The Smart Brush Adobe Photoshop Elements Tutorial

Posted on 29. Mar, 2010 by admin in Adobe Photoshop Elements Tutorials, Elements Versions

The Smart Brush tool in Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 is a mixture of the Quick Selection tool (Elements 6) and adjustment layers; it offers a quick way to adjust, enhance, and add effects to your photos and is located in the Full Edit area of the Editor.

When you click on the Smart Brush a menu pops open showing nine categories of nearly 70 effects that can be applied to your photo. It’s great because all you have to do is make your choice from the list and simply paint over the area you want the effect to be applied. After you begin drawing your initial selection the tool automatically switches to the Add to Selection mode. To remove any part of your selected area you can hold down Alt on your keyboard and paint away the parts you want to get rid of.

How does the Smart Brush work? If you look at the Layers palette, you’ll see that an adjustment layer was created along with the layer mask that accompanies adjustment layers. The area you highlighted is shown in white on the mask, consequently showing the effect. The black areas on the mask are hiding the effect.

To revise the effect you created, you can either double-click the adjustment layer in the Layers palette or you can double-click the red adjustment pin located in your selection on the image. As long as the adjustment layer is one supported by Adobe Photoshop Elements, the dialog box for that adjustment layer will open and you can make any changes you wish.

Some of the presets were created using an adjustment layer found in the full version of Adobe Photoshop and not in Adobe Elements, so you won’t be able to edit these effects.

Beginners Adobe Photoshop Elements Tutorial