Do you have a stunning landscape photo that could be even more breath-taking? The Adjustment Brush in Photoshop is a powerful tool that allows you to selectively edit specific areas of your image, adding depth and dimension. This guide will walk you through this great tool to elevate your photo to the next level.
Before We Begin – Update Your Photoshop to version 25.9
Make sure you update your Photoshop to the latest version – the Adjustment Brush tool in Photoshop became available in the May 2024 release (version 25.9) for all users.
It was initially introduced in a beta version in February 2024, but as of today (June 1, 2024), it’s part of the standard Photoshop experience.
Step 1 – Open Your Image in Photoshop
First, launch Photoshop and open your image (I used this beautiful sunset image here for this tutorial). You can do this by going to File > Open and selecting your desired photo from your computer’s folders.
Step 2 – Access the Adjustment Brush Tool
Locate the Brush Tool (B) on the toolbar. Click and hold on the Brush Tool icon to reveal a hidden menu. From this menu, select the Adjustment Brush tool.
Step 3 – Define Your Adjustments
With the Adjustment Brush tool selected, an option panel will appear on the top:
Play around with these options to see how they affect the preview on your image. For example, increasing exposure will brighten a specific area, while decreasing contrast can create a softer look.
There is also a floating bar appearing on top of your image:
The adjustment options are a scaled-down version of the option bar. You can click on the 3-dot icon
Step 4 – Brush on Your Adjustments
Now comes the fun part! Click and drag your mouse to paint the adjustments onto your image. The brush size can be adjusted using the size slider in the top control panel.
Tip: Use a lower flow (around 50-70%) for more subtle adjustments, and gradually build up the effect if needed.
Additional Tips for working with the Adjustment Brush Tool
Tip 1: Combine Adjustment Brush Tool with the Select Tool – quite often you will only need to adjust a portion of the image, the selection tool with come in handy:
Tip 2: Use the “Overlay” option to see what you’ve painted – sometimes it is difficult to see what area you apply the Brush Adjustment to, the “Overlay” option fixes this and will apply a coloured overlay to these areas:
Tip 3: If you need to apply adjustment to certain object within the image, use the built-in object selection option here to quickly select the object:
Summary
The Adjustment Brush is a powerful tool that can truly transform your images by adding depth and drawing the viewer’s eye to specific areas.
Remember that you can always experiment with different brush sizes and adjustment combinations to achieve your desired creative vision. With a little practice, the Adjustment Brush will become a valuable tool in your photo editing arsenal.