Selecting preset brushes

The Brush pop-up palette in the options bar for the painting and editing tools lets you view, select, and load preset brushes. In Photoshop, you can also use the Brushes palette to view, select, and load preset brushes.

To display the Brush pop-up palette:

1. Select a painting tool or editing tool.
2. Click the brush sample in the options bar.

To select a preset brush:

1. Click a brush in the Brush pop-up palette or Brushes palette.

Note: If you are using the Brushes palette, be sure that Brush Presets on the left side of the palette is selected to view the loaded presets.

2. (Photoshop) Specify a diameter for the brush by dragging the slider or entering a value. If the brush has a dual tip, both the primary and dual brush tips are scaled. (See Creating dual brushes (Photoshop).)
3. (Photoshop) Click Use Sample Size to use the original diameter of the brush tip. This option is available only if the brush tip shape is based on a sample.

To change how preset brushes are displayed (Photoshop):

Choose a display option from the Brush pop-up palette menu or Brushes palette menu:

• Text Only to view the brushes as a list.
• Small or Large Thumbnail to view the brushes as thumbnails.
• Small or Large List to view the brushes as a list with thumbnails.
• Stroke Thumbnail to view a sample brush stroke with each brush thumbnail.

To dynamically preview brush strokes in the Brushes palette, make sure that Brush Preset is selected, and then position the pointer over a brush until the tool tip appears. Move the pointer over different brushes. The preview area at the bottom of the palette will display sample brush strokes.

To load a library of preset brushes:

Choose one of the following from the Brush pop-up palette menu or Brushes palette menu:

• Load Brushes to add a library to the current list. Select the library file you want to use, and click Load.
• Replace Brushes to replace the current list with a different library. Select the library file you want to use, and click Load.
• A library file (displayed at the bottom of the palette menu). Click OK to replace the current list, or click Append to append the current list.

Note: You can also use the Preset Manager to load and reset brush libraries. For more information, see Managing libraries with the Preset Manager (Photoshop).

To return to the default library of preset brushes:

Choose Reset Brushes from the Brush pop-up palette menu or Brushes palette menu. You can either replace the current list or append the default library to the current list.