To add a new brush, after either creating or downloading it, you
need to save it in a format GIMP can use. The brush file needs to
be placed in the GIMP's brush search path, so that GIMP is able to
index and display it in the Brushes dialog. You can hit the
Refresh button, which reindexes the brush
directory.
GIMP uses three file formats for brushes:
-
GBR
-
The .gbr ("gimp
brush") format is used for ordinary and
color brushes. You can convert many other types of images,
including many brushes used by other programs, into GIMP
brushes by opening them in GIMP and saving them with file
names ending in .gbr. This brings up a
dialog box in which you can set the default Spacing for the
brush. A more complete description of the GBR file format
can be found in the file gbr.txt in the
devel-docs directory of
the GIMP source distribution.
-
GIH
-
The .gih ("gimp
image hose") format
is used for animated brushes. These brushes are constructed
from images containing multiple layers: each layer may
contain multiple brush-shapes, arranged in a grid. When you
save an image as a .gih file, a dialog
comes up that allows you to describe the format of the brush.
Look at The GIH dialog
box for more information about the dialog. The GIH
format is rather complicated: a complete description can be
found in the file gih.txt in the
devel-docs directory of the GIMP source
distribution.
-
VBR
-
The .vbr format is used for parametric
brushes, i. e., brushes created using the Brush Editor.
There is really no other meaningful way of obtaining files
in this format.
To make a brush available, place it in one of the folders in
GIMP's brush search path. By default, the brush search path
includes two folders, the system brushes
folder, which you should not use or alter, and the
brushes folder inside your personal GIMP
directory. You can add new folders to the brush search path
using the Brush
Folders page of the Preferences dialog. Any GBR, GIH, or
VBR file included in a folder in the brush search path will show
up in the Brushes dialog the next time you start GIMP, or as soon
as you press the Refresh button in the
Brushes dialog.
![[Note]](../images/note.png)
|
Note |
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When you create a new parametric brush using the Brush Editor, it
is automatically saved in your personal
brushes folder.
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There are a number of web sites with downloadable collections of
GIMP brushes. Rather than supplying a list of links that will soon
be out of date, the best advice is to do a search with your favorite
search engine for “GIMP brushes”. There are also many
collections of brushes for other programs with painting
functionality. Some can be converted easily into GIMP brushes, some
require special conversion utilities, and some cannot be converted
at all. Most fancy procedural brush types fall into the last
category. If you need to know, look around on the web, and if you
don't find anything, look for an expert to ask.
