Photoshop: Tinsel Brush

While I was playing around in Photoshop, I got the idea to make a brush to mimic the tinsel I bought from Daiso last month. Since tinsel is made of shiny rectangles, I thought it would be pretty simple. So I made a brush with a rectangle shape as a base and tweaked away. I’ll show you what I did in the first tutorial. In addition, I’ll show you how to create the sparkly tinsel effect that you see in the image above. To get the shimmer effect, you’ll need some kind of glitter texture. I have a couple of tutorials showing you how to make both faux and genuine glitter.

The brush is a cinch to make, but if you’re a member, both the brush and the PSD exercise file are ready to download after the jump.

Alright, guys, I hope you have loads of fun making tinsel!

Tinsel Brush: Step 1

1. Create a 200x10px document
2. Fill it with black (#000000).
3. Define it as a brush: Edit >> Define Brush Preset
4. Next, edit Brush Palette settings. Window >> Brushes

Tinsel Brush: Step 2

1. Select Brush Tip Shape
2. Choose the rectangular brush you created in Step 1.
3. Select a diameter
4. Change the spacing to: 125%

You can make your tinsel plush or sparse by editing these settings.

Tinsel Brush: Step 3

1. Select Shape Dynamics.
2. Size Jitter: 50%
3. Minimum Diameter: 50%
4. Angle Jitter: 100%
5. Roundness Jitter: 50%
6. Minimum Roundness: 100%

Tinsel Brush: Step 4

1. Select Scattering
2. Check Both Axes.
3. Scatter: 50%
4. Count: 5
5. Count Jitter: 100%
6. You may want to save your brushes now. Edit >> Preset Manager >> Save Set.

NEXT: Add tinsel to text

Before you begin, create a new document. Choose a color you like and then select the Text Tool to add some text to your document.

To view the Layers Palette: Window >> Layers

To view the Paths Palette: Window >> Paths