Tutorial for creating a watermark brush in PS

[cfpackerfan]

I created this tutorial for a friend of mine, and thought it might be helpful to others, so I'm sharing it here.
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. :D

Open a New Document.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/1copy.jpg

Set dimensions: EDIT: It has been pointed out that your longest side should be no more than 2400px, otherwise the option to 'create brush preset' may not be available.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/2copy.jpg

Create a new layer:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/3copy.jpg

Set foreground color to black:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/4copy.jpg

Design your watermark, then select the rectangle marquee tool:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/5copy.jpg

Drag a selection around your design:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/6copy.jpg

[cfpackerfan]

Go to 'Edit > define brush presets' :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/7copy.jpg

Name your brush:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/8copy.jpg

Your new brush will be placed at the end of the list of whatever brush set was last active:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/9copy.jpg

Be sure to SAVE your brush.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/10copy.jpg

Now, to use your brush:
Open a photo. Create a new layer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/11copy.jpg

Set foreground color. Any color you wish. Press D on your keyboard to use the default black or white.
select your brush.
Set the opacity.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/12copy.jpg

To change size and position of your watermark, choose the 'move tool' and be sure that 'show transform controls' is marked.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/13copy.jpg

Set the opacity till you get it how you want it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/cfpackerfan/brush%20tutorial/14copy.jpg

[cfcRebel]

Very nice. I need to give it a try. Thanks for sharing.

[acorean]

Thanks! I'll have to play around and try it out.

[tomd]

Great, thanks for your time.
Tom

[Miniflash]

Great job on this Cat ~ thanks

[misspix]

Nice, Cat :D

[slimninj4]

Great job. You should as to the tutorial on making it an Action.

[theague]

Congrats on doing something useful for once Kit. :lol:

[jb_browneyes]

totally Awesome Cat thanks for sharing

[cfpackerfan]

Thanks everyone, and you're welcome. :D

Congrats on doing something useful for once Kit. :lol: :p to you. :p

[Permagrin]

I'm glad you posted this. I lost my last tutorial of yours and when I switched to CS3 I lost my brush! Thanks Cat :)

[3Turner]

Thanks Cat. I always keep losing the tutorial you provided like 3 times before :D.

[vincewchan]

So I guess I'm that "friend" huh? :D

[cfpackerfan]

So I guess I'm that "friend" huh? :D ;) You know it.

[hoods]

Thanks,
Just did it in Element 5.

[S.E.V.]

Sweet, Just did a test and what a great way to add a watermark, wish i had found this out a while ago, im still a noob at PS.

Thanks for sharing.

[juan001]

Wow! I'm gonna try this out later... Thanks for sharing!

[mtnphtgrphr]

:shock: Holy moly Cat... I just did this for myself!!! WOOT! This is an awesome tutorial!!!

[cfpackerfan]

:D Glad I could be of help. :D

I'd love to see what you did. :D

[jafrknb]

thanks,subscribing

[mtnphtgrphr]

It's a simple... but here it is...
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a152/mom2sean_n_alex/IMG_7425WM.jpg

Having not ever done a watermark or anything like this... any feedback would be great!

[cfpackerfan]

Jennifer.. that looks good. :D
If it were mine, I would probably make it a contrasting color so you could see it better on the photo.

[mtnphtgrphr]

Jennifer.. that looks good. :D
If it were mine, I would probably make it a contrasting color so you could see it better on the photo.

Thanks for the tip...:D having never done this I obviously have no clue!:oops:

[ashleynaugust]

Awesome tut!

I'm using PS 7, and when I get to the step after creating a rectangle around the image, the only option that is available (bolded) under edit is "Define Custom Shape" (Define Brush is not clickable).

Any clue what I'm doing wrong or a solution for that? I've been wanting to learn to watermark for my website for years-Thanks in advance!

[cfpackerfan]

Shoot a PM to hoods (post #15 here) and ask him. He said that he did his using Elements 5, so it should be the same in 7.

Is the option to define brush preset there, it just isn't bolded?

I accidentally ended up once where my brush preset option wasn't bolded. I don't know what I did differently.. maybe too many layers? Maybe I had the wrong layer selected. I don't know.
Because I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong, I started over again, and it worked fine.

I have found that if you design your watermark on a white background, then save it as a jpg, when you get to step #5 (design your logo) all you have to do is open your saved logo, select all, copy, and paste. Then flatten or merge so it is all one layer, then follow the steps after that.
Try that and see if it works for you.

[ashleynaugust]

The option is there, I tried retracing all steps and couldn't seem to change it. I'm going to look up tuts specifically for brush creating in PS7, and try to see if I can find the difference. I'll try the jpg method. Thanks.

[ashleynaugust]

Once I saved it as a JPG I was instantly able to select the Brush preset option.

Thanks so much for the tutorial! Pictures speak so much louder than words :)

This is my first go, I'm not sure why I can't seem to get a solid print even though opacity is at 100%, but I like the embossed look. I will play with it more later. Thanks again! =)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/AshleysBucket/MedJewelry3copy.jpg

[cfpackerfan]

Looks great Ashley. :D Glad it worked for you.

[LowriderS10]

Thanks so much for the tutorial, it is EXCELLENT!!!

Will this work on PS6?

[cfpackerfan]

It should... one of the posters here used PSE5 and said it worked fine. :D

[tamcrochet]

Thank you this is great.

[JCheungPhoto]

this is helpful thx

[Kimberwhip]

thanks!

[misty66]

Yep it is working for me too. In Elements 5 thanks!!!

[skade]

So easy to follow...great tutorial! Thanks!

[nstew]

I know this is sort of old, but I just found out why, for some people, the "define brush preset" button is grayed out. The file size may be too big. I had mine originally at the dimensions stated in the tutorial here, but had to shrink it so the longest side was 2400px. After that, the button is no longer grayed out.

[Flashstan]

Thanks Cat, you made this simple.

[cfpackerfan]

I know this is sort of old, but I just found out why, for some people, the "define brush preset" button is grayed out. The file size may be too big. I had mine originally at the dimensions stated in the tutorial here, but had to shrink it so the longest side was 2400px. After that, the button is no longer grayed out.

Thanks for that! I had no idea. I'll edit the first post to reflect this. :D

[inthedeck]

Thanks, I'm subscribed...though, the brush I created is perfect. I think I got the idea from here...hehe.

[CameraBuff]

Excellent tutorial - thank you so much!

[ashjamesgav]

Very helpful, thanks

[ashjamesgav]

I wonder, is there a way to make the brush where you're using two different colors? Like, for instance, having Inspirations Black and Photography gray? Is that possible to do while making it a brush? If anyone figures that out, please PM me.

[Picture North Carolina]

I wonder, is there a way to make the brush where you're using two different colors? Like, for instance, having Inspirations Black and Photography gray? Is that possible to do while making it a brush? If anyone figures that out, please PM me.

A "me too!" I hope somebody has a solution. A multicolor watermark would be nice.

[René Damkot]

I'd think that creating a new layer above it, blending mode color, with the watermark layer for clipping mask, should work...

edit: Yep:

http://img.skitch.com/20081105-a1wytud6gdr239wkraixjgn81.jpg

[Ursie]

Great tutorial. I have a couple of things to add. You can actually make brushes up to 2500 pixels x 2500 pixels but no larger in any dimension. Also, you can reduce the opacity of the brush before you 'stamp' it in the opacity levels that appears once you've selected the brush tool in the settings bar across the top.

As for two colors, you can selectively color a specific area after the brush is made, but PS doesn't allow for multi colored brushes. However, you can make a brush any design you want by selecting the brush itself once it's been applied and then copy and pasting whatever colors/patterns/backgrounds you'd like with that selection.

[Methodical]

Add me to the list of gratefuls. I always have my peepers out looking for shortcuts and tidbits. Will have to give it a try

Thanks

[JJD.Photography]

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. :D

How does one edit a brush (watermark) after going through all the steps?
PS CS3

Thank you

[Ursie]

How does one edit a brush (watermark) after going through all the steps?
PS CS3

Thank you

You would have to 'stamp' the brush on a clean layer and then do whatever editing you'd like. Select the image and create a new brush.

[JJD.Photography]

You would have to 'stamp' the brush on a clean layer and then do whatever editing you'd like. Select the image and create a new brush.

Thanks. I ended up creating a new watermark.

I am having a problem with the watermark showing up. When I "stamp" the brush on the new layer it's not showing up. I have black selected for the color. When I remove the background leaving the new layer, the watermark is present but in some funky multi color. I can't figure out if I selected something during pp'n or what.

Thanks again for any help!

[Ursie]

Can you post an example of what it's looking like? Sometimes, the color needs adjusting either lighter or darker.

[JJD.Photography]

Can you post an example of what it's looking like? Sometimes, the color needs adjusting either lighter or darker.

Sorry I do not have a picture, but I think I know what the problem is.
My brush tool is "History brush tool". The tool has a curved arrow on it where the tool from page 1 does not.

Thanks again for any help!

[Ursie]

Ah, you don't want the History brush, you want the regular brush tool.

[GolfPT]

Subscribing. Thanks for the tutorial.

[tmichieldds]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

[Awdrey]

Is there any way I can make a brush that has multi colors in it? I have PSE 5.

Thanks.

[René Damkot]

Not directly, however there is a way:
http://img.skitch.com/20090228-a1wytud6gdr239wkraixjgn81.jpg

[Awdrey]

Not directly, however there is a way:
http://img.skitch.com/20090228-a1wytud6gdr239wkraixjgn81.jpg

I have PSE 5 I don't understand your instructions. :( Sorry, not trying to be difficult.

[René Damkot]

I don't have PSE either, so I don't know what options you have there, but in PSCS2 this is what you do:

Open image.
Use a gray brush on a seperate blank layer (I used a "leaf shaped" brush in the above example).
Create another blank layer on top of that, and use the "brush" layer as clipping mask (Cmd+Opt+G, probably Ctrl+Alt+G on PC, while on the top layer).
In that layer, I put a color gradient, but you can paint in the colors you want as well.

If you use "Normal" blending mode for the "color gradient" layer, the color will show if anything is in the layer below. (regardless of color, but depending on opacity)

If you use "Color" blend mode (as I did in the screenshot), the luminosity of the color is defined by the luminosity in the "brush" layer: Black will remain black, white will remain white, gray will show color.

"Overlay" is another option. White and black will remain that way, color is more or less vibrant depending on darkness of the brush and the color used.

Couple of screenshots:

White Background layer, couple of brush strokes in the layer above:
http://img.skitch.com/20090228-be82cdis4yyr6ibpphmcs1i8b9.jpg

Layer above it, "Normal" blending mode:
http://img.skitch.com/20090228-xdxh53yjegi3wb64prwra9axup.jpg

Layer above it, "Color" blending mode:
http://img.skitch.com/20090228-e1mfkf4icqgjw6isf5s6wyfhgt.jpg

Layer above it, "Overlay" blending mode:
http://img.skitch.com/20090228-d2fjqit613psfieph5w3rhbq9a.jpg

The layers palette for that last screenshot, with an alternative way to create a clipping mask (Another alternative: Right click the top layer, choose "Create Clipping Mask"):

http://img.skitch.com/20090228-b3xxsy23fu7q7ar94pkhhbuq8t.jpg

Hope this helps, and hope that Elements offers blending modes (I think it does), and clipping masks.

[Kristy]

giving a bump, as the question came up in another thread today....
Thanks for the awesome tutorial Cat!! :) You have helped so many people that you don't even realize.... :)

[suhailawan]

thank you very much for step by step, I did it and love it but what is way out to use it for many photos at once, I hope you will respond, as I'm quite new to photoshop and photography as well

[René Damkot]

Not directly

I was wrong back then ;)

https://img.skitch.com/20110212-c7crs672piqeqet1yd86599tj1.jpg

[cfpackerfan]

Whoa! Blast from the past. :)

thank you very much for step by step, I did it and love it but what is way out to use it for many photos at once, I hope you will respond, as I'm quite new to photoshop and photography as well

You can set it as an action, then run it in batch mode.

I'm sorry I don't have the step by step of creating an action right now, but photoshop help should have the guide to that.

Once you have it set as an action, you can batch a group of photos with that action.