines.

While holding down Shift key, we can draw straight lines or evenly erase with an eraser, for example. Works with almost every painting tool.

6. Moving.

Keep pressed Ctrl key and no matter which tool you have selected, the Move tool is activated. This is the fastest way to quickly move an element and then return to the previous tool.

7. Simultaneous increase.

If we have several documents open in Photoshop and we needed to enlarge them all at once, then this command Shift + Ctrl + Space (Win) or Shift + Ctrl + Space (Mac) will help us. By holding down these keys and clicking on one of the documents, you will make them all enlarge.

Note: and if you also press Alt to this combination, then they will all decrease together.

8. Hide the panels.

Click Tab and hide the panels. You can always show them again by pressing Tab again, or simply hover your mouse over the edges to show the panels for a while.

Note: personally, my panels stubbornly do not want to be shown for a while.

9. Viewing images in full screen mode to Mini Bridge.

Opening the Mini-Bridge and selecting the image, press the Space key, the selected image will be enlarged to full screen. Next, clicking the arrows, leaf through the whole thing and look. Then Space again and we're in Photoshop.

10. Change the size of the text.

Select the text and hold down Ctrl + Shift +. (period) or, (comma). Thus, we increase or decrease the text.

Note: it works for me on any layout, you need to press exactly the keys where these period and comma are in the English layout. That is, if you look at our keyboard, then these are the letters B. and Yu.

11. Choose letters for the text.

That is, this means that by holding down Ctrl + Shift + K, you can quickly switch between lowercase and uppercase letters when typing. Make sure you have disabled Caps lock to be able to use this function.

12. Tracking and kerning.

This is used in the Symbols palette. That is, having chosen what text settings in this palette, be it kerning, tracking, size, hold down the Alt key and press the left or right arrow keys. Thus, we change the entered values ​​in those fields.

Note: for me personally, the arrows work up and down, and not left and right.

13. Leading. (Leading)

Select the text, hold down Alt + up and down arrows. With this, we can change the settings of the Leading function, thereby changing the distance between the lines in the text.

14. Offset of the text line.

If we want to set different positions for the same line of text, then use the Alt + Shift + arrows: up and down.

15. Fill

These hotkeys will be useful to us for quick fill text or vector shapes with a foreground or background color. Here they are - Ctrl + Backspace - Foreground Color, Alt + Backspace - Background Color. Use the Shift + Backspace keys to call the Fill settings, but for this you have to rasterize the layer with the text or vector shape.

16. Reset the changes made in any dialog box.

Well, for example, the Gaussian Blur window. You blurred something there and your changes do not suit you. We see the OK and Cancel buttons. So, if we hold down the Alt button, the Cancel button will change to "Reset".

17. Change opacity and fill.

You can change opacity and fill on multiple layers at once (in Photoshop CS5). To do this, select them, click on Opacity, for example, and enter numerical values. It's the same with Fill.

18. Inversion.

Ctrl + I. This is a quick way to invert the color or invert the layer mask.

Note: or invert selection.

19. Switching cursors.

If you do not want to see the edges of the cursor, or, on the contrary, want very much, then the Caps Lock key will help you.

20. Reset settings.

If you mess up with the settings in Photoshop and want to return the default settings, then the following will help you:
While starting Photoshop, hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift while Photoshop is loading. A window will appear where and confirm the reset.

21. Change the color.

Press the button (X). This is a quick way to switch between foreground and background colors.

22. Mask.

Alt + click on the layer mask. A great way to view and edit layer masks. With the same combination, we return to normal mode:

23. Disable the mask.

Shift + click on the layer mask. You can quickly preview the image without affecting the mask.
With the same combination, we return the mask back.

24. Intersection of selection.

Alt + Shift + drag the Selection Tool. If you already have a selection and need to clip or add it, then this combination will help you.

25. Merge visible.

Bonus. Easter eggs.

Holding down the Alt key and holding left button mouse, click the black triangle in the upper right corner of the Layers palette and choose Panel Options from the menu. This mage (Merlin) is a long-lived Easter egg that has been present in Photoshop since version 3.0.

Hold down the Ctrl key and choose Help - About Photoshop. You will see a splash screen and a description of your version.
Conclusion.

Of course, you can use Photoshop without the keys, but your work in the program can be much faster and more productive if you use them. This will help you cut down on the time you spend turning on different menus and looking for them.

On my own I will add that you can use the keys from F5 to F9. They are also assigned by default in Photoshop.

It is also convenient to change the view with the F key; in full screen mode, you can call the palette, for example, the F7 layer palette.

With the Brush or Eyedropper tool selected, hold down the Alt key and move the cursor over the image, thereby choosing the appropriate color:

I think everyone will find something useful for themselves in this article, an example of how we can no longer do without hotkeys such as - Ctrl + T, Ctrl + D, Ctrl + N.

Read also the articles:

Photoshop hotkeys:,.

Photoshop is very customizable. In addition to the settings of each palette, tool or panel, we can make significant changes to the main parameters of the program itself, affecting all of its functionality.

Photoshop settings allow you to enable or disable functions, change the modes of operation of tools, and adjust the operation of the program on your computer.

Such changes take place in a window called Installations... To open, select the menu command Editing - Preferences - Basic or press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + K.

As you can see, there are other commands in this menu. These are all categories of Photoshop settings. Bypassing unnecessary mouse clicks, you can immediately go to a specific category.

Let's take a closer look at each category separately and their basic settings.

Category "Basic"

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Basic (General) provides access to settings that do not fit into other categories. Most of the parameters are self-explanatory, for example the parameter Scale with mouse wheel.

By default, Photoshop will display a dialog box Color palette every time you choose a color. If you are more comfortable using the color picker instead operating system, you can select the corresponding item from the "Color Picker" drop-down list.

If you download and install other color palettes, such as the one in Painter, they also appear in this menu. But since the Adobe Color Picker is designed to work with Photoshop and all of its built-in features, using a different palette can mean losing quick access to critical functions such as color libraries.

Parameter Change history - e If you check this box, Photoshop will keep track of everything that happens to the images. It is an invaluable tool for people who need to be shown, for example, what actions they took with an image when invoicing customers or for drafting legal documentation of any corrections they made to an image.

Another significant parameter in this concerns two interesting features called Scaling with animation and Capture drawing... If your computer is running slowly, try disabling one or both of these features by clearing the appropriate check boxes.

Category "Interface"

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Interface settings allow you to change appearance photoshop. You can improve performance by weak computer by selecting the groups in the drop-down lists The border options Do not show... Thus, it will not waste computational power creating these shadows around document windows or around the program window itself.

In addition, if you know all the tools and do not want to see the little yellow tooltips that appear when you hover over them or over the mouse pointer controls, then uncheck the box Show hints... If you want new documents to open in separate windows rather than new tabs, uncheck Open documents in tabs.

File Handling Category

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Thanks to the default settings, every time you save a file, the program displays a dialog box asking if you want to save the images as compatible as possible with PSD and PSB files. Saving documents with maximum compatibility increases the likelihood that they will be supported by other programs, such as Adobe InDesign. If the annoying window annoys you, select from the dropdown list Maximize compatibility PSD files and PSB option Always and you will never see this dialog again.

Another useful parameter is at the very bottom, with which you can change the number of documents that the program will display in the "Recent Documents" menu. The value of this field is automatically set to 10, but you can change it.

Performance category

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Settings Performance(Performance) affects how efficiently Photoshop works on your computer. For example, the amount of memory a program is allowed to use affects its performance. In Group Memory usage, in field Taken under Photoshop it was initially set that the program will use up to 70 percent of the available random access memory... If you want to increase the value to 100 percent for better performance, don't do it. Other programs also require computer memory and by leaving the value set at 60-70 percent, you ensure that they all get their fair share.

You can also change the number of performed actions that the program remembers.

If your computer's hard drive is low on space, consider adding another HDD which Photoshop can use as a scratch disk to record temporary files created when editing images, such as various states. When you add a new internal hard drive or connect external drive, it appears in the list of scratch disks. You can allow the program to use it by checking the box next to the drive name in the column Active and dragging it up to the first position. If you follow this path, then Photoshop will work a little more energetically, since the program has two instead of one hard disk from which information can be read and to which information can be written.

If you need to improve the performance of the program, uncheck the box Enable drawing... The disadvantage of disabling this option is that you will not be able to use features that depend on it, such as drawing capture and view rotation.

Category "Cursors"

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Category parameters Cursors(Cursors) allow you to define the appearance of mouse cursors in the process of working with images. In this case, there is no right or wrong option, try different options for displaying cursors and see which one suits you.

There are two types of cursors in the program: drawing and other... As you select different options, Photoshop shows a sample of what each cursor looks like. At the bottom of the dialog is the color indicator Brush view that controls the color of the brush swatch that is displayed when you change the size of the brush with a keyboard shortcut Alt + right mouse button and dragging the mouse left or right. to change the color of the sample, click on the indicator, select a new color in the dialog box Choose a color to view the brush, and then click OK.

Category "Transparency and gamut"

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Category settings Transparency & Gamut allow you to adjust the appearance of transparent areas. Like the cursor settings, these options are purely cosmetic, so feel free to experiment.

Indicator in the group Out of gamut warning Lets you set the highlight color, which shows where colors in the image fall outside the safe range of the color mode you are working with or the printer you are using.

Units and rulers category

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Measurement units and rulers(Units & Rulers) allows you to define the units of measurement that will be used in the program. Drop-down list Rulers allows you to select the units of measure for the rulers of the document. You can select units such as pixels, inches, centimeters, millimeters, points, peaks, or percentages.

If you are working with big amount documents to be printed - centimeters or spikes, probably yours the best choice... If you create images primarily for the web, choose pixels.

Dropdown Text select items if you don't need to work with text in pixels or millimeters, which can be handy when you need to align text for a web page layout.

Group settings Column useful for creating graphics that must fit into a specific column size in a program like Adobe InDesign.

Guides, Grid & Slices category

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Group setting Guides, Grid and Slices(Guides, Grid & Stices) lets you choose the colors of guides, grids and slices. You can also set the spacing between the grid lines and the number of divisions that appear between the bold grid lines by entering values ​​in the Line Every and Inner Division By boxes, respectively.

To really save time, adjust the settings in the group Default resolution for new documents... From now on, Photoshop will automatically install in the dialog box New the settings specified here.

Category "External modules"

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You can do even more interesting things in Photoshop by setting third party programs called external modules(Plugins).

The controls in this category allow you to access plug-ins outside of the Photoshop folder, which can help you avoid losing them if you have to reinstall the program.

Category "Fonts"

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Category controls Fonts(Type) allows you to enable or disable the mode Straight quotes and also control the parameter used in the font menu in the attributes panel and palette Symbol... Since viewing the typeface is very useful when choosing a font, in CS5 this option is enabled by default.

If you want to see sample fonts, uncheck Sample size for font preview and Photoshop will only display the font names.

If you are working with Asian characters, check the box Show Asian Text Options and make sure the checkbox is Enable missing glyph protection also installed. Now, if you try to use a letter or character in a font that is not installed on your computer, you will not get weird hieroglyphs or squares.

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

A cursor is a picture that we see on a computer monitor when using mouse-type manipulators. By default, in all Windows operating systems, it is a triangular pointer with a small tail. But it is natural for a person to want to be different from the rest, and it is because of this that many have a desire to customize the interface.

Of course, you can use already ready-made templates, or download a new cursor from the Internet. But it's better to make your own and absolutely unique! Now let's take a closer look at the instructions on how to make a mouse cursor.

First, we need to install the necessary software:

• Photoshop,
• IcoFX.

You can find and download these programs on the Internet, after which you will need to install them.

How to create a cursor image in Photoshop

In fact, you do not need to use Photoshop to create a cursor, but this is the most universal program, with which you can create any image of the cursor, not limited to anything.

Now let's go directly to creating a work surface on which we will draw our cursor. To do this, in Photoshop, go to the "File" menu and select the "New" item. In the dialog box that appears, set the size to 120 X 120 pixels and set the resolution to 72 dpi. Choose RGB as the color mode.

Create a shape for the cursor

To create the shape of the cursor in Photoshop, we will use vector tool- Custom Shape Tool. Select it and select the cursor picture on the settings panel. If you do not have it, then you need to click on the round icon with an arrow located in the same window and select the "All" item. This action will display all available templates for this tool.

Now select the cursor you need, then press SHIFT and move the mouse over the working surface in Photoshop. In the tool settings, be sure to enable the Shape Layers option. This option will create a fill layer to which it will automatically attach the vector mask.

Let's transform the cursor in Photoshop

Now we transform the cursor by going to the "Edit" menu item, where you need to select "Free transformation". After that, a frame for transformation will be displayed, by moving which you place the cursor on the canvas so that its tip is in the upper left corner.

Now we have to transform it again so that it becomes rotated from bottom to top. To do this, go to the "Edit" menu item and select "Free Transform", now expand the cursor, and then reduce it by moving the transformation frame.

Using a graphic style for the cursor

Open the "Layers" menu item, select the "Layer Style" item and click on "Blending Options". After these steps, a dialog box with two areas will appear. A menu will be displayed on the left side, and settings on the right. On the left panel, select "Style", after which you will be taken to the list of all styles saved in Photoshop.

If you have nothing there, click on the round button located on the right and select the "Web" item from the menu. This will load all the styles that are located in the web section. Double click on the selected style and it will be used. Also, if you are an experienced Photoshop user, you can create your own style.

Shrink the cursor and merge the layers

We are already approaching the final stage of drawing, and you already practically know how to make a mouse cursor, there is very little left. Now we need to turn off the white background in the layers panel, since we no longer need it. We only need the cursor itself and transparent background Around him.

Now we need to select all the layers using the SHIFT key. Then go to the "Layers" section of the menu and select the "Merge layers" item. If you suddenly want to save a file with layers, then before performing this operation, you need to save the image in * .PSD format in advance.

Having done all the necessary operations, we can proceed to decreasing the cursor. Since all the layers have been merged into one, it will be quite easy to resize it. Go to the "Image" menu item and select the "Image size" item. In the dialog box that appears, enter new size, instead of 120 X 120 pixels, write 32 X 32. That's pretty much it.

Save the picture

Now click "OK" and save the image, but this is still not enough to use our new cursor.

Save the image in Windows cursor format.

Now we need the program that we mentioned at the beginning of the article. Open the IcoFX application, go to the "File" menu and select the "Open" item. Now in the dialog box, select the PNG file we saved earlier and click "OK".

Then we need to save it in CUR format. To do this, go to the "File" menu and select the "Save As" item, then in the dialog box that appears, set the Windows Cursor format (* .cur) and click "OK". Everything! The cursor file is ready. Now it remains to set it as the current cursor.

Replacing the current cursor in Windows

The final stage. Go to the "Control Panel" and select the "Mouse" item. In the window that opens, go to the "Pointers" tab and click the "Load" button on it. In the window that opens, select our cursor in *. CUR and click OK.

Congratulations! Now you know how to make a different cursor in Windows and you can proudly show off your creation to everyone you know!

The brush tool is one of the most commonly used tools in Photoshop. Not to mention the fact that other painting tools have almost identical settings with the brush. In the process of writing articles for a blog, I came across the fact that I have to constantly describe the same actions for at the construction site, it is not effective.

Therefore, I decided to write a separate post in which, using the Brush tool as an example, to show most of the settings typical for drawing and retouching (for example) tools. Photoshop programs... By the way, no one has canceled the F1 key yet, and you can get more comprehensive help on the brush parameters there.

Customizing the brush cursor and painting tools

Even at the very beginning of work in the program, now it is also not too late, in the settings of Photoshop available along the path Editing - Settings - Cursors (Edit - Preferences - Cursors) it is desirable to set following settings:

Painting Cursors - Normal Brush Tip, setting this parameter will allow you to see the actual size of the tool and represent the area of ​​its impact. During operation, you can switch to Precise view as needed by pressing the Caps Lock key.

Switch Other Cursors to Standard, the setting allows you to see which tool you have in your hands, from not drawing for example "" (L), it is very convenient when switching between them using the "hot" keys.

Brash Preview - In "normal" work, it is not used, its presence is not manifested in any way. However, changing the size and hardness of all painting tools makes it possible to see the size and feathering of the affected area. That is why there is only one Color option as a parameter, which makes it possible to set the color with which the affected area will be highlighted during resizing. As a rule, you do not need to change the setting. The default color is quite suitable for this purpose.

When the settings in the Cursors tab are done, click on OK, go to the "water procedures", work with a brush.

For training, let's open a picture. In the tool palette, take the "Brash" Brush ( hotkey V).

Change the size, hardness and opacity of the brush as you work

The most common adjustment operation is changing the size, edge hardness and opacity of the tool. Moreover, during operation, these parameters need to be changed often, quickly, and preferably without distraction. This can be done as follows:

Just click right button mouse - a dialog for selecting parameters will open in which you can change almost everything. You will see almost the same parameter selection dialog as when using the corresponding item on the toolbar.

You can change the shape of the brush, select the desired brush from the installed ones using the print preview window. Download new set brushes, reduce or increase the size of thumbnails, these and other settings are available after clicking on the gear icon.

The most frequently changed during work: Size (Size) - the larger the value of the parameter the larger the brush and vice versa. Hardness - similar to the first parameter, the higher the value is the harder the brush, the "rough" edges of it. In my opinion, it is more convenient to change these two parameters as follows:

Press Alt, the brush will switch to color selection mode, the cursor will take the shape of an eyedropper. We hold down the right mouse button (as a rule top button tablet pen), when moving horizontally to the right and left, the size increases - decreases. When moving up and down, the stiffness is less - more. Now the meaning of the Brash Preview setting becomes clear.

Nearby on the tool parameters panel there is a drop-down list of blending modes Mode similar to that from the layers palette. The difference between them is that the first one refers directly to the selected tool and allows them to work with different blending modes on the same layer. In this case, of course, the layer must be pixel. Let's try this feature in real conditions. I have a picture of a mountain landscape, I will make the sky brighter.

I take a brush with soft edges of a suitable size and color, in the list Mode mode Blending Soft Light (Soft Light) brush the sky.

Now add some light sunspots to the grass, change the brush color to Overlay and forward.

This way of processing images is pretty good, it's a pity only after using it, you cannot weaken anything, as in the case of using separate layers. But you can adjust the strength of the brush before using it. This purpose is served by two parameters following the list of blend modes:

Opacity - adjusts the intensity of the paint color. In real life, it can be compared to working with a helmet fresh from a 100% can and gradually diluted until almost completely dissolved 1%. Flow - Adjusts the intensity of paint flow from the brush in one pass. The effect of these parameters is almost the same, but the difference is still there, you can see it with the naked eye. To identify it yourself, do the following experiment:

Using a brush with 40% opacity of any color, draw a line from one edge of the picture to the other so that the start and end points are clearly visible. To get a straight line while working, hold down the Shift key. Return the opacity to 100%, change the pressure to 40%, draw the same line, as they say, find the differences between them.

I will continue processing my picture, put on the hillock the text appropriate to the occasion.

Of course, one cannot say that he is standing on a hillock, rather hovers over him, I will correct this situation with a brush imitating bunches of grass, and at the same time consider the whole palette of instrument settings.

Brash Brush Options Palette

You can call this palette by following the path Window - Brush (Window - Brush) or by pressing the magic key F5. A palette will open, consisting of two Brush tabs, we will return to it a little later and Brush Presets (Brush Sets), there is nothing particularly interesting in it, except that the previews of the brushes are represented not by one print, but by a line. We will magically select the grass brush 112 and then the Size parameter will change to 112 px. (it's just fantastic).

Let's go back to the Brush tab and select the Brush Tip Shape ( Brush print shape) here you are almost familiar with everything except the Spacing parameter, which sets the distance between brush marks in a line as a percentage of the tool size. Since the grass does not grow as a solid fence, I will set this parameter to 24%. You can control the changes caused by this or that setting in the preview window below the parameters.

Let's move on to the Shape Dynamics item, which allows you to change the shape of the brushprints while working. I'm interested in the following parameters: Size jitter, since in one bunch the grass that I am going to imitate does not have the same size, I will set the value for this parameter to 100%, which will change the size from 0 to actually set. The parameter has an item for setting the control mode (Control), select Pen Pressure (pressure of the brush), the more we press on the pen of the tablet, the faster the size changes.

I set the value of the minimum diameter (Minimum Diameter) from which the size fluctuations start to 4%. Since the blades of grass stick out from the ground at different angles, I will change the Angle jitter parameter to 8%, the percentage is calculated from a full circle of 360 degrees. I will not control the parameter (Control - Off).

Also, due to the inhomogeneity of the shape of the blades of grass, I will change the Roundness jitter parameter ( Shape swing). Changes occur as a percentage of the actual diameter. As in the previous cases, it is possible to establish control and set the initial value of the changes.

Let's go to the Scattering parameter, which allows us to set the scattering of the brush prints relative to the "center line". I will change the following Scatter settings to 20%. Values ​​are specified as a percentage of the print size. Both Axes checkbox speaks for itself scattering occurs in two axes (X Y).

Count sets the number of prints to be scattered, for blades of grass I think 6 will be enough. Count jitter - The percentage that allows you to dynamically change the number of generated prints, 93% is fine for me. The control parameter for both parameters is disabled off.

When adjusting the brush, it is convenient to create an empty temporary layer and walk it over it after changing each parameter. This makes it possible to test the instrument in "combat conditions". After completing the setup, the temporary layer is simply removed.

The next setting is Color Dynamic, which will allow me to change the color while working from the foreground to background color set in the program toolbar. Let's get acquainted with the settings of this setting: I set the Foreground / Background Jitter parameter to 100%, which is why I wrote it above. I will control the parameter to the Pen Pressure brush pressure.

Fluctuation Hue (Hue) is calculated from the foreground color of 9%. Saturation is considered between the foreground color and white - 19%. Brightness (Brightness) thoughtfully calculated between black and foreground color - 15%. Why I won't tell you such settings, if I put it on the eye it might be good. The Purity parameter, which affects the color saturation, was left unchanged. To ensure a smooth line when moving the tool quickly, check the Smoothing box

Now that I have finished setting up the brush for simulating the grass, I will move on to the picture, taking color samples for the foreground and background from the light and dark areas of the grass, I will brush the base of the inscription with a brush, not forgetting to set the appropriate size of the tool. In the process of work, you can (even need) to change the size of the print and colors, as a result, this is what happened:

Since the work is progressing so quickly, I will add a few more elements to the composition, to begin with, we will create a new brush, read how to do this below.

Create your own brush in Photoshop

You can use the program not only with pre-installed brushes, specially downloaded sets from the Internet, but also with your own brushes. This is done in the following way: Choose a suitable picture, adequate in size and tasks of use. I have one.

And then the "black magic" begins - we say the spell "Fuck - Tibidoch - Tibidoch", go along the path Edit - Define Brush Presets (Editing - Define a set of brushes), a dialog for specifying the name of a new brush in the current set will open. Give a name, click OK.

A new brush, praise the poker, is available in the current set.

I used the same parameter settings as for grass, but changed which parameters a little? Think, they are all shown in the article. Foreground color set # e411ab background to white. The result is the following picture:

This concludes the opus, I hope it was useful for you.

Practical use

You can get acquainted with the practical use of the tool in the material