After a two month hiatus, I figured I had to come back with something good. I don’t know about you, but when I need a good Photoshop brush, it can take me a long time to find one. I have to search through several sites or more to find what I need, and sometimes I come up empty handed.
I’ve tried to ease the brush-seeking task a bit by presenting a list of the 101 best brush sets I could find. That’s over 2,700 brushes! I’ve done a lot of searching for these (and have tested all of them, as the screenshots can attest). As a result, I believe this is one of the best collections of Photoshop brushes out there.
When considering a brush for inclusion, I looked at two things: (1) aesthetics and (2) usefulness. If the brush looked good, I thought about whether it was useful. To me, usefulness has a lot to do with flexibility. Can the brush be used anywhere in the design, or only on the edges? Is it large enough? Does it require me to dress it up, or can I just plop it down and have it look good?
Be sure to read the individual licenses for these brushes before using them, and give credit to their respective authors when and where it is due. Out of respect for the individual authors, I have linked directly to their download pages, where possible. Click any thumbnail to visit the download page.
To make it easier to browse this large collection, I’ve separated the brush sets into 5 categories so you can skip to what you’re after:
- Vintage and Retro
- Typography
- Ornaments, Borders, Splatters, and Flourishes
- Grunge and Urban
- Abstract
- The Kitchen Sink
Click here for a quick lesson on how to install Photoshop brushes.
Vintage and Retro
1. 19th Century Advertisements (6 brushes)
Highly detailed (2500 px). I only wish there were more.
2. Book Ornaments (8 brushes)
I am a sucker for weathered ornaments.
3. Architectural Ornaments (17 brushes)
Easily some of the coolest brushes I've ever seen. Very detailed.
4. Dirigibles (12 brushes)
Because...why not?
5. Vintage Hands (14 brushes)
A gold mine for those who (like me) love vintage.
6. Vintage Hats (25 brushes)
7. Victorian Ladies (10 brushes)
8. Paper Works (12 brushes)
Large, detailed, and unusual paper samples.
9. 1920s Electrical Schematics (33 brushes)
10. 1940s Advertisements (48 brushes)
A very fun variety of ads and quotes from 1940s Americana.
11. Halftone Retro Dots (6 brushes)
These large brushes work great with retro designs.
12. More Halftone Retro Dots (18 brushes)
Includes spirals, waves, and 6 different shapes.
13. Grungy Retro Things (9 brushes)
Typography
14. Japanese Writing (14 brushes)
These work great as part of an abstract background.
15. Kanji (24 brushes)
This is a nice set because each Kanji is a separate brush. The grunge effects are mine.
16. Handwriting (47 brushes)
A nice variety, from kindergarten scrawls to kanji.
17. Grungy Typography (24 brushes)
A great variety here: peeling posters, crumpled paper, pitted metal...
18. Graffiti Letters (133 brushes)
Four separate letter styles for the entire alphabet, plus numbers and special characters.
19. Punch Label (41 brushes)
Includes the entire alphabet, numbers, a space, and two grungy backgrounds.
20. Postage Marks (31 brushes)
Slightly distressed postmarks from around the world.
21. Stamps and Postmarks (20 brushes)
Ornaments, Borders, Splatters, and Flourishes
22. Unique Borders (39 brushes)
Highly detailed, ornate brushes useful for art nouveau and vintage designs.
23. Deco Elements (239 brushes)
Simple (but useful) decorative flourishes.
24. Ornaments (40 brushes)
Slightly whimsical floral dividers, wreaths, and flourishes.
25. Blood Splatters (27 brushes)
You don't have to be morbid; also useful for general liquid puddles and splatters.
26. Paint Splatters (11 brushes)
These are perfect for adding a grungy effect. Nice and large, too.
27. More Paint Splatters (13 brushes)
More fun splatters. Some have hard edges.
28. Flourishes (26 brushes)
These flourishes remind me of the 1977 animated release of The Hobbit.
29. Twirly Borders (18 brushes)
Good for use on the edges of your design.
30. Arabesques (90 brushes)
An arabesque is an ornamental pattern, often depicting foliage or animals.
31. Borders and Corners (8 brushes)
I included these brushes because they are so unusual.They remind me of a Tim Burton film.
32. Tribals (32 brushes)
33. More Ornaments (40 brushes)
Simply excellent. A wide variety of large, high-quality brushes.
34. Japanese Stencils (10 brushes)
Follow in the footsteps of Hokusai. I recommend using shades of red.
35. Lace (8 brushes)
For your next Martha Stewart project.
36. Embroidery (8 brushes)
37. Yet More Ornaments (10 brushes)
There are three other sets like this, but I had to pick one.
38. Celtic Knots (34 brushes)
I have to represent my heritage somewhere...
39. Flowers (19 brushes)
40. Even More Ornaments (10 brushes)
The most detailed set of ornaments I've yet seen.
41. Hand Drawn Flourishes (8 brushes)
Very large and intricate hand drawn brushes. Impressive!
42. Liquid Stains and Splatters (29 brushes)
There are a lot of splatter brush sets out there, and this is one of the best.
43. Coffee Stains (22 brushes)
These are the best coffee stain brushes out there. I've looked.
44. Watercolor Paint Strokes (20 brushes)
Not as heavy as the other splatter sets, and very large.
45. Grungy Borders (10 brushes)
Grunge and Urban
46. Grungy Graffiti Elements (32 brushes)
An eclectic mix of objects and backgrounds. Perfect for emo band collateral.
47. Urban Graffiti Elements (29 brushes)
These remind me of something you'd see in a high schooler's notebook.
48. Gatecrasher Arrows (40 brushes)
These are a notable exception to the dull world of arrow brushes.
49. Grungy Borders (7 brushes)
These are some of my all-time favorites.
50. Cracks and Walls (12 brushes)
51. Grunge and Rust (17 brushes)
I like to have at least a few"cloudy" brush sets in my collection. This is a great one.
52. Grungy Cracks (9 brushes)
53. Grunge in Motion (6 brushes)
54. Sketchbook Scribbles (21 brushes)
Just the sort of random stuff you'd expect to find in a bored student's notebook.
55. Textures (21 brushes)
A great set for creating backgrounds. All of the brushes scatter.
56. Graffiti (41 brushes)
Insanely detailed and extra large. Several are designed for use on the edges.
57. Paper (25 brushes)
58. Grungy Wings (10 brushes)
Very original. Five pairs of wings.
59. Grungy Music Brushes (17 brushes)
Abstract
60. Arcane Circles & Symbols (23 brushes)
Some of the coolest brushes I've ever seen. Neat glow effect included.
61. Sunbursts (28 brushes)
A sunburst (or paperburst) is a popular effect. Now you don't have to make your own. These are large enough (1280 px) to cover most areas (at least on the web).
62. More Sunbursts (15 brushes)
63. Fractals (16 brushes)
All of these brushes have hard edges, which means you may have to use layer masks (on areas larger than 660 px) to blend them into your background.
64. More Fractals (25 brushes)
I like these fractals more than the previous ones, since they don't have hard edges.
65. Yet More Fractals (7 brushes)
These fractals have more of a defined shape than the others.
66. Light Beams (26 brushes)
A wide variety of angles, and large (1500 px and up).
67. Abstract (12 brushes)
These may have a more limited application, but are too cool not to include.
68. Light Spots (9 brushes)
The three scatter brushes allow you to create some very neat effects.
69. More Light Spots (23 brushes)
This set has more variety than the previous one, with some blur. All scatter.
70. Abstract Light (19 brushes)
Very unusual (cool) shapes with built in lighting effects.
71. Smoke (6 brushes)
72. Abstract Shapes and Arrows (30 brushes)
A nice collection of random shapes and arrows. Includes 5 scatter brushes.
73. More Abstract (10 brushes)
Some fractal-style brushes, and some that you can't classify. Very, very cool.
74. Frost (26 brushes)
- Most of these brushes scatter, so this is a great set for creating wintry backgrounds.
75. Clouds (10 brushes)
Simply stunning.
76. Beyond the Mist (9 brushes)
A very original and well done set. Good for use at the bottom of a design.
77. Galaxies & Nebulae (14 brushes)
While some of these brushes have hard edges, they are very, very cool.
78. Stars (20 brushes)
A very nice set of star clusters and nebulae.
79. Scan Lines (10 brushes)
Vista wallpapers in a snap!
80. Rings (15 brushes)
Includes 9 scatter brushes.
81. Blood Cells (25 brushes)
Damn these are fun! All but 4 of the brushes scatter.
The Kitchen Sink
82. Hair (5 brushes)
Incredibly detailed brushes. They work best along the edges of your design.
83. Fingerprints (81 brushes)
These will make you feel like you're in grade school again.
84. Lightning (6 brushes)
You can follow a tutorial on how to make lightning...or grab these.
85. Water (37 brushes)
Droplets, waves, bodies of water, and more.
86. Snowflakes (22 brushes)
87. Hearts (24 brushes)
88. Grass (6 brushes)
All of these brushes scatter.
89. Polaroid (17 brushes)
Never again will you have to sift through hundreds of stock photos!
90. Feathers (11 brushes)
Very detailed; the best feather set I could find.
91. Postage Stamps (8 brushes)
92. Musical Notes (32 brushes)
Includes all notes and rests, plus some sample bars, a piano, and a violin.
93. Sports (49 brushes)
I include these primarily because I have never seen another sports brush set.
94. Moon Brushes (9 brushes)
Large and highly detailed.
95. Landscape Architecture (378 brushes)
Incredibly useful. You can make any plan you want with this set!
96. Office Supplies (16 brushes)
97. Film (11 brushes)
More limited in application, but of very high quality.
98. Web Effects (22 brushes)
Not very sexy, but useful. Instead of creating faded lines from scratch on your web mocks, use one of these brushes!
99. Tags and Labels (13 brushes)
100. Crushed Paper (3 brushes)
A small but quality set. Each brush is 2500 px.
101. Stars (17 brushes)
Another fun set. All but one brush scatters.
Is there a brush set you love that isn’t represented here? Let me know in the comments.
11 Comments
Holy moly! This is fantastically useful. Very very nice compilation. Thanks for continuing to help us designers out with relevant, useful design resources.
Sean,
Thanks for the comment. Anytime I can elicit a “holy moly” I know I’ve done my job
The real credit goes to the folks who made all these fantastic brushes.
Wow – super fantastic. Thanks for putting all of this together. What a fantastic collection. Looking at it makes me happy….even when hungover
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OMG! this is awsooomeeee!
Thanks a LOT! (:
Can you ask for anything better? Thanks a million for your efforts!! You’ve saved me a bunch of time designing with PhotoShop.
I couldn’t be more grateful. These are brilliant pieces of work… especially for people like me, who aren’t as creative ! Thanx a tonne
Awesome collection of brushes! Thanks!!
Ever so grateful to you for gathering such a great collection in one place..tho I have quite of few of these, I found some Newbies and added them to my collection.
Hugs!!
wow! Thank you so much.
You ROCK! Thank you so much for taking the time to put this amazing brush collection together and sharing it.
this is a really really great collection!!!
thanks a lot for sharing.
greetings from bremen
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