Photoshop Brushes

Brushes & Presets

How to Build Custom Photoshop Brushes That Actually Work Inside Actions

The Problem Nobody Talks About When Sharing Actions I sent a batch action to a client’s in-house retoucher last spring, one I’d been running cleanly for months on product shots. She ran it on her machine and every single dodge step came out wrong. The brush I’d built into the action was pulling from her default settings instead of mine, and the softness, spacing, and flow were completely different. The action itself was fine.

June 11, 2026

Brushes

Creating Custom Brushes for Photoshop: The Foundation of Efficient Workflows

Creating Custom Brushes for Photoshop: The Foundation of Efficient Workflows I’ve spent the last decade building Photoshop workflows, and I can tell you with absolute certainty: the fastest designers aren’t using Adobe’s default brushes. They’re building custom brush sets that anticipate exactly what they need, when they need it. Custom brushes are more than aesthetic preferences—they’re the scaffolding of repeatable, automated work. When you combine them with actions and presets, they become incredibly powerful.

February 6, 2026