Photohop brushes – I’ll explain where you can download free Photoshop brushes other artists have created.
You may have already spent some time searching the internet for free brushes. My guess, is that you will probably continue to do this once you get the hang of it. My aim here is to show you some sites where you can find quality sets, without having to do all the searching.
Please remember, there are legalities involved whenever you download other artist’s work for your own use. Don’t be one of those people who gets a nasty-gram from an understandably irate artist for using their work without permission!
I’ve picked five sites that I often visit. I’ll give a short explanation of what you can expect to find on each one.
#5 Photoshop Support – Not only do they offer a great collection of high resolution brushes of their own.. but in case you can’t find anything there you like, they also have a directory of many other artist’s sites you can download free brushes from.
If you need brushes for commercial work, you’ll have to contact the artist for permission.
#4 PS Brushes – 511 brushes total and they’ve categorized them well. I’ve found some rather obscure brush sets here in the past. Also, many of their brush artists have put a large number of different brushes in single sets. Great to have, but might take a little more time to download if you’re using a dial up internet connection.
This site also accepts submissions and you can do that through their contact page.
You will have to contact the artist directly if you want permission to use downloaded brushes for commercial work.
#3 Brusheezy – I like this site because you can sort by Photoshop version. This is kind of a nit pick thing, but it’s a real let down to find a brush you like, only to discover it isn’t compatible with your software.
They don’t have quite the collection as other sites, but they are fairly new. The few sets I’ve downloaded from here have worked out well. I also like that you can upload your own and vote on other artist’s brush work.
The usage guidelines are different for each artist. There is a README.txt that comes with each download, so check that before you use it on commercial designs.
#2 Photoshop Brushes – Dave Seipp designs his own brushes, he’s been around since 2004, and he’s got a nice collection. His style is mostly grunge and gritty, perfect for oh so many “dark” effects you may have seen in avatars or signatures.
He’s given us permission to use them for both commercial and non commercial use as long as we give him some credit: a link back to his site, or a relevant comment.
#1. deviant Art – I am consistently surprised at the massive collection of quality brushes I find on this site. I say “quality brushes”, because when you start downloading your own, you’ll notice some of them aren’t as good as others. Well, that’s just the nature of art.. and hey, beggars can’t be choosers!
You may notice they have some ads here and there, however, if you sign up for an account (since it’s free, and since you’re an artist) you won’t have to see the ads. You can search through the brushes by keywords, a really handy feature if you are looking for something in specific to work with. Also fun to type in a random idea and see what comes back.. mmmmm inspiration.
You’ll have to check the artist’s comments for what type of usage they allow. Some just want credit if you use their brushes, others love for you to leave them comments. Double check the copyrights before you use any to create commercial projects.
Okay! That wraps up my first listing. Please feel free to comment here with any brush sites you’ve discovered that other people might also find useful. And.. have fun!
