Do you want to be able to use CustomBrushesMini for Paint.NET to its full capacity? Then read on
How do I download CustomBrushesMini?
Download the plugin from here
How do I Install CustomBrushesMini?
Unzip your file and go to the folder \Effects. There should be three files there. "CustomBrushesMini.dll" & "SBCommon.dll" (This last file is IMPORTANT!). Copy these files to your Paint.NET Effects Folder (Usually C:\Program Files\Paint.NET\Effects).
What do I do next?
Open up Paint.NET. This should create a folder in My Documents\Paint.NET User Files called "Custom Brushes". This is where your custom brushes files will be stored.
How do I use CustomBrushesMini?
Once in Paint.NET, click Effects>Tools>CustomBrushesMini..., this will open up the CustomBrushesMini console.
There are no brushes in my CustomBrushesMini. Help!
Don't panic. You still need to put some brushes in there. You can download some custom brushes created by Paint.NET users here, or you can do what I do and download brushes from Brusheezy.
Where do I put the brushes when I download them?
CustomBrushesMini uses .png files, so its best to make sure you download these to use. Once you've downloaded the files, just place them in your "Custom Brushes" folder (Usually My Documents\Paint.NET User Files\Custom Brushes). Once your files are in here, just go to the CustomBrushesMini console (Effects>Tools>CustomBrushesMini), and they should be there.
What is Brusheezy?
Brusheezy is a Free Photoshop Brushes community.
How do I use Brusheezy?
Easy. Just go to www.brusheezy.com/Brushes. If you are planning on downloading a heap of the files, or even going there frequently, I recommend becoming a member.
Just browse through the list of their many brushes and once you've found one that you like, click on the thumbnail. Just to the right of the picture, there should be a Download link. Click this, save your file, and you're away!
The files are .zip files. what do I do?
Easy. Just extract the files to whatever folder you are going to be using.
The files are .abr files. Now what?
.abr files, are common Photoshop brush files. What you need to do now, is download a program called Abrviewer. (This can be downloaded here)
How to use Abrviewer:
Firstly, you need to install it. Double click on the file installation file Usually abrViewer.Net_1.0.2_Install.exe
and install in wherever you like. The cool thing about this program is that you can run it off your flash drive if you want. Next, double click on the abrViewer.NET.exe icon, to run the program. Next, you need to click on the "Select folder" button. This is about 1/4 of the way down the left-hand side of the console. This will pop-up with a folder browser. Select the folder that your .abr files are in and press "Ok". This will load up all the .abr files that are in that folder. Right-click on one of those files, and either press "Show" or "Show All". This will build a preview of the file(s)
Note. it is recommended that you don't press anything until this process is complete.
Once this is complete, on the top bar, click Export>Thumbnails. Select your output folder
My Documents\Paint.NET User Files\Custom Brushes).
This will now export the files as .png files.
Note. it is recommended that you don't press anything until this process is complete.
Once the files are exported, it should open up your Custom Brushes folder, or whatever folder you exported them to. You don't need to keep the title image for each pack.
Usually a blue text image.. Once this process is complete, the brush is now in your CustomBrushesMini.
What if I want to make a sub-directory?
You can make a sub-directory by making a folder, and starting the name with a an underscore, i.e. "_clouds".
So how DO I actually use CustomBrushesMini?
Once the console is open, and the files are loaded, there will be a preview of the files to the right. Click on the image you want to use, and click on the screen where you want it to go. You can change the size and colour using the controls up the top. (Note. when changing the size, it takes the second click for the new size to come into effect). If you have sub-directories, you can select one of these using the drop-down menu above the the preview panel. I recommend you do what I do when using this. Place your file wherever on your screen, it doesn't have to be exactly where you want it. Once you have done this, press ok and wait for it to render. Once this is done, undo it, make a new layer, then go to Effects>Repeat CustomBrushesMini (Ctrl+F). This will do exactly what you just did, on a new layer. Then you can move the images to exactly where you want them.
And remember the most important rule, SAVE OFTEN!
Note: If you are like me and have a lot of brushes, it may take a while for CustomBrushesMini to load. Do NOT press anything while this is happening, or your Paint.NET may freeze!
Thanks for reading this tutorial. I hope you found it useful.
Gansqa
