Greeting!  Have you ever wanted to use brushes, but just weren’t sure how?  I’d like to shed a little light on how to use brushes!  This tutorial was created using PhotoShop CS3, but works in other versions too.

Once you’ve decided to use a brush, make a new layer.  Adding a brush to an existing layer will limit you flexibility.

Once you have your layer open, you can add brushes to your design, one of two ways.  The first way I’m going to demonstrate is the quickest.  Navigate to your tool bar and select your brush too (shortcut key B).

Next select your brush.  I’ve selected one of Cinnamon Design’s fabulous Brush Circles!  You can adjust the size before you add it to your canvas, if you’d like.  You maintain better quality by adjust the size before you add it to your canvas.

Now “stamp” it onto your page, being careful to ensure it is completely captured within your canvas!  You should see an outline of the brush when you hover over you canvas.   Left click once to add your brush.    Feel free to move it around or apply different layer styles (colors, patterns, gradients, etc) or change the blending options and/or opacity.

If you want to do something advanced, you can add brushes using the brush palette.  To use your brush palette, you can either hit F5 or go to Window -> Brushes.

Once you have your brush palette up, select brush tip shape, you can flip or rotate your brush as desired.  You can also experiment with all of the other features within the palette.

Voile, here is the finished product with two brush layers!

Happy scrapping!
Sheri (SeattleSheri)