Can I move brush files (abr) after they have been installed?

[gonzosgirrl]

Photoshop CC 2023 on Windows 11. I have downloaded a lot of custom brushes to several different locations, some in Downloads, some in the Photoshop presets/brushes folder, some on the desktop. Most all have been installed by double clicking the abr file with PS open. I would like to organize them properly. Question 1: Can I move the abr files after they have been installed?

Question 2: What, precisely is the best location to save these files to? If I understand correctly, placing them in the Presets folder (with cc closed) will automatically install them (EDITED: I realized this is not accurate, still have to import them). I don't necessarily want every brush I've ever downloaded in my panel all the time. Is there value in having two locations (the presets, and a separate location for the lesser used brushes). Any insights are appreciated.

[Sameer K · Accepted solution]

Hey, @gonzosgirrl. I'll help you find the answers to these questions.

1 - Once you double-click to load the ABR files & Photoshop loads the presets, they're added to the Brushes.psp file in Photoshop's preference folder. You can move the local (Non-PS) copies to your preferred locations.

2 - You've found most of the info about this. File sync is announced as discontinued, Libraries will continue to function as expected. Here is my take: I keep my favorite presets in Photoshop's Libraries panel (Window > Libraries), so they are always available.

Would recommend that you set some time apart to re-organize & re-group brush presets in Photoshop's Brush presets panel and then export these group folders out of Photoshop from the brushes panel and keep these as a backup so that you won't have to import 100s of brushes and start organizing again.

Thanks!
Sameer K

[gonzosgirrl]

Thank you so much. Exactly the info I was looking for. 🙂

[lc55472355]

I just saw found this thread while searching for something related.  There is widespread confusion regarding where on the computer to best store one's purchased/created Photoshop presets, how to save changes when you reorganize preset groups, and how to back up your preset collections.  Accidentally losing preset assets, organizing presets into groups and having them revert, and spending too much time backing up are common occurences.  This has been a subject of special interest to me over the years and I've written up best practices that cover these topics, including answers to the questions you posed.  Let me know if I can be of assistance.  🙂

[tcranley]

I have 2015 imac and it crashes often. Mostly because  I think the GPU overheats. Regardless every time it crashes my brush packages like megabrush pack from photoshop, that I use all the time, are no longer in Photoshop. I have to reinstall it. How can I avoid having to reinstall it every time my computer crashes?

[lc55472355]

tcranley:  What version of Photoshop are you using?

[tcranley]

I'm using PS 2024 or 25.4.0

[Trevor.Dennis]

I'm just a tiny bit concerned about how this works, and if the presets will survive a major version update?  My preferred method of adding .abr brush groups is, for Windows.  This maintains the separate .abr files so you can add to, remove, and most importantly, back them up.

C:\Users\[Your User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2024\Presets\Brushes

Sometimes those presets don't get migrated with a majot update.  When that happens you can always find them in the previous version folder, but only one version back, so make sure you move them before the next big update.

Note: 2022 has only the one subfolder

Definitely think about creating a folder with your favourate presets, and exporting it out to it's own .abr group.  A lot of groups will have about 10-20% useful presets, and the rest things you'll never use, so rationalize by collating the good presets to one supergroup by type (i.e. birds, bubbles cracks etc.) and moving the original .abr files to an archive folder to unclog your preset list.  You only need to do this once.  

Something I do is to rename some of the .abr groups to give them meaningful names that will show in easy to find alphabetical order.  I leave enough of the original name to know where it came from.  You can also rename individual presets in the main part of the brush right click panel.  This can make them much easier to find using the panel's search bar.   That search tool could have been added specifically for the Kyle Webster Megapack, which has more than 700 presets!!!  (that was a joke, but should be true because who the heck has time to look through 700 presets, yet alone create them in the first place.

[lc55472355]

I'm just a tiny bit concerned about how this works, and if the presets will survive a major version update?  My preferred method of adding .abr brush groups is, for Windows.  This maintains the separate .abr files so you can add to, remove, and most importantly, back them up.

By @Trevor.Dennis

Hi TD, not sure whom you were replying to here, but I'm in the mood to chat.    

Until early this year, I was Exporting my brushes, every time I made a change, to the default Presets folder at Users/username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop 20XX/Presets, and then replacing my master copies in a folder on my data drive that is automatically backed up to iCloud and Time Machine.  (You know, it might be a helpful clue to users, who keep losing their brushes and customized groups, if Ps would just change that one command from Export Selected Brushes... to Save Selected Brushes...)

In February on this forum you gave me an idea for how I could cut out a step by puting a shortcut in the Presets folder and thereby export directly into my personal folder that gets automatically backed up.   I owe you one for that!

This system is working really well for me, and the major update to Ps 2024 was swiftly accomplished.  I save all the brushes I want to keep, including the ones shipped with PS and the legacy ones, in my personal folder to avoid the confusion of whether I've reviewed and saved this or that traunch of brushes that Ps sends.  Like you, I keep the sets I use all the time loaded in the Brushes panel, and when I need to load or delete a special brush set, they all move in and out of and that one folder.  As long as I don't get lazy and immediately export the occasional change I make to a set, I'm good as gold.  I do the same exact thing for eight other types of presets that I occasionally use.

Some would ask, "How can you stand to go to so much trouble?"  Well, half of my career was in records management, a field that I loved, and I was responsible for setting up paper, then digital, filing systems and training employees how to use the database from their work stations.  I documented how the system worked in a plain-English manual for the technology-averse, and I'm an avid writer so that was fun, too.  Now that I'm retired I amuse myself delving into computer programs like Photoshop, Bridge, and the Windows and Mac operating systems and writing step-by-step, best practice how-to's for all their functions so that I never have to worry about forgetting something I've learned.  

I collect art and always wanted to make art, but I grew bored quickly with traditional art mediums.  Photoshop has proven to be the creative tool that locks in my attention.  I make digital narrative collages, figurative and non-figurative mandalas, and dabble in drawing abstract pictures.

I do feel for folks who lose their presets or who spend days organizing their brushes and then see it all revert.  If I was ever going to make a an instructional pamphlet available on Amazon, it would be on how to manage presets!  It's a wonder someone who needs the money hasn't done it already.  I guess most of the lucky ones who've been taught or taught themselves how to do this are already gainfully employed using Photoshop in their jobs.