Custom Shapes

First open the picture you want to use as a custom shape. I am using a clipart image I got from Microsoft Office shown below:

Right click on the image above and go to Photoshop Elements and select File > New > Image from Clipboard:

Once the image is open in Elements you will notice it has a white background. We want to get rid of the white background. Select the magic wand tool with a tolerance set to 15:

click anywhere on the white background. You should see marching ants surrounding the trunk:

Press the delete key to erase the white background. Ctrl + D to deselect the background. Your graphic should now look like this:

Next we want to name the brush. Go to Edit > Define Brush:

Next assign the brush a name:

Click OK to close the Brush Name dialog box. Next I want to save my brush permanently so I need to take one more step otherwise when you load a different brush set your brush will be lost. To save your brush permanently, click Edit and select Preset Manager:

At the Preset Manager dialog box select Brush as your Preset Type, then select the brush you just saved from the drop-down resets list. Press Ctrl + Click to select more than one brush.

Click Save Set. In the Save window, browse to select a location for the brush set, enter a name, and click save.

Close the tree trunk clipart and return to your house project. Close this window and return to the drawing tutorial.