A sample of the brushes in this pack.

Previews

Here’s a peek at what’s included (not all brushes are shown at actual size):

License

These brushes are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

In plain English: these brushes are only suitable for use in personal, non-commercial projects. If you like them, or if you use any of them in your work, we’d love to hear about it.

Download

Click here to download the brush pack (289 kb).

This tutorial is for beginner to intermediate Photoshop users.

Let’s get right to it:

1. Open Photoshop and create a new document (File > New). Make your document 500px × 500px, 300 pixels/inch, RGB Color Mode. Click “OK.”

Create a new document 500 by 500 pixels

2. Hit the ‘D’ key to restore the default foreground and background colors. Double-click the ‘Background’ layer and click ‘OK’ to unlock it.

3. With the Move Tool selected, hit Ctrl + T to free transform Layer 0. While the layer is in Free Transform mode, create 2 centered guides by clicking within the ruler and dragging to the center of your object. Hit Enter to end/cancel the free transform. You should now have 2 centered guides, one vertical and one horizontal (hit Ctrl + : to turn on your guides).

4. Select the Ellipse Tool.

5. Position your cursor in the center of your document. Click and hold the mouse button to start your circle. AFTER you click, hit Shift + Alt, then drag your mouse to create a perfect, centered circle. Make it about 170px × 170px.

A perfect circle.

6. Hold Alt, then click and drag your circle straight up to create a new, identical circle.

Hold ALT and drag to duplicate your circle.

7. With the new circle selected, hit Ctrl + T to ‘Free Transform’ the circle. At the top of your screen, below the top menu, you will see options for transforming your object, specifically Width (W:) and Height (H:) with the Link symbol between them. Click the link symbol, then change Width to 50% (Having width and height linked will automatically change width to 50% as well). Hit Enter to confirm the transformation.

The second circle, post transform

8. Select the Pen Tool.

9. Click a point on the left edge of the original circle to create your first point. Then make a point on the left edge of the top, small circle.

Use the pen tool to connect your circles

10. Create a 3rd point in the center of the top small circle (on or past the vertical axis/guide). Create a 4th point in the center of the bottom circle, then click back on to your original point to close the object (Your final shape should look like one half of the light bulb, a smooth connection between the 2 circles).

11. Select this new layer in your Layers Palette. Click and drag the layer onto the ‘New Layer’ icon to create an identical layer.

12. Free Transform (Ctrl + T) your new layer. Click and drag the center axis icon onto the centered, vertical guide. Right-click (Macbook: Ctrl + Click) the object, and choose ‘Flip Horizontal’ to flip your object across the vertical axis. Hit Enter to confirm the transformation. You now have a basic, symmetrical light bulb shape.

Our Christmas bulb, before electricity

13. Select all 4 smart object layers (exclude the original background layer) and hit Ctrl + E (or ‘Layer > Merge Layers’) to merge all 4 layers.

14. Double-click the layer within the Layer Palette to bring up the ‘Layer Style’ dialogue box.

15. On the left, select ‘Gradient Overlay.’ Change ‘Style’ from ‘Linear’ to ‘Radial.’ Deselect the ‘Align with Layer’ Option.

16. Click the colored gradient bar to bring up the ‘Gradient Editor.’ Drag the far right, white color stop to Location: 80%.

17. Double-click the white color stop to select a new color. Select a dark red (we used #550000). Click ‘OK.’ Double-click the left, black color stop to select its new color – Select a bright red (we used #ff0000). Click ‘OK.’ Click ‘OK’ in the Gradient Editor.

18. With the ‘Layer Style’ dialogue box still up, select ‘Inner Glow’ (See image below for final glow settings). Change Blend Mode to ‘Multiply.’ Click the colored swatch to ‘select color of glow’. Select a medium red this time, #a00000, and click ‘OK’. Change the glow ‘Size’ to 50px. Click ‘OK’ to close the ‘Layer Style’ dialogue box.

19. With your light bulb layer selected, Hit Ctrl + G to create a new group, then hit Ctrl + E to merge the group, flattening your light bulb’s effects.

20. Double-click this flattened layer to again bring up the ‘Layer Style’ dialogue box. Select ‘Gradient Overlay’ again. This time, change Blend Mode to ‘Pin Light.’ As before, change ‘Style’ to ‘Radial’ and deselect the ‘Align with Layer’ option.

21. Click the Gradient color bar to bring up the Gradient Editor. Select the left, black color stop and change it to white. Select the Opacity Stop above the right color stop, change its opacity to 0%, and change its location to 50%. Click ‘OK’.

22. Change Opacity to 50%, and change Scale to 50% (See image below). Click ‘OK’.

23. Click and drag this layer onto the ‘New Layer’ icon to duplicate the layer. With this new layer selected, hit Ctrl + T to Free Transform. Using the same controls as before, change Width to 80% and Height to 90%, then hit Enter to confirm.

24. Double-click this layer’s ‘Gradient Overlay’ option to edit the Layer Style. Use the following settings:

• Blend Mode: Lighten
• Opacity: 80%
• Style: Linear
• Angle: -17

Click ‘OK’

25. Change this layer’s Fill to 0%.

26. Select your two light bulb layers, and hit Ctrl + G to group them. Name this group ‘Bulb’.

27. Create a new layer. Using the Rounded Rectangle tool (with a corner radius of 5px), create a rounded rectangle roughly 180px wide and 50px tall. Center it vertically, and position it just over the bottom of the bulb, as shown here:

28. Double-click the layer, and select Gradient Overlay – this time, we’re only changing the color, everything else can stay. Change the left color stop to a dark green (#022700) and the right color stop to a pale, washed-out green (#46663a), then click ‘OK’ twice to close the Layer Style box.

29. Create another new layer. Using the Rounded Rectangle tool, create a rounded rectangle roughly 100px wide by 145px tall. Hit Ctrl + { to move the layer behind the top green piece.

30. Hit Ctrl + T to enter the Free Transform mode, then right-click and choose ‘Perspective.’ You want to make the top of the rectangle wider, so simply click and drag the top right anchor point to the right, until the shape looks the way you want. Hit Enter to confirm.

31. Double-click the layer, and add a Gradient Overlay. Change the right color stop to #021500, a very dark green. Change the left color stop to the same dark green from the top rectangle (#022700). Click ‘OK’.

32. Select the two rectangle layers, hit Ctrl + G to group them and name the group “Base.”

Congratulations, you’ve made a cheery holiday light bulb!

You can of course add more detail to the base, and change the hue of the bulb to create different colors. When using this light on a darker surface, feel free to add an Outer Glow to the bulb itself.

We hope you found this tutorial useful. Happy Holidays!

What you’ll need:

• The Illustrator File (CS4)
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop

A Brief Definition of Screen Printing

Screen printing is a printing technique in which ink is pushed through a fine mesh screen, which has a stencil of your design.

1. First, you coat the screen with a light-sensitive emulsion.
2. Then, you place your photo negative image on top of the emulsified screen. Your image is printed in pure black on a transparent surface, such as a piece of transparency paper, or vellum.
3. Expose the screen to a strong light source, ensuring that your image is between the light and the emulsion. The emulsion covered by your image remains unexposed, while the exposed emulsion dries.
4. Remove your image, and rinse out the screen. Like magic, the previously protected emulsion washes away, leaving a stencil.
5. Push your ink through the screen…
6. And now you have your print!

A visual representation of the screen printing process

Screen printing is a one-color process meaning you print every color separately using a separate screen. For example, if you want to print an image with dark red & pink, you would print the dark red first (1), then print the pink (2) on top of that to create a final image (1+2):

The Problem with Gradients

Gradients present an issue in Screen printing because of the screen burning process.

With digital printing, every color is printed simultaneously & precisely with varying percentages of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. When you use a digital printer, your gradient is perfectly fine as rendered on the computer because digital printers can print gradients by merely fading out the amount of ink used:

But when preparing your file for screen printing, it is essential to use halftones because you need a pure, solid color to block the light and burn your screen correctly.

Screens also vary by mesh: a higher mesh means a screen is more tightly woven, which allows for more detail but also allows less ink to pass through; a lower mesh is the opposite, more loosely woven allowing more ink to pass through to better print large areas of color. So you can create finer, smoother gradients by using a higher mesh screen.

Halftones are the answer

Changing your gradients into halftones allows you to create the visual appearance of a smooth blend but still block light properly. When done right, halftones are only visible at very close distances:

A close up showing halftones

How to Separate Gradients Using Halftones

Before starting the tutorial, here are a few important factors to keep in mind about your future designs:

• Just like other situations, if your original file is raster, create it at actual size.
• How fine of a mesh will your screen printer be using? If your artwork is very detailed, this is a good thing to specify.
• How many colors will you use? A ten-color design might look great, but often times clients will want a more affordable option – screen printers will charge more to print additional colors.
• And of course, is your design best-suited for screen printing? Sometimes a certain design, like a photograph, just doesn’t work as a screen print. It’s okay, accept it and move on.

This tutorial is geared towards beginner to intermediate screen printers/designers and people looking for a fairly simple, straight forward process without the need of additional programs or software. In this tutorial we will be preparing a vector rose graphic for a 3-color screen print. Let’s begin.

Create Spot Colors

We will first change each color into a ‘spot’ color, so that it is no longer a CMYK mix, or Process color. This makes it easier to separate each color into it’s own layer to burn separate screens.

1. Open the ‘halftone-gradient-tutorial.ai’ file (Download above)

2. With the Selection Tool, select the rose fill, the blue to red gradient.

3. Open up your Gradient window (Window > Gradient) and select the left, cyan color stop.

4. With the color stop highlighted, go to your Color window. Click and drag the cyan box into your Swatches window to create a new cyan swatch.

5. Now select the right magenta color stop in your Gradient window.

6. Your color window should now have a magenta box. As before, click and drag the box into your Swatches window to create a new magenta swatch.

7. Deselect the rose.

8. Double click your newly created cyan swatch.

9. In the dialogue box, change Color Type from ‘Process Color’ to ‘Spot Color’ and click ‘OK’.

10. Turn the magenta swatch into a Spot Color, using the same method.

11. Reselect the rose.

12. Click and drag the cyan spot color onto the left gradient swatch. Also replace the right color stop with the magenta spot color.

13. Your rose gradient is now using both spot colors.

14. Save your progress.

Separate Your Colors

We will now separate each color to print individually. Although each color will save as black, remember that a black ink image will block light the best for screen printing. You choose the actual ink color for your image once you’re finally printing through the burned screen.

1. Go to File > Print…

2. For ‘Printer:’ choose ‘Adobe PostScript File’ and leave ‘PPD:’ as is.

3. Select ‘Output’ from the options on the left.

4. For ‘Mode’ choose ‘Separations (Host-Based)’ (This could vary depending on your printer)

5. You can leave Emulsion, Image and Printer Resolution to their default settings.

6. In the Document Ink Options, turn off every ink other than the cyan spot color, by clicking the printer icons next to each ink. See screenshot below:

7. Click ‘Save’ – Name the file ‘Cyan Spot Channel’ and click ‘Save’

8. Repeat this process to save a file for the Magenta Spot Channel, and lastly for Process Black – you should end up with 3 separate saved files.

Note: For future projects, be sure your artboard is the same size as your art, otherwise your Adobe PostScript File will be cropped.

Create the Halftones

We’re almost done, but we need to finish the process in Photoshop.

1. While still in Illustrator, go to File > Open to open one of your newly created PostScript files – I will use ‘Cyan Spot Channel’ as the example. On Mac, you must first specify Adobe PostScript files to open in Illustrator.

2. Select the black to white gradient with the Selection Tool.

3. Copy your selection.

4. Open Photoshop and create a new document. The settings should match that of your copied gradient, but just in case, the dimensions should be 2289px wide, 2269px tall, 300 ppi.

5. For ‘Color Mode’ choose Grayscale.

6. Paste the object into your Photoshop document – Paste As: Pixels – Click ‘OK’ – Hit Enter to commit to transform.

7. Hit Control + L, or Command + L on Mac, to bring up the Levels dialogue box.

8. Move the left black color stop to the beginning of the graph, around ’23′. Click ‘OK’.

9. Go to Image > Mode > Bitmap…

10. ‘Flatten Layers?’ click ‘OK’

11. Output: 300 ppi and for Method choose ‘Halftone Screen’. Click ‘OK’

12. You can leave Frequency and Angle at their defaults, but change Shape to ‘Round’ – Click ‘OK’. Note: Changing certain Bitmap settings will help you achieve your desired result, based on the amount of detail you require.

13. Go to File > Save As and save as whatever file type your printer needs – PDF’s are the most widely accepted format.

14. Simply repeat this last set of steps for both your other colors (in this case, Magenta and Black), and your files are ready to go! Note: You should make each file a different Angle for best results.

A zoomed in shot of the final screen-ready image. When zoomed in extremely close, the image will appear pixelated, but at actual print size, it works great. Again, you can also toy around with the Bitmap settings to achieve your ideal results.

If you have any comments, questions, or feedback, we would love to hear from you. Also feel free to share any tips or other strategies as to how to go about the gradient halftone separation process. Thanks for reading.

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.