A question about brush presets.

can you set personal brush presets for individual brushes? for example can i set one brush with shape dynamics, texture, smoothing, and have a different brush with different settings. it seems that whenever i try to create a custom brush and alter these settings it does so to all my brushes. i'm kinda new to brush creation, i rarely try to alter the settings or try to reate a brush.

I suspect you may not fully appreciate the matter yet.
Assuming you work with CS5 it sounds like you set your Dynamics etc. and then change the Brush Tip instead of saving that Preset and, if you want to do so, switch to another Preset in the Brush Presets Panel.

Similar Messages

Questions about brushes

Hello !
Because i see some posts like "Determine number of brushes" (Thanks c.pfaffenbichler) that give informations in a magic way, i begin to think that i am perhaps wasting my time on tricky scripts that can be in fact replaced by some secret but simple actions.
My purpose is to build a better environment for painting.
The first step is to assign to each layer a specific context: Each layer must own a brush with properties, fg and bg colors, etc...
As soon as a layer is selected its context is made current : current brush and diameter, current colors, etc...
I already wrote a script that works fine. It catches events in order to record current informations like the current brush, because this information is not accessible with objects (on the contrary for instance the foreground color is accessible with app.foregroundColor).
But this script could be perhaps made a lot simplier if some infos can be obtained directly.
So the best is to ask all my pending questions, because you certainly have the answers.
When my script will be ready, i will publish it for free (i swear).
1/ How to get the current tool ?
2/ How to get the current brush ?
3/ How to get the properties of the current brush ?
3a/ How to get the brush diameter ?
3b/ How to get and set the brush opacity ?
3c/ How to get and set the brush flow ?
3d/ How to get and set other brush properties ?
4/ What is the format of an .ABR file (where to find a doc about this format) ?
5/ How to call a .exe
Thank you for your answers on one or on several points above.

Thank you Paul!
I found this simple script that is enough to access to a lot of infos:
var ref = new ActionReference();
ref.putEnumerated( charIDToTypeID("capp"), charIDToTypeID("Ordn"), charIDToTypeID("Trgt") );
var Desc = executeActionGet(ref);
For instance below is a part of this descriptor: the currentToolOptions (printed with the "actionViewer" script i wrote).
So to get opacity, flow and other properties is no more a problem.
Key[0]:"flow" = Integer(41),
Key[1]:'prVr' = Object(Type='brVr',
    Key[0]:'bVTy' = Integer(0),
    Key[1]:'fStp' = Integer(25),
    Key[2]:"jitter" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=0)
Key[2]:'opVr' = Object(Type='brVr',
    Key[0]:'bVTy' = Integer(2),
    Key[1]:'fStp' = Integer(25),
    Key[2]:"jitter" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=0)
Key[3]:"mode" = Enumerated(Type="blendMode", Val="normal"),
Key[4]:"opacity" = Integer(43),
Key[5]:"brush" = Object(Type="computedBrush",
    Key[0]:"diameter" = UnitDouble(Type="pixelsUnit", Val=13),
    Key[1]:"hardness" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=100),
    Key[2]:"angle" = UnitDouble(Type="angleUnit", Val=0),
    Key[3]:"roundness" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=100),
    Key[4]:"spacing" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=25),
    Key[5]:"interfaceIconFrameDimmed" = Boolean(true),
    Key[6]:"flipX" = Boolean(false),
    Key[7]:"flipY" = Boolean(false)
Key[6]:"useTipDynamics" = Boolean(true),
Key[7]:"flipX" = Boolean(false),
Key[8]:"flipY" = Boolean(false),
Key[9]:"minimumDiameter" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=0),
Key[10]:"minimumRoundness" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=25),
Key[11]:"tiltScale" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=200),
Key[12]:'szVr' = Object(Type='brVr',
    Key[0]:'bVTy' = Integer(2),
    Key[1]:'fStp' = Integer(25),
    Key[2]:"jitter" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=0)
Key[13]:"angleDynamics" = Object(Type='brVr',
    Key[0]:'bVTy' = Integer(0),
    Key[1]:'fStp' = Integer(25),
    Key[2]:"jitter" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=0)
Key[14]:"roundnessDynamics" = Object(Type='brVr',
    Key[0]:'bVTy' = Integer(0),
    Key[1]:'fStp' = Integer(25),
    Key[2]:"jitter" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=0)
Key[15]:"useScatter" = Boolean(false),
Key[16]:"texture" = Object(Type="pattern",
    Key[0]:"name" = String("Canvas"),
    Key[1]:"ID" = String("bdc82908-af3b-11d5-9188-9025d38e8e3b")
Key[17]:"textureScale" = UnitDouble(Type="percentUnit", Val=100),
Key[18]:"invertTexture" = Boolean(true),
Key[19]:"protectTexture" = Boolean(false),
Key[20]:"useTexture" = Boolean(false),
Key[21]:"dualBrush" = Object(Type="dualBrush",
    Key[0]:"useDualBrush" = Boolean(false)
Key[22]:"useColorDynamics" = Boolean(false),
Key[23]:"wetEdges" = Boolean(false),
Key[24]:"noise" = Boolean(false),
Key[25]:"smoothing" = Boolean(true),
Key[26]:"usePaintDynamics" = Boolean(false),
Key[27]:"repeat" = Boolean(false),
Key[28]:"foregroundColor" = Object(Type="RGBColor",
    Key[0]:"red" = Double(0),
    Key[1]:"grain" = Double(0),
    Key[2]:"blue" = Double(0)
The whole descriptor gives 90KB of data, with the current tool, the list of loaded brushes (presetManager), etc.. It is magic.
Unfortunalty, some other important infos seem to not be present, like for instance the name of the current brush.
Is there some other ActionDescriptors to get somewhere ?

Question about Aperture Presets

I've been using Aperture 3 for a few years now and have collected a number of adjustment presets. I was wondering if there is a way of finding out by looking at a any particular version which preset might have been used on that image? It's easy to tell if adjustments have been made to any image, but not if the adjustments made were part of a preset or not. I know I can lift and stamp any adjustments, but sometimes I'd like to know what preset was used to make a particular version. As an example, I've recently been using VSCO Film presets with some pretty good results, and often times I'll go back to a particular image and I can't tell if the adjustments I made were part of a VSCO Film preset and which particular preset was used. Is there a simple way of finding this out? Does anyone else think this would be a good thing to be able to find out?
Thanks.

I use Keywords for external editors (PTLens, PS, Hugin, various Nik tools, etc.), but I would advise you to think hard on whether you want to use them for Adjustment Presets. As Frank pointed out, the Preset is in no way absolute: it's simply a collection of Adjustments, any one of which can be disabled, changed, or deleted. It's simply a way to batch-apply Adjustments.
All the information you need to know about what you've done to create a Version from a Master is directly in front of you: the Bricks and their settings as shown in the Adjustments tab of the Inspector. You can likely tell at a glance if you started with your VSCO Preset.
You might get part-way to your goal by creating Smart Folders that filter for Images that have all of the Adjustments used in your Preset. Of course the grouping "these Adjustments are included in Preset X" is not likely to be unique.

Question about naming brushes

I customized an existing brush (i.e., I specified a list of settings), then used the Brush>Create New Brush button to save the preset. The dialogue box offered the name Double01.jpg as the name of the new brush, which I changed to BullFur_1. In the Brush Presets panel, the new brush does appear as BullFur_1. However, in the Brush panel's matrix of Brush Tip Shapes, the new brush appears as Double01.jpg. This is just a duplicate of the original brush, which was customized to make the new brush. I would think every instance or representation of the new brush would have the name BullFur_1. Does Photoshop distinguish between naming the brush and naming the brush tip shape? Not that this is a big problem, but duplicating the original brush tip shape as Double01.jpg just adds clutter to the matrix of brush tips. I'd like to keep that as clean as possible.

If you connect your brush-stroked line to a basic non-brushed line, it
will change to the non-brushed line appearance. Maybe set up a graphic
style so it will be easier to switch back to the desired look.
-JM

How to save tool presets as brush presets?

I have some tool presets that would be very useful, but I normally just go to brush presets, which i have organized and which provide greater flexibility. Is there a way to turn "tool" into a "brush"? Going through defining brush presets, forced me to adjust all kind of things, but as tool presets they are already perfect. There has to be a way to do it easier! Hope you can help.

gener7 wrote:
Btw, just heard LinkIn just brought Lynda.com. Hope it doesn't become a train wreck under the new management.
Gene
I'll ad a giant AOL 'Me Too' to that Gene. I don't blame Lynda and Bruce when there is $1.5b on the table, but I think it a sad reflection on our times that a dot.com that has questionable worth to our society, can afford to pay so much money for a genuinely useful service like Lynda.com. Apparently they started with $20k and have built it up with no outside help, so they are sitting pretty right now.
My concern is that the focus of Lynda.com does not shift even remotely towards business type courses, and away from creative. BTW I am absolutely loving my Lynda subscription. It seems that no matter what the subject, if you ever get stuck on something, there is a world class course to put you straight. As regards Photoshop, I considered myself at least an expert, yet I have been able to find game changing new tips on almost a daily basis. Or sometimes just a better way of doing things. It absolutely helps to go into the expert courses with a good working knowledge, because it means you pick up the content straight away, and hopefully remember it.
Somebody was smiling down on me the day I was about to commit $250 for a year's subscription, and literally as I sat down at the computer, there was a ping to tell me a new email had arrived, and it turned out to be offering that same subscription for $150. I suspect the apparent coincidence was driven by my recent visits to the site, but if that email had arrived ten minutes latter, I'd have been down a $100. :-)

Question about size of ints in Xcode

Hello. I have a a few quick questions about declaring and defining variables and about their size and so forth. The book I'm reading at the moment, "Learn C on the Mac", says the following in reference to the difference between declaring and defining a variable:
A variable declaration is any statement that specifies a variables name and type. The line *int myInt;* certainly does that. A variable definition is a declaration that causes memory to be allocated for the variable. Since the previous statement does cause memory to be allocated for myInt, it does qualify as a definition.
I always thought a definition of a variable was a statement that assigned a value to a variable. If a basic declaration like "int myInt;" does allocate memory for the variable and therefore is a definition, can anyone give me an example of a declaration that does not allocate memory for the variable and therefore is not a definition?
The book goes on, a page or so late, to say this:
Since myInt was declared to be of type int, and since Xcode is currently set to use 4-byte ints, 4 bytes of memory were reserved for myInt. Since we haven't placed a value in those 4 bytes yet, they could contain any value at all. Some compilers place a value of 0 in a newly allocated variable, but others do not. The key is not to depend on a variable being preset to some specific value. If you want a variable to contain a specific value, assign the value to the variable yourself.
First, I know that an int can be different sizes (either 4 bytes or 8 bytes, I think), but what does this depend on? I thought it depended on the compiler, but the above quote makes it sound like it depends on the IDE, Xcode. Which is it?
Second, it said that Xcode is currently set to use 4-byte ints. Does this mean that there is a setting that the user can change to make ints a different size (like 8 bytes), or does it mean that the creators of Xcode currently have it set to use 4-byte ints?
Third, for the part about some compilers giving a newly allocated variable a value of 0, does this apply to Xcode or any of its compilers? I assume not, but I wanted to check.
Thanks for all the help, and have a great weekend!

Tron55555 wrote:
I always thought a definition of a variable was a statement that assigned a value to a variable. If a basic declaration like "int myInt;" does allocate memory for the variable and therefore is a definition, can anyone give me an example of a declaration that does not allocate memory for the variable and therefore is not a definition?
I always like to think of a "declaration" to be something that makes no changes to the actual code, but just provides visibility so that compilation and/or linking will succeed. The "definition" allocates space.
You can declare a function to establish it in the namespace for the compiler to find but the linker needs an actual definition somewhere to link against. With a variable, you could also declare a variable as "extern int myvar;". The actual definition "int myvar;" would be somewhere else.
According to that book, both "extern int myvar;" and "int myvar;" are declarations, but only the latter is a definition. That is a valid way to look at it. Both statements 'delcare' something to the compiler, but on the second one 'define's some actual data.
First, I know that an int can be different sizes (either 4 bytes or 8 bytes, I think), but what does this depend on? I thought it depended on the compiler, but the above quote makes it sound like it depends on the IDE, Xcode. Which is it?
An "int" is supposed to be a processor's "native" size and the most efficient data type to use. A compiler may or may not be able to change that, depending on the target and the compiler. If a compiler supports that option and Xcode supports that compiler and that option, then Xcode can control it, via the compiler.
Second, it said that Xcode is currently set to use 4-byte ints. Does this mean that there is a setting that the user can change to make ints a different size (like 8 bytes), or does it mean that the creators of Xcode currently have it set to use 4-byte ints?
I think that "setting" is just not specifying any option to explicitly set the size. You can use "-m32" or "-m64" to control this, but I wouldn't recommend it. Let Xcode handle those low-level details.
Third, for the part about some compilers giving a newly allocated variable a value of 0, does this apply to Xcode or any of its compilers? I assume not, but I wanted to check.
I don't know for sure. Why would you ask? Are you thinking of including 45 lines of macro declarations 3 levels deep to initialize values based on whether or not a particular compiler/target supports automatic initialization? Xcode current supports GCC 3.3, GCC 4.0, GCC 4.2, LLVM GCC, CLang, and Intel's compiler for building PPC, i386, and x86_64 code in both debug and release, with a large number of optimization options. It doesn't matter what compiler you use or what it's behavior is - initialize your variables in C.

Question about battery maintenance and longevity

I have a question about the efficacy of the built-in battery maintenance of the Lenovo Power Manager utility; specifically how it pertains to my W520, if that makes any difference.
With my previous laptop (an HP), any time I knew it would be parked on my desk for a week or longer, I would manually discharge the battery to about 40% and remove it to run the machine on AC power only. This proved to be an excellent practice that enabled the battery to work like new for three solid years. As soon as I stopped bothering with that, the battery life started dropping like a stone.
Lenovo's power manager offers the option to maintain the battery automatically or manually override it to maintain a charge within specific range. But I am wondering: how well this will work in the long run as compared to handling it manually? And how do the two options (automatic and manual range) compare with eachother in terms of maintaining long term?
I currently use the manual setting and keep it between 40% and 45%.

I would put into manual, you have more control. Automatic follows a preset rule, which may not apply in every case or battery model.
Regards,
Jin Li
May this year, be the year of 'DO'!
I am a volunteer, and not a paid staff of Lenovo or Microsoft

Saving brush presets

Sorry if this is a pretty low-level question but… I need help with brush presets in Photoshop CC.
When I switch between brushes, the brush properties (Shape Dynamics/Transfer etc) of the currently selected brush seem to apply themselves to the next brush I select, even when it has not been saved with those presets. So for example when I am working with a custom, soft brush I created – with no 'shape dynamics' but with 'transfer' applied – when I then switch to another saved brush which has been saved with 'shape dynamics' applied but no 'transfer' applied, it doesn't seem to change the properties. It just applies to the next brush the 'transfer' and 'no shape dynamics' presets of the previous brush. I don't think I encountered this problem when using Photoshop CS4 which I worked with previously.
I would imagine it is something simple, but can someone explain what I need to do so that when I switch between brushes they default back to the presets I applied when I saved them?
Thanks,
Alex

Thank you for your response, but in so far as I can see, this video doesn't solve the problem. Someone has actually asked the same question as I in the comments under the video. I tried saving a the brushes as a new preset as shown in the video but it still doesn't switch all the applied settings (shape dynamics, scattering or whatever): when you switch brushes – it seems to apply the setting globally to any brush you select. Very frustrating! Thanks though.

Photoshop CS6 Brush Preset Picker Problem

Hello
I'd like to know if it's possible to tidy up my PSCS 6 Brush Preset Picker? Please see image.
My brushes are installed here: C:/Program Files/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop CS6 (64bit)/Presets/Brushes
I can't seem to find any other location that would be causing this issue. It's only happened since I installed CS6.
Thanks for any help or advice
Diane

Thanks for the response. I realise there are duplicates. My question is how do I delete the duplicates from the picker? They're aren't duplicates in the actual folders. I've also organised the brushes into folders, restarted photoshop, rebooted and the problem is the same.
Anyone know where the duplicates might be located on my pc? Or how to delete them in the picker?
Thanks

Can't keep brush presets in preferred size order

I know this is anal, but I like to keep my brush presets arranged in order of size from larger to smaller, top to bottom. Now, after using CS3 for about 6 months, then adding OS 10.5.5, I can't keep them in order. It's like the battery is dying or something. Every time I start up Photoshop, that is every day, I have to go into the Presets Manager and rearrange everything all over again. It's driving me crazy. Note: they always de-arrange into the same order; maybe it's the order I originally wrote them in. I don't know. I don't care. What do I have to do? I'm on a G5 PM 2GHz w/ 1.5 GB RAM.

Thanks for the post. I dug in a bit further. To recap: I've arranged the tool/brush presets just so. If I quit Photoshop, restart or shutdown, upon start, the presets have reverted to a different order. Always the same order, just not the order I left them in. Every single time. The battery is fine. I tested it. Time and date are fine, and all other PRAM details are OK. I keep a Test User, tried that, and I get the same problem. I don't use the bracket keys. I Called Adobe TS and the agent assured me, after on-the-spot testing, that no version of CS in combo with Tiger or Leopard has EVER maintained a list of brush presets in a specific order. All I can say to that is, quote: "Horse puckey", unquote. IF that is the case, then A: What the heck is the Preset Manager for? B: what was happening here in my computer for the past ten years or so? and C: If the Preset Manager can manage to keep the brush SIZE presets arranged in the user-defined sequence ad nauseum, why is it impossible to keep the brush TOOL presets in a user-defined sequence? Can anybody help? I'm getting tired of poking the Preset Manager every day.

How do I restore my brush presets?

My brush presets are gone. How do i retore them?

Hello and welcome!
Select the brush preset icon. you can also access it by going to Window > Brush Presets.
This brings up the Brush Preset window. Click the down arrow on the right side, as shown below. Select "Reset Brushes". This should reset your brushes.
Please post back if you have any questions.
Janelle

Problems with brushes showing in Brush Preset fly-out window - CS6

I've loaded a set of brushes I created into CS6. They show up fine in the menu bar brush window, in the Preset Manager, in the Brush Preset palette above my layers palette, but they will not appear in the brush preset fly-out window. This is where I do all the manipulating of my brushes, of course, so this is essential. I have created many, many brushes and done this many, many times and have never had this problem. Any thoughts on what's going on? PS CS6 on a Mac.

Hi there! Because the forum you originally posted in is for beginners trying to learn the basics of Photoshop, I moved your question to the Photoshop General Discussion forum, where you'll get more specialized help.

Question about the animated Pen tool

Hi,
ive a question about the animated pen-tool.
i draw a word, but my hand isnt very calm, so the result is what you see on the screenshot.
Is there a possibility to reduce the points on the animated pen tool like in illustrator?
i know in illustrator its possible, but i didnt found anything in after effects to do it.
thanks for your help

If you are using the Paint tools those options don't exist in After Effects. The only work around is to set a keyframe for the brush path, copy the keyframe, then go to Illustrator and in a blank document the same size as your layer paste. Once in Illustrator you can simplify the path, select it, copy it, then go back to After Effects and select the same keyframe then paste. If you get a mask instead of a new path delete the mask path, make sure you have only the original brush path keyframe selected, then go to Edit>Paste from the menu.
It doesn't look like you're drawing a mask path. That might be a better way to go.

Techie Question about iWeb, outbound links, and Google Analytics

Hi,
I have a kind of pretty technical question about using Google Analytics (GA) with iWeb sites to measure clicks on outbound links. Here's the setup:
1) My website's online, and GA is working properly.
2) I don't sell stuff directly, but I do have a "Purchase" page which contains a link to a specific Amazon page.
3) I'm pretty sure I can measure how many people go to the Purchase page using GA, but how do I measure whether visitors click on the Amazon link? It would be interesting to me to be able to gauge what the conversion rate is; that is, how many people actually proceed to purchase the product at Amazon.
I've checked the GA instructions and there's a page about manually tracking clicks on outbound links but it requires some code inputting. I know zero about coding, but I'm pretty sure that in iWeb you can't get access to the source code to input the required code.
Am I wrong about this? And if I am, then does anyone here know how to measure the clickthrough rate?
Anyway, hope you can help. Thanks in advance.

I don't know about the link tracking but you could have the link take you to a redirect page which automatically sends them to Amazon.com after a preset time, 0 seconds to whatever you'd like. You can put a counter on that redirect page, like StatCounter. StatCounter can tell you how many, from where they came, i.e country and area, repeat visits, etc.
Tutorials #12 & #13 describe how to put a visible counter on a page but with a redirect page you wouldn't have to bother since it wouldn't be seen. You can get all of your information from your account on the StatCounter site.
The redirect page would be a simple plain text page titled redirect.html and would look like this:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="refresh"
content="0; Destination URL">
<title>Redirecting or whatever you'd like to appear at the top of the browser</title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
0 Is the number of seconds to wait before redirecting the visitor. If set to zero the visitor would not know they were being redirected. Replace Destination URL with the Amazon URL you want them to go to.
OT

Questions about CUDA

Hi there.
Just bought new station, with NVIDIA Quadro 4000 included, and I'm trying to get my head around this mess:)
Can you please help me with those questions:
1) Is Quadro 4000 fully supported by CS5?
2) Should I download some special soft and plug ins to fell the kick it should provide?
3) What about this RENDERING confusion, it's clearly said in hundreds of videos online that Rendering should be a lot faster (h264 and such). And it isn't. Also there is a MainConcept 5.1 codec - is it for real? From creators of it:
"Main Concept 5.1 gives CUDA H.264/AVC Encoding support for NVIDIA GPU accelerated H.264/AVC encoding for selected presets"
4) My playback isn't smooth at all:( I've got new station with 12Gb ram, RAID, i7 quadcore and Quadro 4000, edeiting standard h264 DSLR 1080p footage. I didn't even tryied famous 9 in 1 playing realtime, it's getting choppy with 2 already:/
GPU acceleration is on, everything seems to work fine. I'm confused. Moreover, my friend got exactly the same PC station only with cheap regular Geforce, and actually i don't see any difference. Am I doing something wrong or was I just tricked by Nvidia superb marketing? And it brings me to:
5) Most important: can You please advice us how to SETUP and use PREMIERE PRO, PHOTOSHOP, and such to take most of Quadro? Web is overrun with videos about how great and 10x faster it will be when you buy it;), but totally confusing when it comes to real advices.
Thanks a lot Todd

> 1) Is Quadro 4000 fully supported by CS5?
Yes.
> 3) What about this RENDERING confusion, it's clearly said in hundreds of
videos online that Rendering should be a lot faster (h264 and such).
And it isn't.
Rendering is the creation of images. That's faster. Encoding/compression takes those images and converts them to a specific format. That's not accelerated by CUDA in Premiere Pro CS5.
> Also there is a MainConcept 5.1 codec - is it for real? From creators of it:
"Main Concept 5.1 gives CUDA H.264/AVC Encoding support for NVIDIA GPU accelerated H.264/AVC encoding for selected presets"
Yes, MainConcept offers some additional software that uses CUDA to accelerate encoding/compression. That's separate from what Premeire Pro CS5 offers. If you have questions about that, then you should ask MainConcept.
> 4) My playback isn't smooth at all:( I've got new station with 12Gb
ram, RAID, i7 quadcore and Quadro 4000, edeiting standard h264 DSLR
1080p footage. I didn't even tryied famous 9 in 1 playing realtime, it's getting choppy with 2 already:/
GPU
acceleration is on, everything seems to work fine. I'm confused.
Moreover, my friend got exactly the same PC station only with cheap
regular Geforce, and actually i don't see any difference. Am I doing
something wrong or was I just tricked by Nvidia superb marketing?
Have you installed the Premiere Pro CS5 (5.0.3) update? What operating system?
The CUDA acceleration only accelerates some things. If you have bottlenecks elsewhere, then those will still slow you down. For example, if you aren't using multiple fast local hard disks (one for OS and applications, one for source media, one for output files) then you'll have poor performance.

A question about brush presets.

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