How to Make Brushes in Photoshop from Different Types of Images

Defining a brush in Photoshop can be very easy or far more difficult, depending on the image you wish to turn into a brush. This tutorial for Photoshop Beginners will guide you through making brushes in Photoshop, no matter what image you choose to use.

Images with White Backgrounds

Creating a brush in Photoshop using an image of an isolated object on a white background is by far the easiest.

Step 1. Open your image in Photoshop.

Step 2. When you define your image as a brush, Photoshop will automatically turn any white in the image into transparency. Use the eraser tool or a white foreground brush to get rid of any stray markings in the background that you don't want to be part of your brush. Make sure that you don't accidentally erase any shadows that the object is projecting. One of the best things about defining brushes on a white background is that the shadows will automatically included in the brush.

Step 3. Select the entire image using whatever tool you prefer. I used the Rectangular Marquee Tool, since it is the simplest. Go to Edit> Define Brush From Selection.

If the program won't let you choose the Define Brush option, the selection may be too large. In this case, either use a different selection tool to select the image or cut and resize the entire image before defining the brush.

Step 4. A small window will pop up showing a preview of your new brush. If it looks the way you want it, give the brush a name and press OK.

Your brush should now show up last in your "Default Brushes" Folder. Don't forget to save your brushes!

Images with Black Backgrounds

When dealing with a object on a black background the method used to turn the image into a brush is basically the same as with a white background, except for a few minor adjustments.

Step 1. Open your image. I used a photo of fireworks in the night sky.

Step 2. Get rid of stray marks. In this case, I recommend first using the healing brush to get rid of the more obvious parts of the image that I don't want included in my brush. Then I did a rough selection of the are surrounding the object and used Levels to even out the background further.

Step 3. Deselect the image and go to Filter> Adjustments> Invert. This will make the black background white and the lighter colors of the object become dark.

Step 4. Follow the instructions above for white backgrounds.

Solid-Colored or Busy Backgrounds

With objects that are shown on colored of busy backgrounds, you have to remove the background before turning the object into a brush. This can be done using many different tools in Photoshop, but the best way is the use the magic extractor tool. For in-depth instructions on using Photoshop's Magic Extractor, please see my tutorial, Removing Image Backgrounds in Photoshop: An Advanced Guide to the Magic Extractor Tool.