Photoshop comes with a wide selection of brushes you can use right away, but you can also purchase new brushes or download free ones to expand your creative options.
However, like a lot of Photoshop's key functions, it's not obvious how to add these brushes afterwards — you're left with hundreds of menus and icons to sift through yourself.
Here's how to add new brushes to Photoshop, and start using them right away.
How to add brushes to Photoshop
1. Start by downloading the brushes to your computer. If the brushes came in a .zip file, you'll need to open the .zip and extract the files. The only files you need, though, are the .ABR files — there should be one for each brush. If you need help opening a .zip file, check out our articles on .zip files for both Windows 10 PCs and macOS computers.
2. Be sure to note where you've saved the .ABR file — you'll need to find it again later.
3. Start Photoshop and open an image or canvas, so you can see the usual Photoshop menus.
4. Click "Window" in the menu bar at the top of the screen and then, in the drop-down menu, click "Brushes." You should see the Brushes panel appear.
5. Click the four horizontal lines at the top-right of the Brushes panel — this is the menu — and click "Import Brushes…"
6. In the file browser that opens, find the folder where you stored the .ABR file and double-click it.
7. After a moment, the brushes will be installed in Photoshop. They should appear in the Brushes panel under the preset brushes.
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