Creating and using custom brushes is easy;  just a matter of steps.
 

Step 1
Choose an black & white image and prepare it for use as a brush.  (A color book image is perfect.)

Choose a color image and prepare for use as a brush.  (A tube with high contrast colors is perfect.)

*An image has to be prepared by:
        1.  cleaning away background
        2.  increasing color depth to 16 million colors if necessary
        3.  re-sizing image height and width to 255 pixels or less
        4.  image area must be selected and selection set.
 

Step 2
Regardless of which image you are working with, you are at this point now.
You need to click on the brush tool.

Step 3
Next, click on you tool options box and click on the little brush selector (circled in image).

Step 4
Click on 'Custom'.

Step 5
Now click on the 'Create' button (if your image is not prepared properly, 'Create' will not be available.)  In PSP6, you will see a larger window with pics of other brushes when you click on 'Custom'.

Step 6
Your brush will appear in the preview box - if you click on the selector arrow - you should find your brush at the very bottom of the images.
                   
Your brush is now created!  If you click the 'OK' button, it will be ready to use.  To get back to the normal brush, all you have to do is steps 2, 3 & 4 to select 'Normal'.  Anytime you want to use a custom brush - you use steps 2, 3 & 4 to select 'Custom'.      CLICK 'OK'!

Now let's use our brush.

Step 7
Open a new image about 360 pixels wide and 252 pixels in height.  This is a 5Wx3.5H card - like a post card size.

Step 8
Flood fill the image with a basic color or pattern.  I'm using a textured white.

Step 9
Add a new raster layer.  Layers menu/NewRasterLayer;  defaults are okay if you don't want to name it.

Step 10
Choose a color fill you want to use.

Step 11
If you had to switch to the fill tool, choose the brush again and the custom brush will still be selected.
IF you do not see the outline of an image when you hover the cursor over the filled image, you need to change another setting, otherwise you'll never know which kind of brush you have selected.
In the tool options control box, while you have the brush tool selected, tab 1 is the brush settings;  tab 2 is the cursor settings for ALL tools.  UNDER tab 2 - check mark 'Show brush outlines'.  Now when you hover the cursor over the image, you will see the outline of the custom brush you have selected!
                 

Step 12
Now I've said it before and I'll say it again - a custom brush is like a rubber stamp, so stamp your brush in the corner of the image.

Step 13
The reason I had you add the new layer for the brush is so you can add a drop shadow,

Or a cutout,

Or a chisel

Or whatever else you might dream up!

Tutorial by CSGreen
 
Close Window when Finished.