If you’re sick of the preset brushes that come with Adobe Photoshop, you’ll love how easy it is to install your own. You’ll find more than 25 new brush sets that you can download for free from the Brush Library.
This is how you do it.
Don’t have photoshop yet? If that’s the case, you’ll find out guide on buying Photoshop helpful.
Downloading New Brushes for Photoshop
To start, you’ll need to download a suitable set of third-party brushes for Photoshop. This comes in the ABR file format and is available for sale, or for free online, from sources such as Brusheezy
I recommend downloading the free Photoshop brushes that are featured on this blog. The bad actors will infect your system with malicious files, in an attempt to steal your identity and money. If you download the brush file, it’s suggested that you place it in the Preset > Brushes folder in your Photoshop installation directory.
This is usually found in the C:\Program Files\Adobe folder. You can find the brushes you’ve downloaded on your computer in the “Brushes” folder by default—simply copy or move the new ABR brush file into this folder.
You can leave third-party brushes in the ‘alternative’ folder and load these manually, or you can add these to your ‘Managed locations’ for Photoshop to automatically load them when you open
Installing Brushes in Photoshop (From Photoshop 2020)
You should install third-party brushes according to your version of Photoshop. You’ll find out if you’re using Photoshop 2019, or whether you need to upgrade to the new version to use the Brushes menu. You’ll also discover how to activate the panel.
You’ll need to create a new canvas if you’re not working with an existing image. Then, click on the Brush panel menu and select Create Brush. The Brushes menu should appear at this point. However, you may need to drag it over to the right using your mouse to lock it into position.
To add new brushes, select the “Settings” menu icon in the top right section of the panel. Select the “Import Brushes” option, then select your downloaded third-party brush file in the “Load” file selection window. Once your ABR file is selected, click the “Load” button to load it into Photoshop.
With success, your loaded brushes will now appear as a group in the Brushes panel.
Installing Brushes in Older Photoshop Versions (CC 2019 and Older)
You’ll need to use the Preset Manager, and not the brushes panel menu, to load brushes in older versions of Photoshop. Launch Adobe Photoshop on your PC and then go to: Edit > Presets > Preset Manager.
Press the “Load” button in the “Preset Manager” window. Open your Photoshop program and go to File | Load to add your brush presets. You may want to select “Brushes (*.ABR)” from the drop-down menu at the top to be able to
Using an Imported Photoshop Brush
If your imported photoshop brushes are already in place, you can start using them right away. You’ll need the Brushes panel visible to apply the color, so make sure to select Window > Brushes to make it visible.
Your recently imported brushes will appear in the Brush Group for you to use. Click on the group folder to see a list of all available brushes. To start using any of these tools, first you’ll need to select them.
Select a brush that you’d like to move to the collection you’ve created, click the button in the bottom-left corner and select “Move”. You’ve selected your brush, so you can start painting your image onto your canvas.
You can do more with Photoshop brushes than just load them into a Photoshop document; you can edit the settings for your brush even further using the options bar at the top of the Photoshop window. This will allow you to change the size of the brush, the opacity, and more, depending on the type of brush you use and its available settings.
Installing third-party Photoshop brushes is just one way to improve the functionality of this photo editing software. There are lots of free online photo editing tools that can give you a better-looking product image.