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Install tool presets

by Jo Cole. 16 Jun 2010

Learn how to save your tool tweaks with a tool preset, then have a play with a coloured pencil effect

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Tool presets are an underused but useful way of saving out tool tweaks. If you find that you are constantly making the same amendments to the same tools, just save a tool preset and then you can get to where you want with just a click!

In Photoshop Creative issue 62, David and Sarah Cousens created a pencil sketch effect and used a preset file to store brush settings. This was used in the tutorial to give the required coloured pencil effect. The tool preset is supplied here and read on for a little tutorial on how to load and use a tool preset.

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install file

Install the file

Place the preset file (click here to download it) in Photoshop’s Tool Presets folder. It will be something like Adobe Photoshop>Presets>Tools or Applications>Adobe Photoshop>Preset>Tools.

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load the presets

Open Photoshop

Once in Photoshop, scoot up to the Tool Presets picker in the Options bar and click the downward arrow. In the window that appears, click the right-pointing arrow and then click Load Tool Presets.

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load the presets real

Load the preset

Navigate to the Tool Presets folder and select the PshopC Pencil Preset.tpl option. Click Load to add to the existing presets.

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brush fun real

Brush fun

Click the Brush tool and then head up to the Tool Preset picker, click it and then choose the Pencil Brush option. This is a brush that has already been tweaked to look like a coloured pencil and has been saved for use.

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This is just one use for presets – you can try them with pretty much any tool and then save them for future use. To save a preset, make the changes you want, open the Tool Preset picker, click the right-pointing arrow and select Save Tool Presets. Load as before.

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    10 Comments »

    • Canal Adobe Photoshop said:

      Excellent tip. Can I publish a version translated into Portuguese on my blog? Of course with the credits by linking to his original post

    • Jo Cole (author) said:

      Of course you can!

    • Canal Adobe Photoshop said:

      Thank you. ;oP

    • Canal Adobe Photoshop said:

      Hello, I have done the translation and posted on my blog.

      http://canalphotoshop.info/2010/06/instalando-predefinicoes-no-photoshop.html

      thanks

    • Duncan said:

      I am still having the problem where my downloaded .tpl file is invisible amongst my mainly .ABR files. Within the presets folder (using Photoshop Elements 7) there is no Tools folder.

      How can I make the .tpl download file from here visible so that Elements can pick it up.

      Can anyone please help.

      Kind Regards

    • sonia wise said:

      thanks – thats fantastc, easy as

    • Tony K said:

      Extract file to Programs–>Adobe–>Adobe Photoshop (version)x.x–>Presets–>Tools.

      That simple. It works fine. If you can’t do this, you are SOL with PS.

    • basedrop said:

      Hello,
      Once a tool preset has been created, do you know of any way to edit that preset?

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