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Vector brushes

Last updated on 17 July 2024

Adobe Fresco User Guide
Introduction
Draw, paint, animate, and share
Adobe Fresco and Creative Cloud apps
1. Adobe Fresco and Photoshop
2. Adobe Fresco and Illustrator
Cloud documents
1. Cloud documents in Adobe Fresco
Troubleshooting
1. Unable to access imported pixel brushes on Windows
2. Adobe Fresco support for Windows ARM devices
Examples, ideas, and inspiration

Learn how to draw and paint with vector brushes in Adobe Fresco.

Use vector brushes to create graphics in Fresco that resemble hand-drawn paintings and artwork that can scale infinitely without losing fidelity. You can even export artwork from Fresco to Illustrator and take advantage of the improved vector editing capabilities in Illustrator to make your designs stand out.

Read on to learn how to pick a vector brush that is best suited for you.

Create infinitely scalable artwork with vector brushes.

How to choose and fine-tune a vector brush

Follow these steps to choose a vector brush and customize the brush settings to get the brush you want:

Double-tap the Vector Brushes icon.
From the list of brushes, choose the brush you like.
Change the brush size and smoothing if needed.
Select the Brush Settings icon and fine-tune the brush settings.

When you start drawing with the vector brush, you'll notice that the icon appears as the layer's thumbnail, indicating that it's a vector layer.

As you change the vector brush settings, you can see how the brush stroke changes. — Live-preview changes as you fine-tune brush settings.

Tips for choosing the right vector brush

The brush you choose from the list of brushes, the brush size, the level of smoothing, and the settings in the Brush Settings panel help customize the brush to your preference.

Types of vector brushes

Brush type	Brush	Use this to...
Basic	Round	Create natural and fluid brush strokes.
	Taper	Control the thickness of the brush stroke with tapered edges.
	Flat	Cover large areas of the canvas quickly. (Barrel roll enabled)
	Chisel	Get a sharp chisel effect while drawing mountains or stones. (Barrel roll enabled)
	Terminal	Get precision in machine and equipment drawings. (Barrel roll enabled)
	Begin taper	Draw strokes that begin with a taper but end without one.
	End taper	Draw strokes that end with a taper but start without one.
	Velocity taper	Control the amount of beginning and end taper using velocity.
Jitter	Light jitter	Lightly vary the shape of the brush while drawing.
	Medium jitter	Moderately vary the shape of the brush while drawing.
	Heavy jitter	Heavily vary the shape of the brush while drawing.
Manga	G-pen	Draw the main lines of any character with accuracy.
	Mapping pen	Draw thinner lines, facial features, and complex objects with ease.
	Drawing pen	Create even lines, frame lines, and backgrounds with utmost precision.
Outline	Light outline	Draw strokes with a light outline for calligraphy and lettering projects.
	Medium outline	Draw strokes with a medium outline for calligraphy and lettering projects.
	Heavy outline	Draw strokes with a heavy outline for calligraphy and lettering projects.
	Light pressure outline	Create outline strokes with a light pressure effect.
	Medium pressure outline	Create outline strokes with a medium pressure effect.
	Heavy pressure outline	Create outline strokes with a heavy pressure effect.
	Begin taper outline	Draw outline strokes that begin with a taper but end without one.
	End taper outline	Draw outline strokes that end with a taper but start without one.
	Light jitter outline	Lightly vary the shape of the brush while drawing outline strokes.
	Heavy jitter outline	Heavily vary the shape of the brush while drawing outline strokes.
	Chisel fixed outline	Get a sharp chisel outline effect while drawing any strokes.
	Chisel tilt outline	Get a sharp tilt effect while drawing any chisel outline strokes. (Barrel roll enabled)
	Chisel pressure outline	Get a heavy pressure effect while drawing any chisel outline strokes.

Smoothing

Use the Smoothing option to get smooth strokes with your brush.

Vector brush settings

As you change a setting, you'll be able to draw and preview the effect live in the Brush Settings panel.

Roundness

Use the slider to set the shape of your brush tip. If you take the slider to 100%, you'll get a fully round brush tip. At 0%, your brush tip is sharp and linear.

Angle

Use the slider to tweak the angle of your brush so you can draw chiseled strokes. The roundness of your brush tip should be a smaller value for getting brush strokes with sharper angles.

begin and end Taper

Use the slider to adjust the thickness of the ends of your brush strokes. Use the begin and end taper controls to taper the beginning or the end of your stroke. Maximum taper is achieved by moving the slider to 100%. At 0% taper, the stroke remains at its default thickness.

Begin Taper

Use the Begin Taper to adjust thickness at the beginning of the brush stroke.

End Taper

Use the End Taper to adjust thickness at the end of the brush stroke.

Adjust the thickness of your brush stroke ends — Set the thickness of brush stroke ends.

shape dynamics

Use the sliders to control the outline thickness, shape dynamics of size, and the jitter distance sensitivity of your selection.

Pressure Dynamics

Use the slider to control the pressure sensitivity of your stylus.

Velocity Dynamics

Use the slider to control the speed sensitivity of your stylus.

tilt & rotation

Select the check box to enable the tilt and rotation for your vector brush.

Using rotating, you can turn an object clockwise or counterclockwise. You can also tilt an image slightly to one side or the other.

Note:

Use the new Apple Pencil Pro's barrel roll with the new built-in brushes labeled roll. Navigate to Brush settings > Tilt > Tilt & barrel roll to enable it for vector brushes. Squeeze the barrel for quick access to recently used brushes, colors, brush size, and undo/redo options.

Velocity Taper

You can now get a tapered effect at both sides of a stroke by simultaneously using velocity and pressure control. Customize your brush settings to get a sharp stroke ending, then draw a quick stroke.

Trim a vector stroke

Use the vector trimmer to quickly remove intersecting vector strokes.

To trim your vector strokes, activate the secondary state in Touch shortcut, then swipe once over the vector segment you want to remove. To completely remove a stroke, swipe three times over the stroke. The entire stroke is removed when you lift your finger or stylus off the canvas.

Note:

With the new iPad and iPad Air with the Apple Pencil Pro, Haptic feedback is available for switching between Touch shortcut states.

Join our community to connect, learn, and engage

For inspiration, expert tips, and solutions to common issues, visit the Adobe Fresco Community forum. Connect with our team and fellow users to exchange ideas, share your creations, stay updated with the latest features and announcements, and provide feedback.

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