The pre-installed sets are like the tip of an iceberg \u2013 the world of Photoshop brushes is enormous. Explore it to try new effects and discover your own creative potential. If you find the right brush, you can probably achieve any effect imaginable. And if you can\u2019t find one, you have the option of creating your own brush. In this article, however, we will teach you how to install an already pre-existing Photoshop brush.<\/span><\/p>\n Photoshop brushes are a very useful tool to save time. They allow you to create your design, or any other form of art, quickly and without the need to draw the desired elements separately every single time. They\u2019re also a big help if you lack certain skillset. A brush or a set of brushes can help you achieve the seek effect without too much extra effort.<\/span><\/p>\n There is a huge number of Photoshop brushes available for download and install. It\u2019s quite overwhelming really if you are new to the topic and don\u2019t know what brushes to start searching for. Although there is no official way of categorizing them, you can distinguish the different brushes tools by their effects:<\/span><\/p>\n If you want to create something resembling an actual painting, done with real brushes, you will most likely want to search for tools around the painting effect brushes section. The available sets vary from watercolor, acrylic to wet, dripping paint effect.<\/span><\/p>\n The term ‘natural effects’ is very broad. The brushes sets vary from those that resemble skin, hair, clouds, water, fire, grass, etc. Anything that\u2019s found in nature can be imitated digitally with the use of an adequate Photoshop brush.<\/span><\/p>\n You don\u2019t always want to make your design or art pretty. Sometimes, you\u2019ll want to show mystery, fear or imperfections in your work. For such purpose, grunge effect brushes will be your best solution as the brushes will give a distressed and worn look.<\/span><\/p>\n Fantasy effect brushes relate to anything that can\u2019t be found in nature or isn\u2019t painting or grunge. The effects, again, differ a lot. You will find brushes that turn your background into a galaxy sky, add dust, blood and anything comic or magic. These brushes are used to add extra flair or unique effect to existing works and meant to be used with a very specific concept in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n Online. There is no recommended website you should head to or places that you should avoid at all costs. Make your research by simply Googling \u2018photoshop brushes\u2019. Feel free to add whatever effect in front of it, for example, \u2018cloud patterns photoshop brushes\u2019 or \u2018free stardust photoshop brushes’.<\/span><\/p>\n You will find both paid-for and free options. Naturally, it\u2019s nicer for every user’s pocket to save those few extra dollars and find a free tool. Remember, however, that the free options can be sometimes of a low-quality. Therefore, the process of finding your desired brush can turn out to be very time-consuming.<\/span><\/p>\n The first thing you should know is the fact that you are going to download a set of brushes, not a single brush. The set will be a folder including brushes that create variations of the same effect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n After you download a brush from a website of your choice, open Photoshop and select <\/span>Edit > Presets > Presets Manager<\/b>. Under Preset Types, select <\/span>Brushes<\/b>. Click the <\/span>Load<\/b> button. You\u2019ll be taken to your computer files where you can find the downloaded file with brushes. Choose the one with <\/span>.abr<\/b> extension. Click <\/span>OK<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n Another option is to simply find the folder with the downloaded brushes and open it by double-clicking. The action will automatically import the brush folder into Photoshop. You will be able to find them in your Tool Bar, under Brush Tool. If you\u2019re a very visual learner and prefer to watch than to read, we recommend heading to YouTube for Photoshop tutorials.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For each of the four categories of painting, natural, grunge and fantasy effect brushes, we chose two brush sets that we believe are truly great. They\u2019re all free so just go ahead and give them a try.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Download it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Download it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Download it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Download it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A great, extensive set of subtle grunge brushes. By using it, you can add noise to your work without making it look cheap. The final effects will show subtle vintage details. This set features realistic and high-quality brushes that will add a lot of personality to your vintage-themed works.<\/span><\/p>\n Download it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Download it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Download it <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhy are Photoshop brushes useful?<\/b><\/h2>\n
What brushes can I install?<\/b><\/h2>\n
Painting effect brushes<\/b><\/h3>\n
Natural effect brushes<\/b><\/h3>\n
Grunge effect brushes<\/b><\/h3>\n
Fantasy effect brushes<\/b><\/h3>\n
Where to find brushes to install?<\/b><\/h2>\n
How to install Photoshop brushes?\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/b><\/h2>\n
Photoshop brushes recommendations<\/b><\/h2>\n
#1 Painting – Houston Sharp Brushes<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/my_brushes_by_houstonsharp_d70ti8o-fullview.jpg\")
\nThe Houston Sharp Brushes is an extensive brush set created by a well-known illustrator. The set is comprehensive, diverse, reliable and of a high-quality. It\u2019s great for countless illustrators as it can also be used for textures and overlays.<\/span><\/p>\n#2 Painting – Omri\u2019s Brush Pack Overhaul 2017<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/omri_s_brush_pack_overhaul_2017_by_omrikoresh_d9zl4zw-pre.jpg\")
\nOmri Koresh prepared a curated set of brushes that are compiled and very organized. It\u2019s another great set for any illustrators thanks to the diversity of the included brushes. Every once in a few years Omri updates their sets so keep an eye open for the next brush pack.<\/span><\/p>\n#3 Natural – Brush Pack 3.0 by Fenris<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/brush_pack_v3_by_fenris31_d9374bm-fullview.jpg\")
\nBrush Pack by Fenris is a very comprehensive set of natural brushes ranging from leaves, through chains and trees to plants and flowers. It\u2019s a great pack for illustrators who like to speed draw and get ideas down quickly and effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n#4 Natural – Hair Brushes III by LPD Dragon Fly<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/d1nt2ek-9df1c182-aa40-4283-a7fc-546745bb6a1e.jpg\")
\nWe don’t really need to explain this set, do we? We chose it because we believe it\u2019s the best brush kit to illustrate hair as it is highly detailed and realistic. The author has two more of these sets, check those out too!<\/span><\/p>\n#5 Grunge – Subtle Grunge Brushes<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/115-free-brushes-blog.jpg\")
<\/p>\n#6 Grunge – Mixergraph Grunge Brushes Kit<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/ccbfc249723307.58bd4cda44cfb.jpg\")
\nIn comparison to the previous set, this one is much more intensive. It has a stronger treatment of vintage wear and tear. You can use it for a tonally weathered look such as, for example, vintage signposts.<\/span><\/p>\n#7 Fantasy – Halftone Texture Brushes<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/halftone-brushes.jpg\")
\nThe Halftone Texture Brushes set is an ultimate kit for a unique halftone and organic treatment to your prints. Using it alongside colors reminiscent of golden-age comics will make your illustration pop.<\/span><\/p>\n#8 Fantasy – Sketchy Cartography Brush Set<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/lumbiasample.png\")