Simple Grunge Brush
In this tutorial you’ll be learning the most simple technique I have found for creating grunge brushes in PSP 8.
First you need a stock image. If I’m not using my own stock, I usually get something from sxc.hu. Choose a rusty image. Any rusty image is fine- the more rust, the better.
When choosing an image, keep in mind that the more detail there is, the more elaborate your brushes will turn out.
Open the image in PSP 8.
Select the Freehand Selection tool.
- Use these settings:
– Mode: REPLACE
– Feather: 100
– Smoothing: 8
Now outline a section that looks like it would make a good brush.
Press CTRL + C to copy the part of the image you’ve outlined.
Press CTRL + V to paste the image in a new window.
Go to LAYERS in the Menu Bar
– select Merge >> Merge All (Flatten)
Now you have an idea of what your brush is going to look like. If you don’t like the shape, you can edit it by simply erasing or you can use different PSP effects to make it look different.
To get a look at what your brush will look like when it is saved, Go to IMAGE in the Menu Bar
– Select Image >> Greyscale
If your brush is more than 500px by 500px, you need to resize it because PSP 8 will not let you have a brush file any larger than that.
– Image >> Resize
Now select the brush palette by clicking on the Paint Brush Icon in the Toolbar.
Open the brush palette by clicking on the arrow at the side of the box. This will display all of the brushes installed on your computer.
Click on the Paintbrush Icon. This is the one outlined in a dashed box.
In the Name line, come up with a name for your brush. This name must be different than all of the other brush names.
If the Save Variance option is checked, uncheck it.
You can fill out the other information if you wish but it is not necessary.
Click OK.
Your new brush will be saved.
NOTE: If you have not changed your file preferences, your brush should be saved under Paint Shop Pro 8/Brushes and/or \My Documents\My PSP8 Files\Brushes.