Importing Photoshop Brushes to Clip Studio Paint
As digital artists, we often find ourselves switching between different software to achieve the desired effects in our artwork. One common scenario is importing brushes from Photoshop to Clip Studio Paint. In this post, we'll explore the process of importing Photoshop brushes, troubleshooting common issues, and adjusting brush settings to achieve the desired effects.
Importing Brushes from Photoshop
To import brushes from Photoshop, select the brushes you want to import and group them together. Then, export the group as a file. Finally, drag the file into the Brush folder in Clip Studio Paint, making sure the Subtool Brush is open. This intuitive process is similar to working in Photoshop, making it easy to transition between the two software.
Troubleshooting Imported Brushes
If you encounter problems with imported brushes, check the Tool Property to see which settings are active. Clicking on the brush will display the active settings in the Tool Property. For more detailed settings, go to Window > Sub Tool Detail to open the Sub Tool Detail window. This window shows all possible settings for the brush, helping you identify any issues.
Brush Examples
We imported three simple brushes from Photoshop: Hard Round, Square, and Angle Thin. The Angle Thin brush was tweaked to demonstrate how changes affect the brush settings in Clip Studio Paint. Notably, the angle setting can be a bit unusual in Clip Studio Paint.
Slight Texture Round Brush
The Slight Texture Round Brush is the most affected by the import process from Photoshop. This brush is commonly used for painting, allowing for easy color blending and texture. To use this brush, pick a color or go over an area with the brush, then add the brush to the area to create a smooth, gradual color transition.
Differences between Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint
The watercolor edge setting makes a significant difference in the brush's appearance. Turning off this setting can greatly change the effect. Texture density is another setting that can be adjusted to achieve the desired effect.
Adjusting Brush Settings in Clip Studio Paint
To achieve a closer match to the original Photoshop brush, adjust the brush size using velocity, which makes the brush stroke thinner as you draw faster. Additionally, adjust the opacity and texture density to achieve the desired effect. In our example, we removed the watercolor edge, reduced texture density by 50, and increased opacity by 50, resulting in a brush that closely matches the one in Photoshop.
Troubleshooting Brush Issues
If you're having problems with your brush, check the tool property settings. Try adjusting or turning off certain settings to identify the issue and achieve the desired effect.
Post-Process Effects for Painting
In addition to importing and adjusting brushes, Clip Studio Paint offers various post-process effects to enhance your paintings.
Adding Variation with Brush Strokes
Use a brush that changes color slightly with each stroke, while maintaining some randomness. This effect is great for adding variation to forms without destroying the fundamental shape.
Speckles
This effect adds a little texture to the painting and works well on overlay or other color modes. It allows for playing around with texture and adding humor to your artwork.
Blending
A smudge brush helps blend colors together. The important setting here is particle density, which should be set to 1 for a Photoshop-like effect. Increasing particle density allows for more blending and a nicer effect than in Photoshop.
Smudge Sharp
Similar to speckles, but with more control over texture placement, this effect takes the texture and color around and tries to implement blending. It's not for blending exactly, but for adding tiny little texture to the object.
Tips for Using Smudge Brushes in Krita
While the post focuses on Clip Studio Paint, some tips are applicable to Krita as well. Experiment with different blending modes, such as Soft Light or Overlay, to add variation in hue to your painting. Adjust the angle of the smudge brush to follow the direction of the brush stroke, and play with the color stretch to control the amount of smudging. Practice using the smudge brushes by painting a simple object to focus on forms and colors.