How do you configure your brush settings for painting?

Question

Hello! I would like to ask those experienced with digital painting about brush settings with Photoshop. I am new to digital painting and have had some challenges getting used to manipulating my digital brush, particularly with pressure sensitivity. I press hard on my tablet, so initially I set my Wacom pressure settings to soft to try and compensate for this. This led to virtually no control for pressure sensitivity in Photoshop as values would blow out near instantly. Now, my Wacom tablet pressure settings are default with medium pressure sensitivity. I see different artists using different settings such as, only opacity and no flow, full transfer settings, no transfer settings, etc.

I am confused between what sort of settings I should be using with my default hard round brush. Specifically, when painting, should I have the transfer setting enabled or disabled, for both flow and opacity? Why or why not?

Here is a video by Peter Mohrbacher advising against transfer settings, that I came across while trying to research this subject on my own.

https://youtu.be/CKs-OeZgxFo?si=uIL7eJqRHGHzLikc

At the moment, I just want to keep things simple so I can practice building up dexterity with these digital tools.

Thank you for your assistance.

davescm · Accepted Answer

‘I am confused between what sort of settings I should be using with my default hard round brush. Specifically, when painting, should I have the transfer setting enabled or disabled, for both flow and opacity? Why or why not? ‘

It really does depend on your particular painting style, the brushes, and how you use them. Many will change those settings as they work. It is of course worth knowing the difference.

Flow : As paint transfers with a single stroke and overlaps, in that same stroke, then the paint builds up with each overlap. This is more akin to a real paintbrush using paint with some transparency but can end up with uneven coverage.

Opacity: Overlaps in the same stroke do not build up. Separate strokes i.e. lift the pen and start a new stroke do build up with overlap.

After that it is your preference/style and, just as you would paint with different real paints each with different levels of transparency, then you can change those settings in Photoshop to achieve the effect you prefer.

Dave

Trevor.Dennis · Answer

That is such a huge question, and difficult to answer unless you can be more specific.

Do you want to emulate oil painting? If so, look for ‘impasto’ brushes. I think Kyle Webster might have some that you can find by clicking on Get More Brushes from the brushes panel.

This set is highly rated, but apparently difficult to find. If you want it PM me your email and I’ll send it to you. Note they are a Tool Preset file rather .abr brush presets file, but I’ll send instructions.

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