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Customizing brush tips

    A brush stroke is made up of many individual brush tip marks. The brush tip you select determines the shape, diameter, and other characteristics of a brush mark. You can customize brush tips by changing the brush tip properties. Any changes you make to an existing brush tip can be saved as a new brush tip; the default set of brush tips remains unaltered.

To set brush tip shape options:

    In the Brush Tips palette, select the brush tip you want to customize and change the value for one or more of the following options:

    Diameter

    Controls the size of the brush. Enter a value in pixels or drag a new value.

    TipControl-drag (Windows) or Command-drag (Mac OS) the brush in the Layer window to adjust diameter; release the key, and continue to drag to adjust hardness. Both the cursor and Brush Tips palette update dynamically.

    Illustration of strokes with low diameter values (left) and high diameter values (right)
    Strokes with low diameter values (left) and high diameter values (right)

    Angle

    Specifies the angle by which an elliptical brush's long axis is rotated from horizontal. Enter a value in degrees or drag a new value.

    Note: Brush strokes can be expressed in both positive and negative values. For example, a brush stroke with a 45-degree angle is equivalent to a brush stroke with a -135-degree angle.

    Illustration of angled brushes create chiseled strokes: 45-degree brush (left), and -45-degree brush (right).
    Angled brushes create chiseled strokes: 45-degree brush (left), and -45-degree brush (right).

    Roundness

    Specifies the ratio between the brush's short and long axes. A value of 100% indicates a circular brush, a value of 0% indicates a linear brush, and intermediate values indicate elliptical brushes.

    Illustration of brush strokes using 100-percent roundness (left) and varying percentages (right)
    Brush strokes using 100-percent roundness (left) and varying percentages (right)

    Hardness

    Controls the brush stroke's transition from 100% opaque at the center to 100% transparent at the edges. Even with high hardness settings, only the center is fully opaque. Enter a percentage value or drag a new value.

    Illustration of Hardness settings at 100-percent (left) and 0-percent hardness (right)
    Hardness settings at 100-percent (left) and 0-percent hardness (right)

    Spacing

    Controls the distance between the brush tip marks in a stroke. The value is a percentage of the brush diameter. When this option is deselected, the speed of the cursor determines the spacing.

    Illustration of decreasing spacing for continuous lines (left), and increasing spacing for skipped brush strokes (right).
    Decrease spacing for continuous lines (left); increase spacing for skipped brush strokes (right).

    Note: To change a value, you can either type a value and press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS), or place the pointer over the value and drag a new value.

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