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Changing Colors and Drawing Tools - Images: Japanese
Hey everyone!
Next, let's look at changing colors and working with the 'Brush Tool'.
First, a bit about color in Photoshop. There are two color concepts: 'Foreground Color' and 'Background Color'.
'Foreground Color' is the color applied when using tools like the 'Brush Tool' or 'Pencil Tool'. 'Background Color' is the color applied when using the 'Eraser Tool' or when erasing areas defined by shape.
Near the bottom left of the screen, you should see something like this:
This is where you change colors. The top-left box is the 'Foreground Color', and the bottom-right box is the 'Background Color'. Click the top-left box to open the Foreground Color picker:
Click anywhere in the colorful area on the left to select that color. Down in the lower right, you'll see a '#' field — this is where you can enter a color value in hexadecimal. This is commonly used in web development, so keep it in mind.
For hexadecimal color values, see this article.
Setting the 'Background Color' works the same way. Click the bottom-right box to open the Background Color picker.
To swap the Foreground and Background colors, click the curved arrow icon shown here:
Now let's use the Foreground Color you just set to draw something simple. Open any image or create a new file. Then look for the brush icon in the tool panel on the left and click it:
This is the 'Brush Tool' — it lets you draw or paint. There's another tool with a very similar icon called the 'Quick Selection Tool' — don't accidentally click that one instead. Here's what it looks like:
With the Brush Tool selected, click on a layer in the Layers panel to make it active. If no layer is selected when you try to draw, Photoshop will warn you. So make sure a layer is selected first.
Now drag across the canvas to draw. Did the Foreground Color you set appear on the canvas?
The Brush Tool's size and shape can be customized. With the Brush Tool selected, look at the upper left of the screen — you should see this:
Click it to open the brush settings panel:
Here you can change the brush size and shape. You can also create custom brush shapes or download brush presets from online resources to import into Photoshop. We'll cover that in a separate article. Feel free to experiment — there's a lot of fun to be had here.
Try long-pressing the Brush Tool icon in the toolbar. This reveals other tools in the same category, like the 'Pencil Tool' and 'Color Replacement Tool':
Many tools in Photoshop are grouped this way. If you can't find a tool, try long-pressing — it's likely tucked in a group.
Lastly, let's look at the 'Eraser Tool'. The Eraser Tool looks like this:
As the name suggests, it erases. Try erasing some of what you just drew:
The drawn lines are removed. If you're using a pen tablet, the opposite end of the stylus is automatically mapped to the Eraser Tool — so just flip the pen over and draw to erase. No need to manually switch to the Eraser Tool each time.
One thing to be aware of: in the example above, the file was created with a 'Transparent' canvas, and the 'Background Color' was set to '#ffffff' (white). Even though white was specified as the background color, the erased area shows as transparent — not white.
This is a bit nuanced: when the canvas color is 'Transparent', the Eraser Tool erases to transparency. When the canvas has a non-transparent color, the Eraser Tool erases to the Background Color.
Let's demonstrate. Create a new file with 'White' as the canvas color:
Draw something on it:
The Background Color is currently set to '#ffffff' (white). Now erase part of the drawing with the Eraser Tool:
It erases normally. Now use History to undo, change the Background Color to '#000000' (black), and erase again:
The erased area is now black. This behavior catches a lot of people off guard, so keep it in mind.
That's it for color and the Brush Tool. Try drawing and experimenting in Photoshop to get a feel for how everything works. In the next article, we'll look at Fill and the Eyedropper Tool. See you there!
This article was written by Sakurama.
Author's beloved small mammal |
桜舞 春人 Sakurama HarutoA Tokyo-based programmer who has been creating various content since the ISDN era, with a bit of concern about his hair. A true long sleeper who generally feels unwell without at least 10 hours of sleep. His dream is to live a life where he can sleep as much as he wants. Loves games, sports, and music. Please share some hair with him. |
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