Creating Custom Brushes in Paint Shop Pro 9

You like Paint Shop Pro but feel the default brushes just aren't what you're looking for? Would you like to make your own custom brushes but don't know how? Actually, just about any image (that you own, have permission to use, or is in the public domain) can be made into a usable brush in Paint Shop Pro. There are only two requirements - brushes can be no larger than 500px x 500px (500 pixels by 500 pixels) and are always black, white, or various shades of gray.

Open the image in Paint Shop Pro

Resize if necessary, making sure it is no larger than 500px x 500px

Go to Effects->Edge Effects->Enhance Edges. You can choose to repeat this step until you achieve the effect you are looking for. You can also feather the edges for a softer effect. Once satisfied, go to the next step.

Go to Effects->Edge Effects->Trace contours.

Go to Selection->Select All

Now click on the brush tool to activate it. Click on the brush variance you feel works best for the brush you are making (for example - Fuzz Soft or Marble1 or Marble2 work well for grunge brushes)

Now click on "Create brush tip from a selection" button which is the second button on the bottom right

At this dialog box give your brush an easy descriptive name. The other areas are not necessary.

You can save your new brush to the default brush location, or if you would like to keep them organized you may create a separate folder to save them in.

With the Create Brush Tip dialog box still open, click on Edit Paths. Click on Create Subfolder and name the folder. Then click on the browse for new folder button.

Navigate to My Documents\My PSP 9 Files\ brush folder then click OK

Click on the down arrow in the Save to: area and choose the folder you just created. Click OK.

Click OK on the Create Brush Tip dialog box. Then click OK again. Your brush should now be listed.

Follow the steps above to create as many brushes as you wish. You don't need to create a separate folder with each new brush, just check the path before you save it.

If you decide you don't like the brush you've created and want to delete it, you will actually have to delete two files - BrushTip_nameof brush.PspScript and the nameofbrush.PspBrush.