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Brush Creator: Textures

Background Textures

Add extra texture to your brush with two customizable background textures which are useful for example for additive texturing or the creation of random voids within your brushstrokes. This feature proves practical for generating dust effects with dry tools or achieving various scumbling and dry brush effects.

Click on the Background Texture 1 or Background Texture 2 button to reveal the panel for customization. To apply the background texture for the selected brush preset, activate the 'Enabled' checkbox and click on the icon to open the Image Library with the list of grains you can use for the background texture. You can easily import custom textures using the Import Texture button .

Texture Properties - Scale or change the brightness and contrast of the background texture grain.

Rotate - Rotate the background texture grain clockwise.

Flip Horizontally - Flip the background texture grain horizontally.

Invert - Invert the background texture grain.

A brushstroke without the background texture (top) vs. brushstrokes with a background texture used with different blend modes.

Blend mode - Set the blend mode to be used for the background texture.

Depth - Set the depth of the background texture (0-100). This value determines how deeply the background texture penetrates the brushstroke. Adjust the setting with the slider or set up a curve in Curve Editor to influence this value with different pressures applied by the pressure-sensitive stylus.

Opacity - Set the opacity of the background texture (1-100). This value determines the opacity with which the background texture will be displayed in the brushstroke. Adjust the setting with the slider or set up a curve in Curve Editor to influence this value with different pressures applied by the pressure-sensitive stylus.

Random Start - Randomize the position of the background texture grain at the beginning of the stroke.

Random Offset - Randomize the position of the background texture grain relative to the brush stamp for each stamp, so that each brush stamp is different from the previous one.

Use Shape Texture - Enable this option to influence the strength of the background texture with the shape of the primary brush.

Paper Texture Strength - Set how much the paper texture should influence the background texture. Adjust the setting with the slider or set a curve to influence this value with different pressures applied by the pressure-sensitive stylus.

Invert Paper Texture - Invert the influence of the paper texture on the background texture. By default, when Paper Texture Strength is used, the background texture applies to the valleys of the paper height map. By inverting, the background texture applies to the peaks of the paper height map.

Dual Brush

Add a secondary brush that influences the primary brush. Create an extra brush with its shape, spacing, and other parameters that follows the main brush and can add or remove parts from it, according to the blend mode.

To apply the dual brush for the selected brush preset, activate the Enabled checkbox and click on the icon to open the Image Library with the list of shapes you can use for the dual brush. You can easily import custom shapes using the Import Texture button.

Texture Properties - Scale or change the brightness and contrast of the background texture grain.

Rotate - Rotate the shape of the dual brush clockwise.

Flip Horizontally - Flip the shape of the dual brush horizontally.

Invert - Invert the shape of the dual brush.

A brushstroke made with a primary brush (top) vs. brushstrokes where dual brush is enabled with different blend modes.

There are two options for how Dual Brush can be used:

  • Use for Stroke - Dual Brush will influence the whole stroke. This option is disabled for Oils & Acrylics.

  • Use for Stamp - Dual Brush will influence each stamp of the primary brush separately.

Blend mode - Choose the blend mode to be used for the dual brush.

Depth - Set the depth of the dual brush (0-100). This value determines how deeply the dual brush penetrates the brushstroke.

Count - Specify the number of stamps the dual brush makes.

Size - Set the size of the dual brush stamp (1-400).

Size Jitter - Specify how the size of dual brush stamps varies in a stroke (0-100).

Opacity - Set the opacity of the dual brush (1-100). Overlapping parts of the brush stamps will build up additional opacity.

Opacity Jitter - Specify how the opacity of dual brush varies in a brushstroke (0-100).

Spacing - Control the distance between the brush stamps of the dual brush (1-1000). Each brush stamp is spaced apart along the stroke by a set value. This option is available in the 'Use for Stroke' setting of the dual brush.

Spacing Jitter - Randomize spacing between the dual brush stamps (0-200).

Scatter - Brush scattering randomizes the placement of the dual brush stamps in a stroke up or down relative to the baseline of the stroke (0-200).

Distribution Curve - Open the distribution curve to set up the probability with which various scatter widths appear in the dual brush stroke.

Min. Scatter - Specifies the minimum scatter of the dual brush (0-100).

Angle Jitter - Each dual brush stamp in the stroke is rotated randomly according to the actual angle (0-100).

Follow Trajectory - The dual brush follows the stroke's trajectory rotation.

Video tutorial

Learn more about Rebelle's Textures settings in this video: Brush Creator: Textures.

How to create custom brush preset

Select the brush preset you wish to customize in the Brushes panel.

Set the custom Size, Opacity/Loading and Water/Oiliness parameters for the brush preset in the Properties panel according to your needs. To save these parameters, click the "Save Volumes" button in the Properties panel.

To visually display which parameters have been saved to the brush preset, go to the Brushes panel menu > Icon and check "Volumes".

If you want to customize more settings for the selected brush, open the Brush Creator panel by clicking the button at the bottom of the Properties panel menu or via the Window menu > Brush Creator. The Brush Creator panel allows you to change the Shape and Grain of the brush, and modify Pressure, Shape, Grain and Canvas Settings.

Tip

You can import custom shapes or grains for your brush preset. The maximum size of the texture saved to brush files is 2048 x 2048 px. The maximum texture we use for painting is 1024 x 1024 px. Textures saved in the brush are images with lossless compression (PNG images).

The changes you make in the Brush Creator will be applied to the selected brush preset automatically. If you decide to save the changes as a new brush preset, click the button "Save as New Brush Preset" in the Brush Creator. A new brush preset will be added to the Brushes panel.

The "Save as New Brush Preset" is also available in the Properties panel menu and Brush Creator panel menu.

To save the changes you have made to the brush preset as default, click the "Save Changes as Default" button in the Brush Creator panel. You can find this option also in the Properties panel menu and Brush Creator panel menu.

To reset all brush changes to default, click the "Reset Brush Changes" button in the Properties panel or in the Brush Creator panel. You can find this option also in the Properties panel menu and Brush Creator panel menu.

Video tutorial

Learn how to make a custom brush preset in this video: Digital Brush with Traditional Feel. Create Yours in Rebelle 7.

How to import brush presets

To add a new brush preset to the selected tool, select the 'Import Brush Preset' option in the Brushes panel menu or via the Brush Creator panel menu. A dialog window with Rebelle brushes will open. Select the tool's folder where the brush preset is located, select the brush preset and click 'Open'. A dialog window will open asking you to choose where this brush preset should be imported: either to the "Current Tool" or the "Preset Tool".
Choose the "Current Tool" to import this brush preset to the tool that is selected in the Tools panel.

Tip

You can easily copy the selected preset either via the Properties panel menu > Copy Brush Preset to Clipboard or with the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + C (on Windows) / Cmd + Shift + C (on macOS). To paste the preset to the selected tool, go to the Properties panel menu > Paste Brush Preset from Clipboard or with the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V (on Windows) / Cmd + Shift + V (on macOS).

How to export brush presets

To export the brush presets, go to the Properties panel menu or the Brush Creator panel menu and select "Export Brush Preset". A dialog window will open asking you to choose where the brush preset should be exported to.

All Rebelle brushes are accessible via the Help menu > Show Library Folder.