This lesson covers the Brush tool and its siblings — Pencil, Eraser, History Brush. Painting, masking and retouching all start here.
2026 note: This lesson was recorded on Photoshop CS6 in 2014. Adobe no longer sells the CS line — Photoshop now ships via Creative Cloud subscription. About 95% of the menus and shortcuts shown in the video still match the modern version; only the iconography is a bit fresher.
Brush Tool (B)
- Size:
[and]shrink/grow.Shift + [/]change hardness. - Hardness: 0% soft, 100% crisp. 30–60% is a sweet spot for photo retouch.
- Opacity vs Flow: Opacity caps the total transparency of a stroke; Flow controls paint per contact.
- Color:
Xswaps foreground/background,Dresets to black/white. - On a tablet, map Pen Pressure to opacity and size — strokes feel hand-drawn.
Related Tools
- Pencil (B): no anti-alias, for pixel art.
- Eraser (E): same dynamics, but prefer a Layer Mask when possible.
- History Brush (Y): paints back a previous state. Brilliant for “smooth this, but keep this spot original”.
2026 Tip — Symmetry & Live Brush Preview
The butterfly icon on the top bar enables Paint Symmetry (vertical/horizontal/radial). And Alt + right-click + drag resizes the brush with a live preview.
