Create a brush tip from an image!

1. Using any selection tool, select the image area you want to use as a custom brush. The brush shape can be up to 2500
pixels by 2500 pixels in size. When painting, you cant adjust the hardness of sampled brushes. To create a brush with
sharp edges, set Feather to zero pixels. To create a brush with soft edges, increase the Feather setting.

If you select a color image, the brush tip image is converted to grayscale. Any layer mask
applied to the image doesnt affect the definition of the brush tip.

!
Choose Edit> Define Brush Preset.
Name the brush, and clickOK.

Your brush is now ready in the brush selection menu!

Step 1
Open photo in Photoshop. Even though the smoke appears to be gray, there is some color information present.
Photoshop disregards color when creating a brush, so it is best that we do the same. Add a Black & White
Adjustment Layer to desaturate the image.

Add a Levels Adjustment Layer and pull the outer handles inwards to touch the edges of the histogram chart.
This will increase the contrast of the image and ultimately create a stronger brush effect.

Add a new layer just above the background layer and name it Edge Treatment, and then use the Brush (B) with black
paint and a large, soft tip to make certain the edges are all completely black. In areas where the smoke touches the
canvas edge, reduce the brush Opacity and gently fade the edge to black. This will prevent the custom brush effect from
producing sharp edges when used. Use this opportunity to also paint out any stray marks that might disrupt the brush.

Photoshop's custom brushes interpret black as positive pixels and white as negative, so the image needs to be
black on white, not white on black. Add an Invert Adjustment Layer above the others to completely reverse the
black and white values.

You can delete the brush by clicking on the brush setting

icon and choose delete brush.