Brush tool and the Pencil tool are traditional painting tools. While brush tool created soft strokes of color the Pencil tool creates hard-edged lines. In this tutorial, we will study the Brush tool in detail.

The brush tool can be found in the toolbar shown by a small brush icon or use the shortcut ‘B’.

Once you choose the brush tool, following options will be displayed in the Options bar.

a. Presets: Choose from the recently used presets or browse for more.

b. Brush: Opens up its own menu with two sub-options – Master Diameter which sets the diameter of the brush and Hardness sets the softness (with lower value) and hardness (with higher value) of the brush. Here you can choose a type of brush from the given set of brushes and can also load brush presets by clicking on the small right arrow in the menu.

c. Toggle the Brush Panel: Opens up the Brush Palette.

d. Mode: Set the painting mode in which the brush will be used.

e. Opacity: Sets the opacity of the brush.

f. Tablet Pressure Controls Opacity: Overrides the Brush Panel settings and lets the tablet pressure control the opacity of the brush.

g. Flow: Sets the flow rate of the brush.

h. Enable airbrush mode: Enables the airbrush modes.

i. Tablet Pressure Controls Size: Overrides the Brush Panel settings and lets the tablet pressure control the size of the brush.

In addition to these options, the Brush Panel (shown in pt. c.) will also give you some more Brush options.

Here is a sample usage of few brushes;

Both the fill tools are listed under the same button on the toolbar. The tool that was last used will also be visible. To view the other tool click and hold down the button and the fly out menu will display both the tools.

Let us look at each tool individually.

NOTE: Though the tools are almost similar even in the lower versions of Photoshop, I have written this tutorial using Photoshop CS5. The Options may be different.

A. Paint Bucket Tool

The Paint Bucket is used to fill color or pattern by clicking in an area. When you select the Paint Bucket tool in the toolbar, the Options bar will display these parameters;

1. Source for Fill area – will let you choose how the paint bucket should fill the area, with the foreground color or a pattern. If the foreground color is chosen, the area will be filled with the foreground color. If a pattern is chosen as the source, then the next icon will be activated and clicking on the down arrow will give you a list of patterns. Further clicking on the triangular button in the palette (shown below) will give you more patterns and options.

2. Mode – sets the fill modes. Choose any from the list.

3. Opacity – will determine the opacity of the fill. Lower values will make the fill more opaque.

4. Tolerance – will decide the degree to which pixel colors are affected by the fill. The acceptable values range from 0 – 255. The lower values will decrease the range of colors affected by the tool and vice versa.

5. Anti-alias – when selected will add a translucent border between the filled and unfilled areas.

6. Contiguous – when selected will affect the adjacent areas affected by the tolerance value.

7. All Layers – when selected will affect all the visible layers, else only the active layer will be affected.

To use the Paint Bucket tool, follow these steps:

a. Make a selection or if you want to fill the entire area, no need for a selection (choose the layer you want to fill with in the Layers Palette).

b. Choose the tool in the toolbar.

c. Choose the Foreground color.

d. Single click inside the area.

B. Gradient Tool

The Gradient Tool is used to fill an area in a gradient. When you select the Gradient tool in the toolbar, the Options bar will display these parameters;

1. Gradient – will display various gradient types to choose from. Click on the triangular button in the palette to display more gradients and options.

2. Gradient Style – let you choose Linear, Gradient, Angle, Reflected or Diamond gradients by clicking on respective buttons.

3. Mode – sets the fill modes. Choose any from the list.

4. Opacity – will determine the opacity of the fill. Lower values will make the fill more opaque.

5. Reverse – will let you reverse the selected gradient fill.

6. Dither – will smoothen the transition of multiple colors used in the gradient and would not make them look like bands.

7. Transparency – adds transparency to the gradient.

To use the Gradient Tool, follow these steps:

a. Make a selection or if you want to fill the entire area, no need for a selection (choose the layer you want to fill with in the Layers Palette)

b. Choose the tool in the toolbar.

c. Set the Foreground and Background colors.

d. Set the options in the Options bar.

e. Click and hold down the left mouse button, drag in the direction you want the gradient to be filled and leave. The transition of the colors will depend upon how long or short you drag the mouse.

The Spot Healing Brush Tool automatically samples from around the retouched area. Hence is very useful is getting rid of imperfections like blemishes from a facial picture. Let us see how to use the Spot Healing Tool.

1. Select the Spot Healing Brush Tool from the Toolbox.

If the Spot Healing Brush Tool is not visible, it may be hidden under Healing Brush Tool or Patch Tool or the Red Eye Tool.

NOTE: If you need to retouch a larger area you can use the Healing brush or the Patch tool.

2. Now the Options bar gives you some options to choose from;

Brush Size – Choose a larger brush size to cover a larger area and vice versa.

Mode – are the blending modes.

Type – are the different healing techniques determines how the pixels are selected to heal the spot.

Proximity Match uses the pixels around the edge of selection and fills the patch.

Create Texture uses all the pixels in the selection to create a texture and fill the area.

Content-Aware is a new feature introduced in CS5. With content-aware Photoshop analyses the contents of the image and figures how it should look and finds out the best way to remove the unwanted area.

Sample All Layers – Select the option to let Photoshop sample data from all the visible layers and deselect if you want to sample it using only the active layer.

NOTE: You may need multiple clicks and a combination of different types of healing techniques to get a desired effect.

3. Now just click the smaller area or click and drag to repair imperfections in a larger area.

Here is our original image:

And here’s the image after we healed the spot of black pole.

There are lots of other unwanted areas in this picture that I need to heal, the final picture looks like this;

TIP: Where the area is larger you can also use the Patch Tool.

Magic Eraser works well with images having simple and solid color background. The areas to be erased are controlled by tolerance and contiguous options of magic eraser. Hence with every click magic eraser will erase all the pixels falling within the tolerance range. Where for a solid background one click and the background is erased, with a background that has vibrant colors or too many shades, the magic eraser would not fair well. You can use the Background Eraser Tool for such images.

1. Open the image with a background. I am using the ‘Tulips.jpg’ that comes default with Windows 7. It has a simple background with fewer shades of blue.

2. Choose the Magic Eraser tool, located below the Eraser tool.

3. Now go ahead and click on the background area in the image. As soon as you do that, the Background layer will be promoted to a Layer.

We may need to click a couple of times to get rid of the entire background.

Later you can color to the background with another color.

NOTE: The process of recording and playing an action is same in Photoshop and Illustrator. However in this tutorial, my screenshots are taken from Photoshop.

To record an action follow these steps;

1. Open out the Actions palette, either from Window > Actions or key in the shortcut Ctrl + F9.

What we see in the picture are the Default actions that come with Photoshop. You can collapse these by clicking on the down arrow next to Default Actions title.

2. Click on the Create New Set button (Folder icon) in the bottom of the Actions Palette. In the ‘New Set’ dialog box, enter a name for the set of actions you are about to record. For example I am going to record actions for resizing images. So I entered ‘Resize images’ in the box.

The Resize images action set can contain multiple actions.

3. Next click on the Create new action icon (next to the New Folder icon) in the palette to create a new action. In the New Action dialog box, enter a name for the action. I am recording an action for creating thumbnails, so I enter ‘Thumbnail’. Set is Resize images, that we created in step 2. You create a Function Key for the action using the Function Key box. Click on ‘Record’ to begin recording.

4. Once you click this button, every action you perform will be recorded. There is no need to hurry while recording since it only remembers the actions and not how much time you took to complete them. After performing all the actions, click on the Stop button.

NOTE: Alternatively to record an action, click on the ‘Begin recording’ (green circle icon). The icon becomes red indicating the action is being recorded.

5. To play the action, select the action in the palette, click on ‘Play Selection’ button (Play icon).

For demo, I will record the action of creating thumbnail. Here are the steps.

a. Open an image and begin recording with the ‘Begin recording’ (green circle icon).

b. Image > Image Size… > enter thumbnail values as Width: 300 px and Height: 225 px.

c. Stop recording using the ‘Stop Playing/Recording’ button (square icon). The action has been recorded and listed as shown below. Photoshop/Illustrator give a name to the action.

d. To apply the action on another image, open the new image, choose the action ‘Thumbnail’ in the Actions palette and click Play. The new image will be converted into a thumbnail within no time.

Wasn’t that simple? So go ahead and use actions to make your life easy. I hope you had fun reading this tutorial as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I have come across these and similar questions on various forums and websites. The answers to these questions are simple only if you understand the purpose of each program. Though there are some common features, each is designed for a specific purpose and hence there is not question of one being better than the other. It is like asking which one is better, a pizza or a burger.

In this tutorial, we will understand the purpose of each program and help you choose the right one for your use.

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is a ‘Bitmap’ (raster) image processing and manipulation program. It is a pixel based program primarily suitable for enhancing, retouching and manipulating digital photographs and paintings. Raster graphics are made up of pixels.

Photoshop can be used for following projects:

a. Photo retouch and manipulation (Modify images too)

b. Digital paintings

c. Web and Poster Design

d. Special effects and Photo realistic illustrations

e. UI Design and Web graphic design

f. Projects that do not required size manipulations in future.

Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator is a vector-based drawing program. It is suitable for creating high quality vector graphics that are scalable to the infinite power without any loss of the quality.Vector graphics are made up of Bezier lines and curves.

Illustrator can be used for the following projects:

a. Logo / Logotype / Monogram design

b. High quality Print Media / Stationary

c. Web / Motion Graphics

d. Vector Illustrations and Drawings

e.  Ads, Brochures and Menus (Though ideal program for creating Brochures is Adobe Indesign, Illustrator too does a commendable job)

Bottom Line

Use Photoshop for digital media and web graphics. Do not use it for creating logos or stationary like Business cards. For logo design and stationary or any print media always use Illustrator. You can always work with both Photoshop and Illustrator, by importing and modifying artwork in either of the programs. For instance, export images from Photoshop to Illustrator as vectors (paths and anchor points) and modify them using Illustrator. Similarly vector graphics can be exported to Photoshop as layers.

Both Photoshop and Illustrator are the best programs in what they do. So I suggest you to choose the program based on your project. Ideally as a designer you should have and use both the programs to create best and stunning art work.

NOTE: If you are looking for a cheaper option for Photoshop, try Photoshop Elements. Since I have not used it, I cannot provide you any more details about Photoshop Elements.

NOTE: I am using CS5 versions of both Photoshop and Illustrator. But this method should work in any version lower than CS5.

Drag and Drop method:

Well there is a little twist to the drag and drop method as you cannot use the Move tool (V) to drag and drop but the Path Selection tool lets you do that. Let us see how.

1. Launch Photoshop and create a new document (Ctrl + N or File > New) of a desired size.

2. Create a custom shape. Custom shape can be created using the custom shapes tool in Photoshop, or create one on your own. The color of the shape does not matter since we will be exporting only the paths in Illustrator. For this tutorial, I am using the ‘Eighth Note’ from the ‘Music collection’ of custom shapes.

3. Make sure your custom shape layer is selected in the Layers Palette.

4. Choose the Path Selection tool from the Toolbox.

5. Now simply select the shape and drag and drop onto your Illustrator document. The vector paths would look like this;

These vector paths are fully editable in Illustrator.

Export Paths to Illustrator method:

1. Follow steps 1-3 given above.

2. Go to File > Export > Paths to Illustrator…

In the Export Paths to File dialog box, choose Shape 1 Vector Mask and click OK.

Choose a location for the exported path and enter a file name.

3. Now launch Illustrator and open the file you saved earlier (Ctrl + O or File > Open and then browse to the folder).

4. The document may look blank when it opens, but use the Selection tool to drag a selection and that would select the object.

Now you can edit these paths (using the anchor point tools) as any other vector paths in Illustrator.

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials

1. Transform a Picture into a Watercolor Painting using Photoshop CS5

Cool watercolor effect using Photoshop CS5, in easy steps.

2. Create Water Drops in Photoshop CS5

Create realistic water drops using Photoshop CS5.

3. Create a Page Curl Effect using Photoshop CS5 in 5 easy steps

The tutorial explains the method to create a page curl effect in just 5 easy steps.

4. Simple Lighting Effect in 3 steps using Photoshop CS5

Add simple lighting effect to focus on one point of the picture, using the ‘Render filter’.

5. Layer Styles in Photoshop CS5

Layer Styles are special effects applied to individual layers in Photoshop. Explore Preset Layer Styles and create Custom Later Styles in this tutorial.

Adobe Illustrator Tutorials

6. Create 3D Text using Adobe Illustrator CS5

You do not always need a 3D application to create beautiful 3D text. Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop has tools that can do the needful. This tutorial explores the tools to create a 3D text in Illustrator CS5.

7. Create an Abstract Wallpaper in Adobe Illustrator CS5

You must have seen and used abstract wallpapers on your desktop. Windows Vista comes with such cool abstract background too. I thought of creating one myself. This was my first attempt and I am quite impressed with it (though certainly not my best) You can use your own creativity and art to create such interesting wallpapers using the method given in this tutorial.

8. Tracing Artwork using Adobe Illustrator CS5

You may need to trace an image or a picture to create your own graphic based on it. Adobe Illustrator has a ‘Live Trace’ command that helps you automatically trace the artwork. Or you can always manually trace the artwork by using the base artwork as a ‘template’ and then using the pen or brush tool to draw. In this tutorial, you will learn both these methods.

9. Glossy buttons in Adobe Illustrator CS5

I have come across many clients who want a Web 2.0 style buttons, icons and logos. Though I haven’t found any specific features in a Web 2.0 button or logo but the objects are usually elegant, clean, with lots of gradients, shiny and they stand out. In this tutorial we are creating a Web 2.0 button (if it falls in that category) or should I say a glossy button.

10. Create a 3D Push Pin using Illustrator in 10 simple steps

This is a simple Illustrator tutorial on how to create a 3D push pin in 10 easy steps.

11. 3D Fruit Bowl in Adobe Illustrator CS5

This tutorial explains how to create a 3D Fruit bowl and place 3D fruits in it.

12. Creating Scatter Brushes in Adobe Illustrator CS5

Scatter brushes as the name suggests, scatter a pattern along a path. You may use scatter brushes to create an artistic background. In this tutorial, learn how to create a scatter brush. You may also like Create an Art Brush in Adobe Illustrator CS5 and Make Vector Pattern Brush in Adobe Illustrator CS5.

13. Create a mirror effect using Opacity Mask in Adobe Illustrator CS5

These days graphic designers and other digital artists create classy mirror or reflection effects in their art work. Mirror effect looks pretty nice and elegant for logos. In this tutorial, learn how to add mirror effect to your logo using the Opacity Mask in Adobe Illustrator CS5.

14. Placing Text in Adobe Illustrator CS5 document from other Word Processing Programs

To place text into your Illustrator documents, you can always open the source document, copy and paste the text into Illustrator. Another way to do this without taking the trouble of opening the source document, is by importing the documents in Illustrator. Learn how to import other documents into Illustrator in this tutorial.

Expression Web Tutorials

15. Add templates to Expression Web

Expression Web comes with a set of built-in templates that help you create your own website, without requiring many efforts. Although some tweaking is required! To design professional websites you ought to have plenty of site templates for your use. You can create your own or purchase them from other websites. Add these templates to Expression Web and keep them handy. In this article you will see how to add downloaded templates to Expression Web.

16. Free Expression Web Template for Small Business

The ‘Small Business’ template as I call it, is a simple website template, built using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and DWT (Dynamic Web Template). The template suits best for a small business firm as well as for personal use. The template is completely customizable, so you can change the appearance as you like.

17. Get rid of the dotted border from a focused hyperlink

You must have observed this behavior that when you click on a hyperlink it is surrounded with a dotted border. But you can get rid of this temporary border with a very small piece of code. Learn about it in the article.

18. Publishing Settings in Expression Web

Microsoft Expression Web supports different publishing settings. You can choose to work on your own computer and then publish your site/changes to your site onto the remote production web server or you can work on a remote staging server and publish on the production web server or work directly on the remote production web server. .Learn about it in the article.

19. Add or remove metadata in Expression Web

Microsoft Expression Web requires metadata to maintain a whole bunch of cross-page dependencies features like hyperlinks, DWTs and some site reports. Learn how to add or remove metadata in Expression Web in this article.

Other Tutorials

20. 7 jQuery Books for HTML, ASP.NET, PHP Developers and Designers

This is a collection of jQuery books that I am sharing with you, have good reviews and are amongst the best jQuery books available in the market. Choose your book.

21. 21 Decorative Free Photoshop Brushes You Can Use to Create Your Twitter Background

This article contains 21 Decorative Free Photoshop brushes that you can use to create your twitter background. Use one or more of these decorative brushes to customize your twitter background, create wallpapers or any other artwork.

22. 10 Stylish Grayscale Free Icon Sets

The article features 10 grayscale icon sets collected from different sources. These are FREE Icon sets, so you can go ahead and download them and use them wherever you may like. But do read the license document carefully, if any (may ask attribution), since they are subject to change.

23. Free Funky Icon Sets

Icons make blogs and websites interesting and attractive. There are plenty of formal icon sets available, and we always tend to use them in our blogs. But wouldn’t it be a good idea to use icons that fit into the theme and subject of the blog or even make them look cool. In this article, I am sharing 10 free funky icon sets that I liked, which I collected from various online resources.

24. How to create your own font using a Tablet

I always fall short on fonts while designing logos and other web graphics. Wished I could create my own font. And guess now I do that. Well it’s a simple job. Learn how to create your own font in this tutorial.

25. Backup Websites on Bluehost

We all back up our sites regularly to avoid loss of data due to various reasons. Have I assumed all of us do that? Well if you don’t then you are in for a shock any time. So get into a habit of backing up your data regularly. The Backups feature in Bluehost allows you to download a compressed file of the backup on your local computer. It is quite simple and easy to use. This tutorial explains in steps how to backup your websites on Bluehost.

Which is your favorite post of 2010? Do write to us in the comments.

Wish you all a very Happy New Year!

1. Create a new document; File > New. Select appropriate size (I have created a 350 x 350px document) and click OK.

2. Click on the Foreground color in the Toolbox and choose a color similar to the wooden color, something in the shade of orange and brown. Then choose the Paint Bucket tool and paint the document with the foreground color.

3. Then we will some noise to the image by Filter > Noise > Add Noise… In the ‘Add Noise’ dialog box, choose following values:

4. Next we will add motion blur by Filter > Blur > Motion Blur… In the ‘Motion Blur’ dialog box, choose following values:

5. Duplicate this layer. Go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate (Shift + Ctrl + U). The image will be converted into grayscale, but don’t worry. Change the Blending mode of the layer to ‘Soft Light’ and reduce the Opacity to approximately 50%.

6. Now add some texture, go to Filter > Artistic > Poster Edges.

Enter these values:

Edge Thickness – 2, Edge Intensity – 5 and Posterization – 2

Click Ok to exit from the dialog box. Your image will now look like this:

7. Our last step would be to add a realistic wooden effect by adding knots to the image. Go to Filter > Liquify…

In the Liquify dialog box, use the Twirl Clockwise Tool and using a desired size Brush, make some knots as shown here;

Tip: To create knots, hold down the Twirl tool on a specific point for few seconds until you are satisfied with the twirl effect then slowly drag it downwards or upwards before you leave it. This will create a nice blended effect to the knots.

And your wooden board is ready!

Wasn’t that simple? If you enjoyed the tutorial do subscribe to our RSS feed, join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

1. Choose the RGB color mode.

2. In the toolbox, hold down the Spot Healing Brush Tool and from the fly out menu, choose Red Eye Tool.

3. Simple click in the red eye. If you are not satisfied with the results, change the following options;

Pupil Size: Increase or decrease the area affected by the Red Eye Tool.

Darken Amount: Increase or decrease the darkness of the correction.