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Style Brushes

Lily
  • Updated

This article contains the following sections:

 

About Style Brushes

Style Brushes were introduced in Capture One 21 (14.1.0) to facilitate the process of applying local adjustments to the image. Instead of creating a Layer, brushing a mask, and specifying the adjustments manually, the utilization of Style Brushes will streamline the workflow tremendously.

By default, the Style Brushes tool is located in the Adjust tool tab under the Layers tool. This tool is located in the scrollable area, but you may always reposition it to the pinned area by clicking on the Action menu (...) icon and selecting Move to Pinned Area.

To add the Style Brushes tool to your workspace, click on the tool tab area and select Add Tool -> Style Brushes.

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Working with predefined Style Brushes

There is a variety of predefined built-in Style Brushes in the tool. Those are divided into 3 groups:

  • Color
  • Light & Contrast
  • Enhancements

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1. Select a preferred Style Brush from the list. Once selected, the Draw Mask cursor will be activated.

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2. To change the parameters of the brush, simply right-click anywhere in the Viewer when the Draw Mask cursor is active and drag the corresponding slider.

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It is also possible to change the brush parameters using the following keyboard shortcuts.

  • Size
    • Ctrl + Opt + left-click and drag horizontally (left/right) on Mac
    • Alt + right-click and drag horizontally (left/right) on Windows
  • Hardness
    • Ctrl + Opt + left-click and then drag vertically (up/down) on Mac
    • Alt + right-click and drag vertically (up/down) on Windows
  • Opacity
    • Shift + Ctrl + Opt + left-click and drag horizontally (left/right) on Mac
    • Shift + right-click and drag horizontally (left/right) on Windows
  • Flow
    • Shift + Ctrl + Opt + left-click and then drag vertically (up/down) on Mac
    • Shift + right-click and drag vertically (up/down) on Windows

Please note that there is an option to associate the brush settings with the particular Layer. When the Draw Mask brush is active, right-click and checkmark the Brush with Layer option. You can do the same for the Erase Mask brush by check-marking the Eraser with Brush option.

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3. Once you make the first stroke with a brush, the Layer with predefined adjustments is automatically created. The name of the Layer corresponds to a chosen Style Brush.

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4. To observe the effect, use the Before/After feature.
In this particular example, the adjustments of Style Brushes were applied to the lamp.

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Creating a new custom Style Brush

1. Create a New Empty Adjustment Layer in the Layers tool or from the main menu Layer -> Add New Empty Adjustment Layer.

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2. Apply the adjustments that you want your Style Brush to include on the Layer.

3. Set the desired brush settings.

4. Click on the Action menu (...) icon of the Style Brush tool and select Save Style Brush….
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5. Tick the relevant adjustments and brush settings to be preserved for this particular Style Brush. Click Save.

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6. Name the Style Brush appropriately and select the location for it to be stored.

NOTE: You can always get back to a previously created Layer that corresponds to a certain Style Brush for masking more areas if needed. In case multiple Layers are needed with the same Style Brush, simply right-click on a Style Brush and select Use on New Layer.

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Installing Style Brushes

See the steps below for instructions on how to install Style Brushes on your workstation.

  1. Copy the .COSTYLEBRUSH files.
  2. Locate the relevant system folder:
  • macOS

Navigate to Application Support folder: - /Users/[your user name]/Library/Application Support/Capture One/

Note: The User Library is hidden by default. You can quickly access it in Finder, select Go -> Go to Folder and paste "~/Library/Application Support/Capture One" without the quotes. Do not miss ~ sign.

  • Windows

Go to C:\Users\[your user name]\AppData\Local\CaptureOne

Note: AppData folder can be also hidden by default.
Follow these steps to show hidden folders on Windows: Unhiding the AppData folder on Windows.

Find the StyleBrushes folder and paste the files into it. You can create additional subfolders for the better organization of your files.

Now restart Capture One.

Your Style Brushes will be reflected in your tool tabs as shown in the image below: 

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