Photoshop [cs5] Brushmaking ♥

As promised I have decided to dedicate a few minutes this morning to a little blog tutorial on how I create my own personal brushes for Photoshop. 
But before I actually get down to the days usual bees knees........

♥I would like to take a moment and mention that today is the 10th year anniversary of the tragic events that took place in New York City where 2,819 innocent people from 115 Nations perished.  343 Fireman/Paramedics, 23 NYPD, 37 Port Authority Officers gave their lives saving others.  In memory of all those who lost their lives my online and 'real life' activities will remain silent from the hours of 8:46am until 10:28am, which was the time the 1st plan hit until the last building fell. ♥K.  9.11 always remembered


& Now back to brushes :]  
***Please note that any and all shortcuts referred to in this tutorial are for Window users as that is my current workspace. If you Mac it, you will find tons of shortcut key charts online for mac users. :]

*Please keep in mind that [one] I am fairly new to Photoshop and all it's glorious capabilities.  [two] I am self taught in the mysterious ways of this Photoshop world.  &[C] I work with version CS5.......and so with my limited knowledge and expertise............I share with you a little self taught brush wisdom:

You can turn almost any image into a PS brush. In this tutorial I will be using an image that I shot, but you can also create brushes using drawings or just about anything else. 
You can also created some awesome watermark brushes for personal as well as business use.  

My Crochet Business Logo designed with my very own brush design.

The very first thing you will need to understand....and I am saying this because I want to save you the time it took me to figure this out.  I would hate to have you go through the same experience of staring blankly at your computer monitor for 20 minutes trying to understand why all of your Photoshop buttons are greyed out. So first things first.
 
SIZE MATTERS:  You can create brushes up to 2500px. [as far as my understanding of version CS5~this may differ where other versions apply]   If you attempt to create anything larger than that Photoshop will automatically block you from ever using your PS program again...OK that was an exaggeration, but it's the reason some of the pertinent buttons were grayed out on my  program & also the reason why I had to resort to using an entire bottle of Visine to get the red out. :]~




To begin sizing your canvas you want to start with selecting the FILE.>NEW  button at the top of  your PS

 Doing so will bring you to a popup window where you will then place pertinent information on size and color of your canvas. Note I have set mine up in the 'Grayscale' mode. You do not necessarily have to do the same and can create your brush using a color photo.  It's all a matter of preference.  Eventually PS will convert your color image into a grayscale version as the actual brush.

The following is what your canvas will look like before we begin adding the image [of your choice] in this case a beautiful ball of yarn I shot just for this very special occasion :]  It's worth noting here that I have edited my yarn image to the very best quality in order to highlight all the areas of interest that I wish to appear as part of my brush~within the image. Eventually I plan to post up some editing tuts....but for now I will assume that your image is already edited for optimal PS Brush Making quality. This will include but not limited to 'Contrast/Brightness' 'Black/White' 'Curves'...and all that other good stuff found on your PS

To enter your image of choice onto your canvas you will open from the FILE>OPEN option at the top of your PS work station.  Once your image is opened you will then highlight the areas of your image you wish to include as part of your brush.  You will now select the 'MAGIC WAND' tool [Or 'W' on your keyboard] & click on the areas of interest.   In my case, I will select (by way of little marching ants) my yarn creation. :]



 

In order to select all of the areas you can click and hold down your shift key on your keyboard as you are selecting the areas.  be sure to clean up your edges and include every pixel involved :]

Once you are satisfied with the location of your marching ants~You will now proceed to cut and paste.  To do this select 'EDIT>CUT' from your ant infested image :] and head on in to paste into your empty canvas by selecting 'EDIT>PASTE'.
Merge your image into your canvas by clicking 'CTRL + 'E' keys on your keyboard.


If you've set your original canvas to 'Grayscale' your image will now appear in your canvas in the gray-scale mode. I've reverted my image back to it's original color for tutorial quality purposes.    You can now save & close [if you so choose] your original image and work directly with your brush prep canvas :]


With your image now sitting snugly within your canvas click on 'EDIT>DEFINE BRUSH PRESET'

Name Your Brush :]

Head on into your brush presets where you should find your very own original newly created brush ♥

I hope this tutorial brightens up your day just a little bit.  It's always a good thing knowing you created something pretty awesome for you by
YOU :]♥♥♥♥
Have fun with it :] Create it! Appreciate it!  Share it!

Peace and Love,
K.

*If you happen to be aware of an easier or more effective way to create PS brushes or if any of my steps within this tutorial are incorrect or unclear please do not hesitate to leave a comment and we will work this out together.  :]  Likewise, if you happen to like what you see here please leave a little love.  Remember I am still on my learning journey and I'm willing to share whatever little bit of Photoshop knowledge I gain along the way.  If there is something Photoshop you would like to learn, please feel free to drop me a note right here ...If I know it, I'll show it! ♥   :]   
K.