The Airbrush

Typically, an airbrush is a tube connected by a hose to a source of compressed air. Located either on the bottom or top of the tube is a small attachment that connects to a container holding a colour medium such as a paint or dye. When you press the control button, the air travels through the tube, creating a vacuum. The vacuum picks up the colour and, in turn, sprays it out the nozzle.

Airbrush in Photoshop

Now, the Airbrush Tool in Photoshop is simply the Brush tool used with an Airbrush option. This makes it look and behave just like an airbrush (and hence its name). With this tool, you can set the spray stroke to anything from a fine mist to a course splatter. You can adjust the rate to anything from a slow trickle to a full wash, resulting in a wide range of spray strokes. As the colour spray leaves the nozzle, it spreads out in a conical shape.

The majority of the colour is concentrated in the middle and begins to thin as it reaches the outer part of the cone. This results in a spray stroke that’s fairly even across the centre but softens as it reaches the edges. Since the colour is applied in what amounts to very, very fine droplets, it appears transparent when first sprayed and becomes opaque as more and more is applied.

The Airbrush tool is great to use when giving images a face lift but if you’re interested in finding out more about all the other great features in Photoshop, you should consider New Horizons’ Photoshop training programs.