Here’s how you can create a custom brush using your own images called Stamps. You can adjust your brush in regards to size, opacity and smoothness, and tune them to pressure sensitivity, tilt and velocity as you choose. You can also adjust the spacing, scatter and rotation of your stamps for a sense of randomness or evenness.
- Double-tap a tool on the tool wheel (or tap an active tool) to enter the Brushes menu.
- Beside “My Brushes”, tap + New Pack.
- In the new pack that appears, tap + New.
- Tap the new brush icon to enter the brush editor, or tap “Edit Brush” in the viewer up top.
- Under Core Setup, choose whether you want to make a Stamp-type brush, or a Reveal-type brush
- A Stamp brush stacks one or several images (called Stamps) on top of each other at intervals you set to create your brush texture.
- A Reveal brush uses one or several images to reveal a Grain (also an image, preferrably seamless at the edges) underneath. The resulting stroke of this brush is even and consistent, there is no “overlap” when a stroke doubles back on itself.
- Tap the + under Stamp Source to import an image from the camera, photo roll or Files / Cloud. This one image is all that you need to create a great brush. You can see it update live in the viewer from the moment you import the image throughout the fine-tuning process. We recommend you draw in it as much as you like to try out the brush while you create it.
For more complexity and randomness, you can import up to nine images. We recommend a 256 x 256 px image size or a 512 x 512 px image size for drawing. For giant background-type strokes or large prints, you can go up to 1024 x 1024 px, but note that strokes made from large image sizes will take up performance on your device.
If you have a Grain you’d like to use (an interesting, underlying textural image), tap Grain Source to import it. Ideally, this should be a seamless image to prevent you from seeing the lines (or seams) when the image repeats during the stroke. To learn how to make a grain seamless, read our article here. Using a grain is optional, but is particularly nice when creating a Reveal-type brush. - Under Presets & Dynamics, choose your brush’s Size using the slider. Use the variance graph beneath it to set the action to your stylus for Pressure, Tilt or Velocity.
A smooth stroke upwards (or downwards) across the graph works best. Double-tap the value graph (1 - 1000%) on the side to reset it.
Do the same for Opacity and Smoothness. - Under Shape Controls, use the slider and variance graph to set the Spacing of your stamps. You’ll notice the handle on the slider is split down the middle. Keeping the handles together makes your spacing even and predictable. Moving the handles apart creates a range of randomness within which your stamp images will appear along the stroke.
Do the same for Scatter (how far apart they appear vertically along the stroke), and Rotation (how far the image rotates along the stroke).
By default, the stroke will follow the azimuth of your stylus tip, meaning it will turn as your stylus tip turns. To disable this and make a stroke that draws along a straight “track” no matter how you turn your stylus, check the “Rotate Along Stroke Path” box. - Under Advanced Settings, choose which Layer type you’d like your brush to appear in. When using Automatic Layering, Concepts assigns your brush to a layer by its tool type, drawing automatically in that layer when you choose that tool. If you choose to use Manual Layering (drawing in many layers with the same tool, for example), it will simply label the layer with the name of the tool you define.
- Exit the brush editor by tapping outside the overlay, and return to your canvas. Enjoy drawing with your new brush!
If you’d like a more in-depth walkthrough, please watch our video tutorial, Create your own brushes in Concepts 5.1, or check out our How to Create a Custom Brush photo tutorial (which includes sample stamp and grain images for you to try).
To learn how to make simple or more complex stamps and grains for your brushes, see this photo tutorial.
For more brush inspiration, try making a photo-based brush or make your own acrylic brush.
We have further information for you about brushes, creating them and sharing them in our fully illustrated manual.