User Guide

Customizing Brushes 211
The Hose stroke type uses the current Nozzle file as media.
To choose a stroke type
1 On the Stroke Designer page of the Brush Creator, click General.
2 Choose a stroke type from the Stroke Type pop-up menu.
Methods and Subcategories
The brush method defines the most basic level of brush behavior and is the foundation
on which all other brush variables build. You can think of the method and method
subcategory as attributes of the stroke’s appearance.
Because the method sets a brush variant’s most basic behavior, you can alter a variant’s
behavior by changing its method. For example, suppose you want a stroke that looks
like Charcoal, but instead of hiding underlying strokes, you want the brush strokes to
build to black. You can get this effect by changing the method to Buildup. Perhaps
you want a variant of the Pens brush category to smear underlying colors. You can
change its method from Cover to Drip. Some brush effects are less easily affected by
other methods, and results may differ.
Each method can have several variations, called method subcategories. These
subcategories further refine the brush behavior. The following terms are used in
describing most method subcategories:
• Soft methods produce strokes with feathered edges.
• Flat methods produce hard, aliased strokes with pixelated edges.
• Hard methods produce smooth strokes.
• Grainy methods produce brush strokes that react to paper texture.
• The words “edge” and “variable” are sometimes used to describe a method
subcategory. “Edge” means that strokes are thick and sticky-looking. “Variable”
means that a brush stroke is affected by tilt and direction.