Use the advanced brush settings to create new brushes and modify existing ones.

Advanced settings are the same for most standard brushes. The parameters are located in the expanded Tool Options panel, which is opened by clicking the tool icon or by using the F5 key.

To change the value of a parameter, enter a numeric value in the input field of this parameter or move the slider.

 

Standard Parameters:

Spot Spacing (1-500). Distribution of elements, from which the line is comprised. Increasing this parameter creates a line that is composed of a series of brush marks; the distance between the brush marks depends on the parameter’s value.

Spot Spacing = 10

Spot Spacing = 100

Aspect (1-100). The compression of the base element. At value = 1 the brush is flattened into a line, at 100 it is a circle, and at intermediary values it is an ellipse. The lower the value for this parameter, the further the ellipse is compressed in the direction specified by the Angle parameter.

Aspect = 30

Aspect = 80

Angle (-180..180). The angle of the base element.

Angle = -30

Angle = 45

Round Brush. If the check-box is enabled, the brush has a shape of an ellipse, if disabled - a rectangular shape.

Round Brush
(check-box enabled)

Square Brush
(check-box disabled)

Noise. The check-box adds noise to the soft edge of the brush. At a lower value of Hardness and a higher value of Spot Spacing, the noise effect is more prominent.

Check-Box Disabled

Check-Box Enabled

Auto Repeat. The check-box activates the automatic (continuous) drawing mode when holding the cursor over any point of the image.

Check-Box Disabled

Check-Box Enabled

Smoothing. Activate the check-box to make the stroke edge smoother.

Check-Box Disabled

Check-Box Enabled

 

Advanced Settings are accessible in the menu, which is called by clicking the button in the expanded Tool Options panel.

 

In the Shape tab, you can select the shape of the basic element of the brush. The tab is only visible when Element = Select Shape is selected.

Under the shape list the following options are located:

New Shape - creates a brush shape from the contents of the active document (alternatively, you can use the New Brush command from the Edit menu).

Add Shape - loads an image to be used as a brush shape.

Delete Shape - removes the selected brush shape from the list.

Note: If you delete the shape recorded in the brush preset, the default shape will be used in the preset instead.

Shape Name. Make the field editable by clicking it, enter a new shape name and press the Enter key to apply it.

Import Library - allows you to load a shape library from the disk (.brush_shapes file).

Export Library - allows you to save a shape library to the disk (with the .brush_shapes extension).

 

The Dynamics tab contains parameters that define random changes of the base element (they can vary for different tools and brush types):

Size Variation (0-100). The parameter defines the variation of size of the brush marks (as a percentage of the specified brush size). At the value = 0, the size of all elements is the same; when increasing the parameter, smaller elements appear.

Min Size (0-100). The parameter sets the minimum percentage by which the brush marks can scale. The parameter has an impact if the Size Variation value is not 0 and/or one of the Control commands is enabled.

Size Variation = 25

Size Variation = 75

Hardness Variation (0-100). The parameter specifies how the hardness of brush marks varies for each spacing interval. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same hardness; when increasing the parameter, the hardness of certain elements decreases.

Hardness Variation = 25

Hardness Variation = 75

Pressure Variation (0-100). The parameter sets the variation of brush pressure. At the value = 0, the pressure is invariable; as the parameter increases, the pressure of certain elements decreases.

Pressure Variation = 25

Pressure Variation = 75

Opacity Variation (0-100). The parameter sets the variation of the opacity of the brush marks. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same opacity. At higher values, the transparency of certain elements increases.

Opacity Variation = 25

Opacity Variation = 75

Fill Variation (0-100). The parameter specifies how the filling of brush marks varies for each spacing interval. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same filling density; when increasing the parameter, the filling of certain elements decreases.

Fill Variation = 25

Fill Variation = 75

Aspect Variation (0-100). The parameter specifies how the shape of brush marks varies for each spacing interval. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same shape; when increasing the parameter, the compression of certain elements increases.

Aspect Variation = 25

Aspect Variation = 75

Angle Variation (0-100). The parameter specifies how the rotation angle of brush marks varies for each spacing interval. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same rotation angle; when increasing the parameter, the rotation angle of certain elements increase.

Angle Variation = 25

Angle Variation = 75

The Scattering tab contains parameters that affect the quantity and position of basic elements in the stroke.

Scatter (0-1000). The parameter sets the distribution of brush marks. The higher the value of the parameter, the farther from the brush cursor the elements can be located.
When the X-Axis check-box is enabled, the elements are distributed along the direction of the brush movement. When the Y-Axis check-box is enabled, the elements are distributed across the direction of the brush movement. If both check-boxes are enabled, then brush marks will be distributed in both directions.

Scatter = 50

Scatter = 150

Count (1-20). The parameter sets the number of brush marks applied at each spacing interval.

Count = 2

Count = 5

Count Variation (0-100). The parameter specifies how the number of brush marks varies for each spacing interval. At the value = 0, the number of elements is equal to the number specified by the previous parameter. As the parameter increases, the number of elements in each spacing interval may decrease.

Count Variation = 10

Count Variation = 100

 

The Color tab contains parameters that affect the hue, saturation, and brightness of the basic elements or strokes.

Apply per Tip. When the check-box is enabled, color variations will be will be applied to individual elements of the brush stroke. When the check-box is disabled - to individual strokes.

Check-Box Enabled

Check-Box Disabled

Hue Variation (0-100). The parameter sets the variation of shades of the brush marks. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same color. The higher the value, the more shades are used.

Hue Variation = 10

Hue Variation = 50

Saturation Variation (0-100). The parameter sets the variation of saturation of the base element. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same saturation. At higher values, the saturation of certain elements will change.

Saturation Variation = 30

Saturation Variation = 90

Brightness Variation (0-100). The parameter sets the variation of brightness of the base element. At the value = 0, all the elements have the same brightness. At higher values, the brightness of individual elements may change.

Brightness Variation = 10

Brightness Variation = 50

 

Control. Next to some variation parameters the control button is located. If you click this control button with the left mouse button, the selected control command is turned on/off. If you right-click or hold down the left mouse button on this control key, a drop-down list opens, where you can adjust how this brush parameter should be operated:

Pressure - varies the parameter settings by using the pen pressure values provided by a graphic tablet.

Tilt - varies the parameter settings by using the pen tilt values provided by a graphic tablet.

Rotation - varies the parameter settings by using the pen rotation values provided by a graphic tablet.

Fade - reduces the value of the selected parameter to the minimum in the number of steps indicated in the field next to it.

Brush Size Fading

Direction - the given angle of inclination of the element is kept along the direction of movement (at Angle Variation = 0).

Angle Is Kept Along the Direction of Movement

Initial Direction - the given angle of inclination of the element is kept regardless of the direction of movement (at Angle Variation = 0).

Initial Angle Is Kept

 

When clicking the Reset button, the parameters of the selected tab will be reset to zero, and the control settings will be disabled.

 

You can save the specified settings of the brush as a preset. The list of presets is located in the Tool Options panel on the left (in both minimized and expanded views). To add a new preset, click the New Brush Preset button . To delete a preset from the list, click the Delete Brush Preset button .

Click the button to save the list of your brush presets into a file with the .brush_presets extension.

You can load brushes (.brush_presets or .abr files) with the button . When loading brush presets, the associated shapes and textures will be loaded into the appropriate libraries.

Click the Default button to reset all the modified parameters of the selected preset to the original settings.

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