*** From the Archives ***

This article is from September 6, 2011, and is no longer current.

Terrific Typographical Photoshop Brushes

Whether you want to quickly build texture in an image collage or you’re simply short on drawing skills, Photoshop brushes are invaluable. They come in every shape imaginable, and you can endlessly manipulate their size and color.
Thanks to the Internet’s generosity, a lot of Photoshop brushes are free downloads. Just do a search and you’ll find a huge assortment—so many that it’s overwhelming. That’s why I’ve compiled a special brush collection for you. Every set features letters or is related to typography.
But before I get to the sample images and download links, here’s a refresher course on how to install Photoshop brush sets:
1. If the download file is a Zip format, extract the .ABR file from the Zip archive.
2. Move the .ABR file to a permanent location on your computer. This could be into the Photoshop Brushes folder (full paths below) or a central location you create for Photoshop brushes. To place it in Photoshop’s existing brush folder, move or copy the .ABR file:
Windows: C:Program FilesAdobeAdobe Photoshop CSxPresetsBrushes
Mac OSX: Applications/Adobe Photoshop CSx/Presets/Brushes/
3. Open Photoshop and select the Brush tool.
4. On the Options bar, click the down arrow beside the brush shape preview. This will pop open the controls for brushes.
5. From the brush control popup, click the right-facing arrow in the top right corner and select Load Brushes.
6. When the Load Brushes dialog appears, navigate to the location where you placed the .ABR file and then open that file.
7. Photoshop will ask whether you’d like to replace the brushes already in the brush palette or append to them, adding the new brush set to the end of the list of brushes. Typically you’ll want to append.
8. Start brushing!
Page 1:
• Alphabet Brushes
• Calligraphic Brushes
Page 2:
• Doodle Brushes
• Foreign Language Brushes
• Grunge Brushes
• Map and Stamp Brushes
Page 3
• Miscellaneous Brushes
• Miscellaneous Photo and Illustration Brushes
• Musical Notation Brushes
• Vintage Brushes
Alphabet Brushes
Art Alphabet (39 brushes):

Alien Alphabets (160 brushes):

Animalbet (26 brushes):

BLOQd Font Brushes (26 brushes):

Alphabet Borders (26 brushes):

Braille Alphabet (16 brushes):

Alphabet Newspaper Tears (32 brushes):

Flaming-Fire Alphabet (26 brushes):

Grafabet (51 brushes):

In Bloom Alphabet (26 brushes):

Line (26 brushes):

Code Name Murder Alphabet (51 brushes):

Runic Alphabet (29 brushes):

Smokey Alphabet (105 brushes):

Smoking (26 brushes):

Stencil Alphabet (26 brushes):

Stenciled Letters (26 brushes):

Times New Grunge (26 brushes):

Calligraphic Brushes
Letter As (31 brushes):

Letter Bs (31 brushes):

Letter Cs #1 (24 brushes):

Letter Cs #2 (29 brushes):

Letter Ds (19 brushes):

Elegant Letters & Numbers (62 brushes):

Fairy Doodles (27 brushes):

Book Ornaments 3 (8 brushes):

Celt King (26 brushes):

Calligraphy Alphabet (26 brushes):

Foreign (17 brushes):

Roman Alphabet Diagrams (22 brushes):

Swirls (29 brushes):

Go to Page 2:
• Doodle Brushes
• Foreign Language Brushes
• Grunge Brushes
• Map and Stamp Brushes
Go to Page 3:
• Miscellaneous Brushes
• Miscellaneous Photo and Illustration Brushes
• Musical Notation Brushes
• Vintage Brushes


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Pariah S. Burke is the author of many books and articles that empower, inform, and connect creative professionals.
  • Anonymous says:

    Thank you, Pariah.

  • Anonymous says:

    Thank you for recommending my PS brushes. This is a first for me! It’s quite exciting.
    Cheers Weegieschemie

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