Save Foreground AND Background color in Brush Preset

Forum|Forum|26 days ago
September 13, 2026
6 replies
55 views

When saving a brush preset, we are able to save the color, which is great. I do a lot of masking work where I need to bounce back and forth between white and black. Which means when I save a brush, I need both the foreground color and the background color to be saved specifically like that. But when you grab a custom brush, it only remembers the foreground color that you had saved. So let's say, for instance, that you have your foreground and background color both set to red. And then you would like to use one of your custom brushes, so you select it. The foreground color will now switch to your saved color, but the background color will continue to be red. We should have an option when saving brushes to remember both foreground and background color. This is more efficient and eliminates extra steps when we need something specific.

Paolo Domeniconi

Known Participant

Photoshop actually does save both the foreground and background colors whenever the "Foreground/Background Jitter" option is active under Color Dynamics. Sure, adding Color Dynamics might sound like an unwanted variation, but we can actually "trick" the software.

Here’s the workaround:

Open the Brush Settings pane and check Color Dynamics.
Under Foreground/Background Jitter, leave the slider set to 0%.
In the control drop-down menu right below it, select a feature your stylus doesn't use, like Stylus Wheel or Rotation (unless your pen specifically supports it).
Now, save a new Brush Preset and make sure to check Include Color.

Photoshop will now save and recall both your foreground and background colors whenever you select that brush.

S

shayb68441784Author

Inspiring

That's really interesting, thank you!

jane-e

Community Expert

@shayb68441784

Until or IF Adobe does this, would it work for you to:

start by pressing “D” to get the default swatches of black and white and eliminate the issue of red appearing
type “X” to switch quickly between the foreground and background swatches

Alternatively, you might be able to write an Action or Script that would reset your swatches first, and then select your brush before painting on your mask with pure black and pure white.

Jane