Have you ever used a brush and thought how pretty it would look, if only you could make it show up in more than one color? Being able to change the color of Photoshop brushes upon application is a beautiful thing, but sometimes the colors on image-based brushes and the like can look rather… flat in color. This tutorial will show you how to add multiple colors to the same brush.
1. First off, start by creating a new layer on top of the Background layer. On the layers palette, click the “Create a New Layer” button on the bottom right (just next to the trash can). Now, on that layer… using black, make a single brush stroke on the canvas using the brush of your choice. I’m using a flower brush, and it looks like this:
2. Now, in the layers palette, right click on that layer, and choose “Layer Properties,” then rename the layer to “Black” so that you know that the color on that layer is…well, black! You should now have a background layer, and this new layer with the black brushstroke on it named “Black.” Now, to add some color! So that you don’t have to paint in everything and hope to “stay in the lines” of where the boundaries of the brush is, we’re going to just duplicate the layer and then you can work with that. Here goes! Right click on the “Black” layer in the layers palette and choose “Duplicate Layer.”
3.Name that layer whatever color you would like to use first. The primary color of my phlox flower is a blue-violet, so I named mine “Blues.” You can rename it either as you duplicate it (it will ask you what to name it) or afterward, if you forget, you can right click on the layer in the layer palette and choose “Layer Properties” just like we did in the first step. Now, on the layers palette, make sure you have the “Blues” layer selected and click on the “f” at the bottom left corner of the layers palette.
4.Choose “Color Overlay” from the dropdown menu, and then pick out a color.
5.You should have an image exactly the same as the original black, but now in whatever color you chose. We’re going to change the way that this layer blends into the entire image, but first we need to get rid of the “color overlay” on this layer (but keep the color, of course!). In the layers palette,click on the layer just beneath the colored layer – in my case, the layer just below my “Blues” layer. Click on the “Create a New Layer” button at the bottom of the layers palette (highlighted in red on the image to the right). It should look like this:
6.Click on the “Blues” layer to select it. In the top menu, choose “Layer” and then “Merge Down” (or hotkey CTRL-E on a PC, CMD-E on a Mac).
7.You’ll probably have to rename your “Blues” layer. Whenever you merge a layer down, it takes on the name of the layer below it. So, do that now using the same way we did it earlier.
Now we want to change the way that the blues layer blends in with the whole image. Select the “Blues” layer by clicking on it in the layer palette. Now click on the “f” at the lower left of the layer palette again. Choose the first option, “Blending Options”:
8.In the menu that pops up, at the top, you’ll want to change that from “Normal” to “Color.”
9.What this is doing is changing it so that this layer now merely changes the color of anything on the layers below it. It does NOT change the luminosity of it, so if you had this over white, it wouldn’t do anything. It would make it a blue white, but a blue white is still white – white doesn’t have any color to it at all. However, when you have gray tones in the layer below, as we do, it adds color to those gray tones to make them blue-grays. I played around with my blues layer and added different tones of blue simply by painting it in. If you didn’t want to actually paint them in, you could add a gradient – with this flower, I added a radial gradient so that the tips were darker and the inner portions had more purples in them:
10.I followed steps 2-8 again, beginning with the duplication of the black layer, and created a layer with yellows and oranges in it. You can do this as many times as you want, with as many layers as you want.. or just with the one beginning layer that you created, if you’d rather put all the colors on one layer. I tend to use separate layers so that if I want to, I can change the hue/saturation of each individual layer.
11.You can do a lot of “playing around” with it afterward by changing the hue/saturation like that, or by changing the lightness/darkness or opacities of each layer (including the black one!). Here’s another image of a pansy where I did just that. The first one is the original, where I have the black layer’s opacity set at only about 60%. The second one is different hues AND the black layer’s opacity is set much higher, at 100%. The third one is different hues again, with the blues on the edges much more saturated and the black layer at a lower opacity, around 30%.
12.If you’re not familiar with where to change the hue and saturation, brightness, etc, it’s under the top menu. Click on “Image” then “Adjustments” then “Hue/Saturation..” A window will pop up that has three bars where you can play around with the colors (hue), how strong or weak that color is (saturation), and the lightness/darkness of that color. As you change them, you’ll see the changes to the image itself, so you can see exactly how it will turn out.
13.That’s it! Now you can do all sorts of things with colors and brushes!
An alternative method that I use sometimes is to make a single black brush stroke on its own layer, then make another layer just beneath it where I “paint” in the colors that I want that brush to have. Just like I’d paint one of my paintings. This method isn’t for everyone, though, and can be difficult to do with just a mouse. So I spent much more time outlining the method above. However, if you’re an artist or would like to do these colors much more intricately, try painting the colors in on a layer below yourself.
Enjoy!
Oooooh, that makes more sense now. whoops. Um…thanks for clearing that up ^^;
This is great. Creating something gives much satisfaction. I never thought I will create my own brush . You are simply a great teacher. Thank you.
it was great to find your website, the fabulous brushes & the tutorials. Thanks so much, made my day!
I don’t get how to put the gradient u used in step 9.PLZ HELP
@Tokidoki247: If you wanted to add a gradient in step 9, that would be done by adding a layer style. Click on the layer you want, then on that small “f” looking icon on the lower left of the layers palette. Choose gradient from the menu, then look for “radial” (ie, a circle) on the screen that pops up. You’ll get a gradient that is one color in the middle and works its way outwards, blending into another color around the edges.
Hope this helps!
I have photoshope elements and am having trouble duplicating your steps…can anyone reading this help me…I am a true beginner and in the learning stages…any help would be greatly appreciated!
@beginner: Yeah, this was made for Photoshop, and the steps for Elements will be a LITTLE bit different. I’m sorry. If I owned a copy of Elements still, I’d help. Your best bet is to look up each step individually. Like when I explain how to make a new layer, which I think is different in Elements… just do an internet search for “make new layer photoshop elements” or somesuch, and you should still be able to follow along.
Pretty sure this is a VERY unique tutorial, so it may be the only way you can follow along.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Thanks so much for this tutorial!!! Thanks for everything you post actually!!! I love your brushes!
ok i followed that but Using color balance does nor do anything
this only adjust color for the dark areas how do i do the light areas like the center of the flower or in mi case the earth land
Like I said, for the amount of colors to show up like it does in my planets preview image, you’d need to hand paint the layer beneath it and maybe even play around with the color blending mode on the top, black layer to get it to look right. I’d really suggest using actual stock photos (images) for the realism, unless you’re used to doing a lot of hand painting and an advanced Photoshop user – and have got lots of time to waste, since using an image for what you’re looking for would be much faster. :)
Good luck!
the color blending does not work no mater what i try
and and now If i try to paint or add somthing it does not work all tools will not work on any layer.
Well, that’s how I made the preview images for the planets brushes, so it CAN be done. But I’ve been using Photoshop for over 10 years now. I would really need a whole tutorial in order to explain how to do this, I’m afraid.
Hi,
I love the webpage and your brushes are fab!
I would love to be able to do this in GIMP. I realize this tut is photoshop specific, but do you know if this is possible using GIMP?
thanx and keep up the inspiring work!
nap
It should be possible. GIMP imitates Photoshop pretty closely in functionality, even though they have completely different ways of actually going through the actions of doing stuff. So, your best bet is to look up how to do certain steps using an internet search. Like, if you get to a point where it says to make a new layer, search for ‘new layer GIMP’ or somesuch, and you should be able to still make it through the tutorial just fine… albeit a bit slowly and painfully. :)
Sorry that I don’t have a GIMP version! I don’t use GIMP.
Tack snälla
Vilken superförklaring
Nu skall jag testa.
Du är fantastisk.
Kramizzzz//Lotta
when i used just a plain brush when i put the overlay color F on that layer it just coloured the whole page not only the brush mark?
It should only overlay with color whatever part of the image you have markings on, so if you only have the brush mark on there, then that’s the only part that it’ll color. So you need to make sure that the prior instructions were followed correctly and you have only a brush mark on that layer. If you have the whole image duplicated on that layer somehow, then it would show up everywhere.
Try making a new layer above an image that you have open, setting the layer blend mode to color, and then use a brush to paint a few strokes. You’ll see what I mean, and that may help you understand what went wrong. :)
Boy, this looks so much better than my old way!
Hi, I downloaded your feathers brush set & want to learn how to make the peacock feather look real. Do you have a tutorial on that? I tried doing what you explained on this tutorial, but it looks wrong. Thanks for everything you do, you are a blessing!
It definitely takes a lot of practice to get that kind of thing working. You really ARE better off with a photo of a real feather, cutting out the background and using that.
However, the way that I usually do it with the very best results is doing it by hand. I put the brush on its own new layer, in black. Then make a new layer beneath it, and paint in the colors by hand. ( I have a graphics tablet, so this is fairly intuitive… doing it with a mouse would be difficult.) It still may not look 100% real, but that’s how I made the preview image here.
Hope this helps!
Hi,
It was really nice to see your tutorial, at least you have mentioned something very specific with color combination, which so far I haven’t seen on any website. I am using CS5 and it didn’t match with your above mentioned pictures. Would it be possible for you to explain, how could I use this tutorial in CS5.
Regards.