Wendy,
The brush engine for Photoshop and Elements was changed from version 6 to 7 of PS and version 1 to 2 of Elements. It is possible that you are using brushes desgined for the wrong version. You don’t say if you have Elements 2.0, so I’m not sure if the problem is trying to use old brushes in a newer version or vice versa, but you get the idea.
Rich
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the info …however I am using Element 2 and the brushes were ones I created myself using Elements 2.
I haven’t a clue how it happened but I guess I will just have to do them again.
Hi Wendy,
Try this:
Create your brush.
In Edit, select :"define brush"
Rename the brush.
This should do it.
John
Hi Wendy,
I forgot to mention that your new brush(es) will be found at the bottom of the default listing of brushes.
John
John,
Sorry you have lost me … I actually created nine brushes, via presets manager sorted and saved them to a new set. Closed Elements, re opened … then used the brushes for an hour or two before closing elements again. Later in the day the brush set was unloadable giving the message in my original post …. something really odd has happened.
The only thing I can think of is that during the day I was playing around trying out Photoshop keyboard shotcuts to see which worked in Elements.
Well that will teach me to back up new brush sets 🙂
Hi Wendy,
My second message which said where your brushes would be located (stored) referred to those brushes created by the method suggested in my first message. Sorry that I confused you.
John
Wendy, have you figured out what’s going on yet with your saved brushes? I haven’t gotten the PS7 error message, but I did keep loosing my brushes — even after using Define brushes, naming and saving them in a new group. I could see the new file in the Brushes\Presets folder, but they wouldn’t stay put in the drop down list after I loaded them. I finally figured out that I had to save them with an existing brush set in order for them to stay put.
When you load a brush set PSE adds it to the bottom of whatever brush set you have open. It adds an asterisk in front of the list name on the options bar to indicate this. If you switch brush sets…poof!…they disappear! So finally, I figured out that if I wanted my brushes to stay put, I had to save them with a brush set that appears on the drop down list of sets.
I first tried it by adding my new signature brushes to a set that I downloaded, since I could easily replace that. Once I knew it worked, I loaded my siggie burshes with one of the sets active that came with PSE and then saved them with the same name. When asked if I wanted to replace the existing file I said yes. My new signature brushes now are in the Assorted brushes set. I only made two signature brushes so far, one solid color and one outline type. I figured that I can use layer styles if I want something fancier.
I’m wondering if this is the way it’s supposed to be? I thought by defining the brushes and creating a new set with it’s own name would make them appear in the drop down list. The new file name IS in with the other brushes under Presets. There is not much help in the on line Help files or in the manual. It says nothing about having to save the brushes with an existing set to keep them and it says nothing about that they will disappear if you change brush sets.
Hoping that someone will shed some light on this. This post should bring it back to the top of the list.
Patti
P.S. FWIW, I was wondering if your PS7 error message might be related to the complexity of your brushes. Maybe if you would give details of what you did to create them, someone can figure out what’s going on.
in PE1 the method to use : reset brushes so that default brushes are up>right click on each brush and ‘delete’all except first one ( 1 point brush )….( don’t worry you aren’t really deleting the brushes from the program) Then you make a ‘new’ document and use black to make your new brush style/shape >make rectangular marquee selection around it>go to edit>define brush. repeat process until you have all your brushes made. Click on little arrow in top right corner for drop down options in your new brushes palette>save brushes>( name them )put them in program files>adobe>elements>presets>brushes ( sorry I don’t know the routine for Mac )then they will appear in your drop down and stay there. OR, you can just put them somewhere on your system ( the way i do because I’m always adding/making my own brushes) and when you need them click on the ‘replace brushes’ in the drop down and bring them in from where you put them. Whenever you make a new brush to add to your set just click ‘save brushes’ again and replace the set with the same name. Hope this helps. Could be an easier way in PE2 but in PE1 unless you specifically save them on your HD or presets they will disapear as soon as you open a different brush option or reset brushes.
Hi Patti,
Jodi gave you the how to save brush sets in Elements 1 but in Elements 2 the way I do it is:
Go to any set of brushes EXCEPT default, Make your brushes (as Jodi says) … they then all appear in the set of brushes you are working with …. Go to Edit>Preset Manager all the bushes in the current set plus your new ones will appear, click on the new ones you want to save to their own set, use shift click to select more than one, then click on save set … it prompts you to give it a name then you just press save. Close Elements, restart and your new brush set will appear in your brushes panel. Until you restart Elements the new brush set doesn’t appear.
You can also use preset manger to edit brush sets you have downloaded and to amalgamate brush sets you can use the load facility in preset manager … but you still need to save them afterwards.
There probably are other ways of doing it but that the only way I have tried.
I don’t know if preset manager was in V1, maybe Jodi will let us know.
Guess what? My new brush set is there tonight! It was not there last night or this morning, but it is tonight. Go figure. I had named it "1My signatures" so it would be at the top of the list and now it is. Very strange.
BTW Wendy, did you get your new signature brushes to load?
And thank you, Jodi, for the instructions. I do have PSE2 and it sounds like we’re on the right track now anyway. I’ll try them out in the next challenge. 🙂
Patti
yes PE1 has the preset manager but I wasn’t thrilled with it when i first tried using it a long while back since it was always wanting to add the default brushes when all i wanted to load was my brushes ( it would load both ) seemed a pain for me to constantly be deleting brushes from my set. Anyways, I don’t put my brushes in the presets anyways which is another reason i haven’t spent much quality time with the preset manager…I’m sure he’s probably an OK guy 😉
Jodi,
….an OK guy…you crack me up!
Jodi,
That Preset Manager really is a sweetie and we have become quite good friends … mind you he corrupted my last set of brushes :).
Jane … I have made them again. Its good practise for me and this time I will make backups … glad to see that yours have popped up again.
Oh its all good fun!
Jodi,
I tried your method of saving brushes and its a far better way than using the preset manager …. sad to say I have now sacked him 🙂 and am using your method instead.
ah Wendy, ya think we should throw him a going away party ? 🙂
It could be fun … we could all turn up and meet each other :).
