Aug 29 2004

Installing Photoshop Brushes (& GIMP!) Tutorial

Category: Tutorials | Tags: , ,

This tutorial will walk you through installing and using brushes from this site, and should be very similar to the procedure used to install brushes from just about anywhere. It is a beginner tutorial, so those just beginning Photoshop will understand it – but it’s not so tedious that more experienced users will be too bored.

For those that want to know how to install the brushes in GIMP, scroll down to the end of this tutorial or click here.

Installing Brushes Tutorial

1. The Photoshop brushes on my site can be found here.

2. Once you have the file(s) unzipped (place it somewhere that you can find the files easily), you should see a file that has an *.abr extention. My brushes were made in Photoshop 7.0. They will work in Photoshop 7 and any Photoshop that came out after that (ie: CS, CS2, CS3, CS4, etc.). They will also work in GIMP 2.2.6+ (for GIMP installation, see below). They work equally well on both a PC and a Mac.

3.Now, you just need to place the *.abr file within the correct directory. Windows users, you can see the path highlighted in red just below. IF you installed Photoshop with the default path, this will be correct. If, for example, you installed Photoshop 7.0 on your C drive, the path would be: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Presets\Brushes

If you installed Photoshop differently than what it defaults to, you should still be able to find the Presets\Brushes folder within whatever directory you installed Photoshop.

Mac users, you probably installed Photoshop into your Applications folder, so check there for it. Then find Presets > Brushes (if you’re not sure where you installed Photoshop and all else fails, you can always do a search for the brushes folder on your system).

This is where you need to place the *.abr file (just copy/paste from wherever you unzipped it to).

4.Open up Photoshop. If you already had Photoshop open, you will need to re-open it. If you install brushes with Photoshop open, they will not show up until the next time you open Photoshop. Select the Brush tool (or really any other tool that uses brushes is just fine, this is just an example).

5.Up along the top, just under the top menu, there is a brush selector. It is here that you can change the size of your brush, as well as the brush itself. It is also here that you load up a particular brush set. Click on the small arrow just to the right of the brush itself. Like this:

6.Just to the right of the selection of current brushes, click on the arrow that points out to the side. A menu will come up that should list every set of brushes that you have in your brushes directory. To make my “lips and mouth” brushes active, for example, you would click on “SS-lips”. Photoshop will ask you if you would like to replace the current brushes. You have the option to simply click “OK”, which will do just that – remove the current active brushes from your brushes “palette” and load up the new ones. (Don’t worry, they haven’t disappeared! They can be loaded up again in the same manner in which we’re loading the lips brushes up now.) Your other option is to “Append”, which will append the lips brushes to the end of the list of whatever brushes you currently have active. Either will work, although I like to choose “OK” and have only one set of brushes open at a time.

7.Pick a color, open a new file, and click once somewhere within it. That’s it! To switch between brushes, you just use the scrollbar, click on the brush you want, and move the size slidebar to the right or left to make it the size you wish it to be. Just like with any other brush. To load another set of brushes, you would follow the same procedure. Voila!


Brief info on GIMP Installation

Installing brushes in GIMP is much the same as it is in Photoshop. The directory changes, and that’s about it.

First, unzip the file that you downloaded.

Place it into your GIMP brushes directory. For Windows users, it will be something like this:

C:/program files/Gimp(version)/share/gimp/(version)/brushes

Note: You can also place these into your Documents folder, where there will be a folder for GIMP custom content. Either place will work. Something like:

C:\Documents\.gimp-(version)\brushes

For Mac users, it should be within your GIMP directory, wherever you installed it. In most cases, it will be in your applications folder. So something like this:

/applications/gimp/(version)/brushes

Now it should show up whenever you open GIMP among your brushes. If GIMP was open when you installed these, you will need to either refresh the brushes (bottom right of the brushes window) or restart GIMP before they will show up.

If you are still having trouble installing GIMP brushes, you’ll need to find troubleshooting elsewhere. I am not a GIMP user, and this is the extent of my knowledge on how to install Photoshop brushes into GIMP.

144 Responses to “Installing Photoshop Brushes (& GIMP!) Tutorial”

  1. Loren

    Hi, thanks so much your brushes are amazing. I love it.
    Cheers

  2. Phil Tyndall

    Thank you Very much,your brushes realy fantastic and effective!

  3. kezman21

    Hi, thanks so much your brushes are amazing. I love it.
    Have fun!

  4. Maria

    Hi, thanks for the brushes they are fantastic!!!!

  5. samo

    hi all , than for the burshes

  6. Sarah

    Thanks for the brushes! I love them! =)

  7. umm…i dont think mine is working…when i try and open it it says:
    “Adobe Reader could not open ‘(whatever brush i used)’ because it is either not a supported file type or because the file ha been damaged (for example, it was sent as an email attachment and wasn’t correctly decoded).” It may be because i dont really understand that much but if you could show me whats wrong that would really help :)

  8. Melissa: Well, you’re trying to open it with Adobe Reader, apparently. And you need Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop Elements or GIMP in order to use these.

    If you DO have Photoshop, and you’re just clicking on the brush file after you unzip it, you need to re-read the tutorial. You don’t actually click on that file to open it. You open Photoshop, and follow the steps here, and it will show up under your brushes list to select.

    If you don’t have Photoshop, then that’s your problem with trying to use these. You’ll still be able to open my image packs, which are just JPGs, and use them in whatever program you choose. :)

  9. Christine

    Hi
    I have downloaded your lash brushes the file is not *.abr as there is no * should I type one in, or have I downloaded it incorrectly?

  10. Christine

    sorry forgot: will the brushes work in Photoshop elements 7?

  11. Christine

    Sorry didn’t mean to waste your time!!!! Re-read the instructions and I am now going to have a play. Yes, they do work in Elements. Thank you xx

  12. Shadow

    OMG! I totally love your brushes! lol, it took me so long how to figure i out….i am blonde i swear…but I have brown hair lol…..anyways tahnks soooooo much….All I have to do is just give a link to your page right? to give credit? I am going to go play now….lol! thanks again!

  13. Shadow

    lol, nvm….I found the little logo you have added in the brushes:D thanks!

  14. Verneitta

    Thank you so much Stephanie, and thanks too for the quick response.

  15. kayla

    how do you download with gimp???

  16. Kayla: I plan on expanding this tutorial to include how to install in GIMP – as soon as I have the time to download and learn it myself! In the meantime, however, I’ll tell you what I’ve read by doing a Google Search on it. First, you’re going to want to unzip the downloaded files (there’s a link in my sidebar explaining how to unzip a file if you’re unsure). Then, assuming that you’re a Windows user, you’re going to place that .abr file into your GIMP brushes directory… it should be something like this: C:/program files/Gimp(version)/share/gimp/(version)/brushes.

    You could search your system for a folder called “brushes” and find it that way, too, I assume. Then, once you start up GIMP, they should be listed along with your other brushes.

    You’re basically loading them just like you would regular GIMP brushes. Hope this helps!

  17. Okay, I went ahead and added info on installing into GIMP to the bottom of the tutorial, so it now explains how to install GIMP brushes, as well. I still don’t own GIMP, so I’m just taking this on the word of others – if there’s a problem with any of it, please let me know!

  18. Stephanie2

    Hey Steph~!
    I’ve downloaded a couple of your beautiful brush sets myself; I use GIMP. Only, now I’m having a problem with deleting one of the sets that I no longer want to use. It isn’t in the brush folder I uploaded it to and therefore I cannot delete it. I know you don’t use Gimp yourself, so you probably don’t know how to navigate the folders, but if you have any ideas I’d love to hear them. :) It’s just so frustrating not being able to delete them! O_o.
    -Steph2

  19. Julia

    Thank you very much for the use of the paintbrushes. They’re fantastic.

  20. Lisa

    Hi Stephanie,

    I just found your brushes and am starting to install them. I can’t wait to use them! I have a question, though. I have several “art and sketching” programs that I use for all kinds of things…one of which is ArtRage with my Wacom tablet. Do you think that your brush programs would work in ArtRage? I can just imagine the things you could do with your brushes in a program like that.

    Thank you, again, for these great tools!!!
    Lisa

  21. Lisa

    Hi Stephanie,

    Lisa…again…I’ve tried loading the eyeshadow brushes and for some reason they won’t save. I’m using Adobe Photoshop Explosion 5.0. I unzipped the brushes and placed them on my Desktop, opened Photoshop, clicked on the brush tool, clicked on the arrow, clicked on Load brush, clicked on ss.eyeshadow, clicked on Load, and then when I go back to the brush tool, the eyeshadow button is there, but if I try to click on Save, I get my desktop screen again asking me to Save…all of this seems to work, but when I go back to Photoshop, if I choose any other brush and then try to find the eyeshadow brush again, it’s not there and I get an error message that says it’s not compatible with this version of Photoshop. What am I doing wrong?

    Lisa

  22. Lisa

    I just realized that I wrote that I was using Photoshop “Explosion” 5.0…I’m not, it’s Photoshop “Elements” 5.0. Sorry, I have both….and I’m still having problems loading and saving….. . . . . . . . . . . very frustrated!!

    Lisa

  23. jamie

    so I have followed the directions on unzipping and everything and the brushes still arent showing up. im gussing its not the right file type. on gimp help it has to be the right format and id ont know how to get the brushes to that file type.

  24. Lisa: Okay. First off, when you first download the file, that’s when you’re putting it on your desktop. But once you unzip it, then you’re going to want to place it into your Photoshop > Presets > Brushes folder. On your desktop will work, if you choose load brushes like you are, but you’d have to do it that way every single time in order to load them. They will NEVER show up in your list of brushes from there. The things that show up in that list are the items in your brush folder, that’s it. So put them there, and then close and reopen photoshop. They’ll be in the list for you to choose from and load, and voila! That’s it. You don’t need to load them and then save them. Just put them in that folder and they’ll stay in that list for as long as they’re in that folder.

    Hope this helps!

    Jamie: If you don’t have the very latest versions of GIMP (2.2.6+), then it won’t work. Earlier versions of GIMP were not made to use Photoshop brushes. So first make sure your version of GIMP os 2.2.6 or later, and then make sure you’re putting them in the right folder. (If it doesn’t work in one of the folders I mentioned, try it in the other one!) Good luck!

  25. susan

    Halo, i dont know what happen, i already unzip the file and move the .abr file to the brushes folder, and i close my photoshop and re open again, but the brush dont want to show up, and then i try manually just load one by one but is said brushes is not compatible with the photoshop, is very weird, because my photoshop is also version 7.

  26. @susan: I’m not sure what could be causing this problem . It sounds like you’re doing everything just fine. I can assure you that these were made with, and work with, Photoshop 7. Not sure why it would be causing you problems. So sorry that I couldn’t help more, but it sounds like you’re doing everything right!

  27. sabrina

    pls help me My brushes dont work :(( but i have photoshop CS version 8.0 . It says “ImageReady does not understand this brush file” why? because I use Photoshop Cs version 8.0 or what? pls tell me

  28. @sabrina: These will work in Photoshop CS, no problem. Are you unzipping them? Check my sidebar for a link to explain how to unzip them, and then how to install them.

  29. Thank you for the beautiful brushes – they are gorgeous and i’m so excited to figure out how to use them LOL! I really appreciate the beauty and the work that went into developping them and making them available – and your tutorial – thanks again!

  30. sotiris

    hello thanx for these great brushes. i was wondering, the lashes hace a specific shape u can make them bigger or smaller but u cannot adjust the exactly to the eye unless tha face and the eyes are both straight without angles. could i make a free transform to them so i can completely adjust it to the eye? thanx in advance!

  31. @sotiris: Your best bet is to use the brush on its own layer, then use the Edit > Transform tool to adjust them to the shape of the eye. You can use the Warp Transform to get the “roundness” of the lashes just right. Hope this helps!

  32. Salve
    Sono ignorante in materia.. ma vorrei sapere ( se riesco ad aprire sti pannelli)
    se posso utilizzarli/o come sfondo per il mio sito…..
    Senza che violo qualche ……
    SONO VERAMENTE ORIGINALI ……
    Se mi potete rispondere subito … grazie!!
    Cordiali saluti

  33. @holenya:
    È possibile utilizzare come sfondo per il vostro sito, per quanto tempo mi credito che da qualche parte per il collegamento di ritorno http://www.obsidiandawn.com. Grazie!

  34. cinzia

    hi to everybody!
    I installed some new brushes,but they don’t work!
    I tried to remove the presets and load the new ones, and I tried also to add the new brushes to the presets.In both cases, I can see the brushes but, when I try to draw, nothing happens!When I set the diameter at the maximum size,the big brush appears,but still I can’t draw anything.
    Please, help..I have PS CS2 :D
    Thanks

  35. Monica

    Thank you so much for the installation tutorial.

  36. jaki

    umm i downloaded them but i’m not sure how to put them on mine i have cs3 and cs2 and everytime i try to do it it just doesn’t work or somthing i’m not sure v-v sorry to bother u but lol i need help X3

  37. @jaki: Are you unzipping the file first? Check out the links on the right hand side of this page, where it says something about How to Unzip a file. If they’re unzipped and you’re following this tutorial correctly, it should work. I have both CS2 and CS3, and they work just fine! Good luck!

  38. Melody

    How do i install the image packs to be tubes or brushes if im using psp x2?

  39. whitefeather

    Thanks for the lesson and the brushes

  40. ella

    hi your brush is really cool! i downloaded it but it would not open in my photoshop. it said could not be opened because the file is not compatible with this version of photoshop. but my photoshop is version 7. pls help.thanks

  41. butterflies

    i have photoshop cs3. i’m new with photoshop. anyways, i did everything the installation said; i’ve unzipped it to the presets/brushes folder. it shows up on photoshop but when i choose the brushes, instead of painting the strokes it paints the image (i.e lip gloss will paint many little lip images.) what is going on?

  42. @butterflies: The way that brushes work is just basically like a rubber stamp. I’ve gone through the trouble of making the shapes for you. All you do is click on them once onto the canvas and voila! You have your shape. That’s why it’s doing that.

    I DO have brushes that were made for painting strokes, as well. Check the “Painting” submenu under the “Brushes” tab, and you’ll find some.

    Hope this helps!

  43. Lauryn

    How do you change the color of the brush?

  44. @Lauryn: By changing your foreground color. See those two colors near the bottom of the toolbar where you select the paintbrush tool or whatever tool you want to use? They’ll start out as white and black. Click on the one on top, and a palette of colors will come up where you can change it.

  45. peacedove717

    hi!
    first off, i love the brushes!!! yippy and thanks! makes creating new images so much more fun.
    i got elements 7 which brings me to …
    second, i need help… i downloaded everything ok. when i click on the brushes dropdown, there they all are. so far so good. but then, i cannot scroll up or down. and i cannot get to any of the preset brushes. i have to reset the brushes to get access to any group above the ss-brushes. and then it only lasts for that one click…then the issue starts all over again.
    i do not have this issue with the patterns. there everything is working just fine and again, i love them!

    thanks for any help i can get!

  46. @peacedove717: I’m sorry, I’m not very familiar with PS Elements. I haven’t owned a copy of it in many years. I’m not entirely sure what could be going on there! I would try Googling for that problem, because I’m sure you’re not the first to have it. Sorry that I couldn’t help more!

  47. =D

    Stephanie,YOU ROCK XD

  48. jessag486

    hi i have unziped the file but can’t find the folder for presets>Brushes

  49. pd

    I was wondering if I could rotate these brushes? I can’t seem to figure out how to do that yet. Any ideas/suggestions/answers?

  50. @jessag486: Are you using Photoshop? If so, the folder should be there… it wouldn’t have ANY brushes for you to be able to use if the folder isn’t there. It should be under your Photoshop directory (wherever you installed it), then the Presets folder and then the Brushes folder. Good Luck!

    @pd: You can, yep. I have a little mini-tutorial on a few of my blog posts that explains it. Check out the “Random Brush Tip” at the end of this post: http://www.obsidiandawn.com/lightning-ii-photoshop-gimp-brushes

    Hope it helps!

  51. I Dont Kw How 2 Download Them (Plz Help :()

  52. @Emma: I have several tutorials that explain all of that. Check my sidebar, and you can see how to unzip files and how to install the brushes, etc. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions!

  53. shelley

    i’m so super confused.
    I installed the eyelashes brushes …which are FABULOUS in GIMP no problem but none of the other brushes will work. I keep getting abr file type and then asked what program i want to use to open it…

    i am techno stupid and have no earthly idea what i’m doing wrong :(

    I click download brushes…then extract all files to c/program files/Gimp/Share/Gimp/2.0/brushes….then instead of brush icons i get a square that says ABR file.

    any help would be super awesome cause i’m stumped.

  54. shelley

    lol i’m such a dork…they show up in the brushes tab in the Gimp.

    i told you i was techno stupid <3

  55. @shelley: Glad you got it fixed! No worries! :)

  56. Bryant

    Thanks for this site! If I have questions on the cards brushes I will let you know. You are awesome!

  57. Christine-x

    Hey, i have unzipped the folder for eyelash brushes, then copied and pasted it to this: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop CS2\Presets\Brushes
    however, when i open photoshop the brushes still aren’t there?
    any help?
    xxxx

  58. Christine-x

    ooooo i worked it out! sorry! lush brushes thanks a lot! x

  59. 3DMooNMaN

    Hi ! On the page were I downloaded your Space Brushes it reads that it would work with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2+ I have 2.0 I downloaded – unzipped it… it reads is not compatable. I would really love to use the brushes…. maybe I am doing something wrong ?

  60. @Christine-x: Glad you got it working!

    @3DMooNMaN: Hmm. I don’t own any copies of Photoshop Elements, but I’m about 99% sure from what others have told me that they work in PSE 2.0. But as long as you’re putting it in the right folder (and with PSE, I’m not sure what that folder should be), it SHOULD be working. You may want to check around online to find a quick and easy tutorial about installing brushes in Photoshop Elements, just to make sure that it’s all being done correctly? I’m not sure what else to tell you, sorry! :(

  61. Katherine

    Hi, uh this definately isn’t working.
    I open it on GIMp and it says Opening ‘C:\Users\Katherine\.gimp-2.6\brushes\SS-eyelashes.abr’failed:Unknown file type and I’ve been trying at it forever and it’s not working.

  62. @Katherine: Try placing it in the other file location that I mentioned. Sometimes for GIMP it seems to work better in one folder than the other – not sure why!

    Another thing to check is your version of GIMP. Make sure it’s 2.2.6+, or it won’t work, period.

  63. wapepa

    How can I rotate them and resize it to fit the eye ???

  64. @wapepa: This post explains how to rotate and change the orientation of a brush: http://www.obsidiandawn.com/lightning-ii-photoshop-gimp-brushes

    To resize it and change it so that it fits the eye, use the edit > transform tool. Warp works really well for adding or removing more curvature, otherwise I’d say just use something like resize or distort. Good luck!

  65. MrWolf53

    These are neat!

  66. hi Steph, thanks so much for all your amazing designs, you’re fabby! I’ve been reading all these queries about installation because when I downloaded and installed a load of your brushes yesterday I unzipped them, put them into presets/brushes, they all appeared great in my drop down menu for brushes, I used them for a while perfectly but then when I turned off and came back they had dissappeared, I looked into my preset/brushes folder and they were still there, just not in the drop down menu, so I went to the arrow on the right of the menu and loaded/saved each one back on to the drop down menu again, but they wouldn’t stay there??
    I have windows XP and Photoshop Elements 5. Hope you can help me cos I’d so love to be able to use your brushes.
    Also do you have a button/blinkie or something I can put on my blog to credit you?
    Thanks Penni
    x

  67. amanda

    thank you so much :D it was very easy to understand. :]

  68. michie

    I did everything right but when I refresh the program so that the new palette shows up( i did it with the eyelash palette in the palette folder rather than a brush in the brushes folder) it says…”Failed to load data:

    Fatal parse error in palette file ‘C:\Program Files\Gimp-2.0\share\gimp\2.0\palettes\SS-eyelashes.abr’: Missing magic header.”…

    I MUST have these lashes!!!…lol do you know whats wrong?

  69. @michie: I’m sorry, I don’t know GIMP at all. I got the instructions on how to install GIMP brushes from looking at various other websites. I’m not entirely sure what could be going wrong for you. You could try googling the error message. Good luck!

  70. sbcoffey

    Hey Stephanie, I am very grateful for your brushes & have been enjoying some of them successfully. I am having a problem I know must be simple but for the life of me I cant figure out what Im doing wrong. I did not see a specific tutorial in the brushes. I am trying to put drops of water & or spanish moss into a photo. Every time I have the drops or moss where I like, then check to print or close & re-open, the water drops & moss arent there. If I switch between the two brushes it goes to the (dancing ants) selection I have to start all over again. I have photoshop Elements 6 & the tutorial I was trying to go by is for the CS4 or similar. What am I missing? I tried saving it, merging visible & using a black layer first. It made no difference. If anyone can answer this, I would really appreciate it. Thanks, Sara

  71. @sbcoffey: Wow, that’s an odd one. It’s actually disappearing from where you applied it on the photo? It sounds to me, though, like you’re not using the brushes tool. Like, maybe you’re accidentally selecting some other type of tool. I’m afraid I’m not entirely all that familiar with Photoshop Elements, though. I haven’t used it in years – I use Photoshop 7, CS, CS2, etc. now. But that’s what it sounds like to me. I’m not sure why the “dancing ants” would be there when using brushes, though, because the dancing ants mean you have something specific selected, and don’t really have much of anything to do with brushes. Having the wrong thing selected could make it so the brushes don’t “take” when you use them, but shouldn’t ERASE them later. So I’m not really sure what could be happening for you other than what I’d mentioned. Sorry I couldn’t help more, and good luck!

  72. Stephanie12

    Hi. Um I don’t know what i’m doing wrong but every time I try to open the brushes into GIMP it says that it doesn’t work and it says unable to read the file. I don’t know what i’m doing wrong but if you can help me i’d really appreciate it!

  73. @Stephanie12: I’m afraid I don’t know GIMP very well! I work mostly in Photoshop. However, it sounds like one of two things is happening. If it’s registering the brushes file, but not wanting to open it, you seem to have it in the right directory. If you unzipped it (which is the first step here, so I’m sure you did), then it sounds like your GIMP isn’t 2.2.6 or later version. Earlier versions won’t use brushes made in Photoshop 7, which is what these are. Any version after 2.2.6 (including the current, if you go re-download it) will work. If that’s not it, then you could try the other folder that I mention (GIMP has 2 places that it will accept brushes, as I list in this tutorial – try the other one).

    Hope this helps!

  74. yany_vory

    tnx a lot…i finaly have a brushes.. =)

  75. P.

    Fantastic! Great site, with thorough instruction to suit noobs like myself. Top Job!

  76. Pen

    why is it showing me that the brushes are read only? i cannot edit the size of the lashes ive installed it in the correct folder.

  77. @Pen: Are you using GIMP or Photoshop? If you’re SURE they’re in the correct folder, also be sure that they’re unzipped. Other than that, I cannot for the life of me think of why they would be showing up as read only. But I assure you it’s not the file!

  78. Phil

    Hi Stephanie,

    I am using Gimp 2.6 and is having the same problem as Pen. I have installed the brushes and can select them but I cannot reduce the size or edit them. I can see the various adjustments in the select window but they are not highlited so they can’t be used. I can confirm what Pen has said the brushes are “read only”.

    Thanks Phil

  79. @Phil: Well, they shouldn’t be. Whatever it is that the two of you are doing, it is different from the hundreds of other GIMP users that successfully use my brushes every day. I’m not sure if it’s the wrong folder (if you’ll notice, I mention two possible destinations for GIMP users), or what. But they CAN be used. I’m sorry that I can’t help you troubleshoot this, as I’m not experienced with GIMP at all. :(

  80. A truly awesome collection of brushes. Thanks so much to the artists who share their talents with us! Now, time to go play!

  81. phil

    Stephanie,

    The brushes work great in Photoshop but not in Gimp 2.6. I have tried every which way to get them to work but haven’t had any luck yet. The installation was done correctly or else I won’t be able to see or select the brushes in the brushes dock window.
    The problem is the brushes are tagged as read only and can’t be resized (and they are huge). There must be something else that I am suppose to do so that Gimp won’t tag as “read only”. Please don’t think that I am blaming the brushes, I was only hoping that one of the successful Gimp users would enlighten me on what I may have overlooked.

  82. @Phil: Hopefully someone will, because I’m afraid I’m not very well versed in GIMP at all. I’ve heard others having the same problem as you, but then others are using them just fine without any difficulty. The only thing I can think of is that with GIMP, they seem to allow you two separate folders that you can put the brushes into. Perhaps try the other one of those folders – the one you’re not currently trying?

    Other than that, I’m not quite sure what to tell you. I’m sorry that I couldn’t help more! You may even want to try to contact GIMP about it, or their forums (assuming they have some), and mention this problem with what are basically Photoshop 7+ brushes (meaning they’re made in Photoshop 7 and work with all versions that came out afterward).

    Good luck, and please let me know if you figure out the answer so I can pass it along to anyone else that may have this problem!

  83. phil

    Hi Stephanie,
    Eureka…. after loading the brushes, double click on the eyelash brush of choice which will bring up the brush editor. Click on the arrow to the far right which will bring up the brush editor, click on Add Tab and then on Tool Options.

  84. phil

    Thanks for the beautiful brushes.

    Kowtow…kowtow….kowtow

  85. Jewel

    Hello,

    I have GIMP 2.6 and I’m having a pitifully hard time loading my brushes onto the GIMP program. I’ve read your instructions over and over again but my small brain can’t exactly understand. I’ve unzipped the brush I want (I believe) and all I really need to know is how to load up that specific brush onto GIMP.

    Many thanks,

    Jewel

  86. lauralee78

    yeah i cant seem to get the brushes into my gimp i have the same program hhhhhheeeeeellllllpppppp!

  87. @lauralee78:The first thing to check is to be sure you have the right version of GIMP. Because there’s thousands of GIMP users out there having no trouble using these, so I KNOW it works. Secondly, try both of the different folders that I mention in this tutorial for where you can store your brushes. If one doesn’t work, the other might. Thirdly, make sure you unzipped the file. :)

    If none of that works, and you still can’t get the brushes loaded, I’m not sure what the problem could be. The only VALID problem that some GIMP users have been having is not being able to MODIFY the brushes once they’re loaded. That’s the only problem I’ve yet to solve (and without owning a copy of GIMP, that’ll be hard) – you should most definitely be able to LOAD them.

    Sorry I couldn’t help more!

  88. Andree'

    I downloaded and unzipped, but they came out as tub extention. What did i do wrong?
    thanks, Andree’

  89. Cassiah

    Thank you so much these brushes are so awesome!!!

  90. Soccersnaz6

    I have GIMP 2.6.6 but it also says GIMP 2. I am completely new to this? Will the brushes work because I tried to download one to see if it would and I don’t think it did. :-/

  91. Horses28222

    Hello Stephanie, I am having trouble with home you install your brushes to make them a zip file. Could you please help me? Oh and also would I be allowed to use your brushes on Howrse.com in the black pearl. If you don’t know what it is, It’s a thing where you make a horse and summit it but the problem is no text is allowed but I could credit you in a forum of mine.

  92. Ajay

    Hey brushes are all so cute and beautifull… Actually i was searching for long time. but now i got it here.

  93. @Horses28222:I’m afraid that in order to use them, you’d need to be able to credit me along with the image. However, you could purchase a license to use them, if you wanted… the licenses are really cheap – only $3 a set.

    I’m not sure where you’re having a problem with the installation… if you give me specifics, I can try to clarify what I have written here in this tutorial for you. But I’m not sure where you’re getting stuck!

    Good luck!

  94. bcponygirl

    Ok, so I have the brushes under documents, under gimp 2.6, under brushes. It still wil not show up in my brushes inventory! Why? Please let me know.

  95. @bcponygirl: Did you unzip the file? Did you “refresh” your brushes in GIMP? (Not sure how to do this, I’m not a GIMP user – but I’ve heard it said many-a-time) If it’s still not working, try putting them in the other file that I mention in this tutorial – the one within your GIMP installation folder… but it should work either place.

    If these don’t help, I’m afraid I’m not sure what to tell you. People have given helpful comments about how to fix little things here and there in the comments of the tutorial, you could try checking through them. I’m a Photoshop user, though, not a GIMP user, so I just don’t know. :(

  96. Mia

    I can’t download this ******* brushes ;(
    and they looks so sweet, im just freaking out. how can i download it … ?

    ( im from slovenia, so i dont know very much about english )

  97. Adorable

    It says that the files are password protected. What’s the password?

  98. i am having problems.i don’t know why but i can’t figure out how to install it.i have adobe photo shop elements 7.0 do your brushes work with that?and how would i install them?this isn’t making much sense to me.I’m only 15.i draw anime a lot so i wanted to add nice designs to my drawings.im sorry for bothering you about this.

    ~keyanna

  99. Ali

    I have GIMP 2.2.6 and I have absolutley NO idea how to install these brushes. I cant find the brushes folder, Im using Windows, Im just so freaked out…! Please help me. Im only 14 and have no idea how to do these things *sigh*.

    ~Ali
    (Aka: VERY CONFUSED PERSON)

  100. @Adorable: There is no password, they aren’t password protected. If your extraction program is saying it needs one, then the download was corrupted. Try to re-download.

    @keyanna: Yes, they’ll work exactly the same in Photoshop Elements 7. Install them the same way this says, by putting them into the apprpriate directory. Make sure you restart photoshop afterwards!

    @Ali: The folder isn’t where I say it should be in this tutorial? There’s two choices – neither one is there?

    C:/program files/Gimp(version)/share/gimp/(version)/brushes

    or

    C:\Documents\.gimp-(version)\brushes

    Make sure you unzip the file (if you’re not sure how to do that, read here: http://www.obsidiandawn.com/how-to-unzip-a-file) first, and then just put the stuff in either of those directories. That’s it, you’re done! It’ll show up with your other brushes.

  101. ok.and thanks so much for helping me.im sorry to bother you

  102. Twistie

    I downloaded the files and unzipped them into My Documents, but when I try to get to C:/program files/Gimp2.6/share/gimp/2.6/brushes my computer says that there isnt a file called that. I tried both of them but neither work =\ I’m not really sure what to do… help? I’m really not a tech person, I’m bad with computers… I wont be surprised if its a stupid mistake I made x]

  103. @Twistie: While I’d love to be able to help you, I’ve never used GIMP in my life. These are primarily Photoshop brushes, but when GIMP added the functionality to be able to USE Photoshop brushes, I added this little part to the tutorial. I’m afraid it’s all that I know as far as installing GIMP brushes. Your best bet is to go to some GIMP forums and find someone that is familiar with how to install Photoshop brushes in GIMP.

    Also, I think there’s maybe been a few people that have explained how they worked around problems installing them in GIMP in the comments – that may help too, but would be time consuming to wade through. :P

    Your other option is to do a search in Windows for “gimp” and find that folder, then look for a brushes folder within it… or just search for “brushes” itself. :) Good luck!

  104. Shatter

    =’( I am trying to download these amazing brushes, and I download them and everything, but what do I do after I extract it * it extrats some where in my documents * I am using Zipeg, But Im not sure can you pleaseeee help me. And also I have tryed it a LONG time, can YOU please tell me how

    =’(((((

  105. Shatter

    Oh and could you maybe do a screen shot with it? *I am very good with screenshots more lol*

  106. Shatter

    Wait,

    Never mind

    NOTE TO ANYONE USING GIMP!!!!!

    What you have to do is this

    After you have unziped the file, go into the file, double click on the file then do this Just use
    Edit -> Copy
    to copy the current layer, and then
    Edit -> Paste as -> New Brush

    This Should help you, it may take longer but I garenty you you will get all your brushes, I hope this helped you all

    =D

  107. Shatter

    Also

    *sorry for so many posts*

    They won’t go in a diffenrent color unless you close gimp and open it again, then your home free, and You must double click on the file, then it will open it up on gimp *if you downloaded it right* then you click Edit> Copy>
    then
    Edit> Paste as> New Brush

    Name your brush and your good =P *I hope this helps you all*

  108. These are brilliant. Thank you. I’m a beginner in the world of digital manipulation and have spent hours trying to create images similar to these. You’ve saved me a great deal of time and hair!!!

  109. I do have a question. I did all what you wrote above but… I want to work with glitterbrushes, as you can find op internet, but when I install it like you explane, then the brush comes out but nothing glitters. Do you have any idea why it doesn’t glitter? Or what I can do to make it glitter?

    Thank you!

  110. Amy

    Hi. I did watch you said to do in the tutorial but it’s not showing up on my Photoshop (7.0) or in the folder. I re-read a few times and did the steps over and over but nothing showed up. I even tried re downloading it and doing it again. When I extracted the file I sent it to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop 7.0\Presets\Brushes. Help ?

  111. Heh. Well, that’s something that brushes are unable to do, really. They will give you the SHAPE of glitter, because that’s what Photoshop & GIMP brushes are, really. In order to make it actually glitter, you’d have to animate it, and that isn’t one of Photoshop’s forte’s, I’m afraid.

    If you’re looking for that kind of effect, most people use Paint Shop Pro for it, I do believe. Although the program is hugely limited as far as what it can do compared to Photoshop, that’s one thing it’s pretty good at. :)

    Sorry I couldn’t help more!

  112. @Amy: Did you restart Photoshop, like it says? It won’t show up on its own until you restart Photoshop.

    If so, and it’s still not showing up, I’m not sure what the problem could be – as long as it’s unzipped and in that folder, then it should be showing up. Here’s an alternative way of loading brushes, though, if they aren’t showing up yet because you just installed them or for whatever reason. Instead of choosing the brush from the list, choose “Replace Brushes” and then browse through and find the ABR file that you want to load up. That’ll always work, as long as the file is unzipped. :)

    Good luck!

  113. silfaen

    hello. i’ve downloaded these brushes but i don’t have a folder named Gimp
    (i am a Windows user).
    I have CS3 Photoshop. Please help me. How should I actually install this. thank you so much!

  114. silfaen

    I forgot to say that i already had unzipped the folderand when I duble-click on it photoshop starts to run but there aren’t no eyelashes brushes . Thanks again!

  115. @silfaen: Yeah, that’s not the way you run them. You sound like you started out alright, but what you need to do is then open Photoshop and load them just like you would any other brushes.

    If you look above in the tutorial, there’s some thumbnails and an explanation – just make sure you’re under the right section! Sounds like you were looking at the GIMP directions. The Photoshop directions are the first ones, before that.

    Hope this helps!

  116. silfaen

    @Stephanie: It works! This is awesome! Thank you!

  117. Mhari

    I done what it said above, i am using gimp, but i cant get the eyelash brushes to come up on the brush tool, i did what it says up there, but it isnt working.. Help.??

  118. Did you restart GIMP? If it’s anything like Photoshop, you need to restart it. I know a few people have offered help in the comments here, too. I’m afraid I’m not a GIMP user, so either that or going to a GIMP forum to ask how to install Photoshop 7 brushes is your best bet. Also make sure you have a newer version of GIMP – the old ones won’t work with Photoshop brushes!

  119. vap

    i tried and tried…but it still won’t download to save my neck…help?

  120. @vap: What is it that won’t download? Something specific? Everything on my website?

    How is it not downloading? Does it not do anything when you click on it, or does it ask you and then not download? Does it give you an error?

    Give me specifics, and I’ll help you. :)

  121. Julie

    i loaded the brushes and they were there but when i changed to a different brush set and then went back to the set i had downloaded and loaded they weren’t there anymore

  122. @Julie: Check my tutorial in the sidebar for installing brushes. That will make sure you installed them correctly. Sounds like an installation problem to me.

    Also, if you don’t restart photoshop before using them, they won’t show up in the list along with the other brushes until you restart it.

    Let me know if neither of those fixes it, and how exactly you’re loading them (if it’s from the list, or if you’re using “Load brushes”, etc)

  123. silv

    Hi, I’m trying to install the Gimp brushes on an Apple iMac running Leopard OSX. The installation tutorial states “For Mac users, it should be within your GIMP directory, wherever you installed it. In most cases, it will be in your applications folder. So something like this:

    /applications/gimp/(version)/brushes”

    However, Gimp is installed as an application folder (.app). So I don;t have a Gimp folder, I have the following:

    /Application/Gimp.app – where should the brushes folder go? I don’t see a brishes folder under the .app folder when I look at it in the Terminal. Thanks for any help.

  124. @silv: Your folder is named Gimp.app? Hmm, that’s an odd one, never seen that. I’m afraid I’m not much of an expert on GIMP. These are really Photoshop brushes, but GIMP added the functionality for them, so I wrote a quick installation for GIMP users, too. I’ve never used it myself. However, there really should be a GIMP folder somewhere on your Mac. Click on the magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner and do a search for “GIMP” and try to find a FOLDER named Gimp. It should be in that folder that you’ll find the brushes folder.

    Good luck!

  125. Silv

    Nevermind, I figured it out.
    Someone on deviantART told me, not much surprise there. xD

    “Okay, first of all once you’ve downloaded all your brushes put them all into the same folder. For example mine is on my desktop named “Gimp brushes.”
    Then you go into GIMP, File” (For me, it was in Edit) “>Preferences. Down the bottom on the options in Preferences there will be the option “Folders”. Click the little arrow symbol on the left of this to expand. Click the “Brushes” option and then you just add your folder with all the brushes into the directory.”

    It worked for me. Hopefully this helps.

    And, now that I’ve gotten the brushes loaded in, I just have to say, very beautiful job on the Arcane brushes. <3

  126. Dianne

    hi, i don’t know how to install brushes in .ai formats. My photoshop only exclusively reads .abr formats; what can i do?

  127. @Dianne: That’s because .ai formats aren’t brushes. If you read the title of those posts, it says that they’re Illustrator vectors. That’s for Illustrator, not Photoshop. You can maybe still open them, but they won’t work as brushes. :) Pretty much everything I have up as Illustrator vectors I also have as brushes, though, so check the brushes section for the same thing!

    Good luck! :)

  128. Evy

    Hey, i installed the Brushes(water,water2,speech bubbles and paint roll)

    All it showed me when i opened them in GIMP that “Unknown File” Ors something like that.

    Whats wrong?

  129. Laura

    Thank you , you have just saved my hair from being torn out! Now I have funky brushes on gimp as well as P-shop , doody-full. thanks!:p

  130. Piper

    I love your brushes! I downloaded the eyelashes for Adobe Photoshop CS3 and I dont know how to get it in.

    I can’t find the Adobe file for the photoshop because the one I have is only for the reader and some other thing! Please help me!

  131. @Piper: Did you read this tutorial? It explains it all! What’s the problem, exactly?

  132. mharj

    hw can i download the brushes??

  133. @mharj: Look under “Brushes” up top, find the set you want, and then click on “DOWNLOAD THE BRUSHES” :)

  134. what do i say… i need help ive installed some brushes for GIMP. but they dont work, can you help me…

    hannah
    x

  135. @Hannah: Sorry, what you read here is about the extent of my knowledge of GIMP. I don’t use GIMP, so I’m not sure how to help you troubleshoot. There’s some people that have made helpful comments in the comments section here, or you could check a GIMP forum for troubleshooting when it comes to using Photoshop brushes in GIMP.

    Good luck!

  136. Cathy V

    Fantastic brushes and great tutorial. Thanks so much

  137. Erica

    OMGosh! You’re awesome! Thanks so much! I love them!

    Quick note to Microsoft Vista and Gimp users: I could not get the brushes to show up at first… you’ll have to “right-click” over Gimp and click “Run as Admin” to get the brushes to appear after install. If you fail to see the brushes after following the posted instructions, I would recommend trying this before trying to re-download.

    Again, many thanks!

  138. Cody-Jane

    heyy, thanks for the brushes, i used to have them on my old laptop (vista) but now i ave windows ultimate , and they dont work, and nothin i can do works, i do exactly what the instructions say, but when i click load brushes, and look for them, the files there, but it is just a file and not like the others, and it says its empty and i have tried everything , would be glad for your help, thanks x

  139. @Cody-Jane: The operating system absolutely should not matter. It’s Photoshop that loads up the brushes, not the OS. Is this the same file as you used before, or did you re-download it? It may have gotten corrupted in the download if it’s a new one, so try re-downloading. Make sure you’re unzipping it, too!

    If you’re still having trouble, please tell me exactly what’s going on so that I can more accurately help you!

  140. Neon

    Oh crap, I have PS 5.0.
    D:

  141. Thank you sooooooooo much for posting this. I downloaded a bunch of cool brushes and couldn’t get them to show up after loading them. I searched all over the internet in various forums and none of the suggestions worked. I even got rid of my old version of photoshop and replaced it with CS4 to see if that would work. This is a very clear and informative set of instructions. Wouldn’t you know it was just because I needed to restart PS? haha. Thanks!

  142. Lynda

    Don’t bother. I have the most recent version of Elements, installed these brushes step-by-step according to the directions here, opened the program and they are NOT in there.

    Complete waste of time.

  143. @Lynda: These step-by-step directions are for Photoshop, NOT Photoshop Elements. I can’t guarantee to you that they’re exactly the same. I CAN guarantee to you that these DO work in ALL versions of Elements from 2 onward. You’re missing something.

    Do a google search for how to install Photoshop Elements brushes, you’ll find about 10,000 tutorials that’ll help you out. :)

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