Combining the History Brush with a History State
When Adobe created History, they advertised the fact that Photoshop now had more than one undo. Multiple undos are a great thing, however if all you use the History palette for is to correct your mistakes, you're missing the whole idea of the History palette. The History palette does not stand by itself. It's linked to the History brush. The History brush receives its information from a selected state or snapshot. For example, the History palette holds a snapshot of the way the image looked when first opened, and by default the History brush is linked to that snapshot. Think of the History brush as a photo restoration tool that always remembers the original state of the image. As you work on a document you will make changes. If during the current work session, you wish to restore the document back to its original (first opened) state, the History brush is your tool. The History brush is not just for correcting mistakes, but also for creating awesome special effects. All you need is a bit of imagination and a couple of additional snapshots.
Correct Mistakes with the History Brush
Select the History Brush tool on the toolbox.
Click the Brushes palette, and then click a size brush.
Drag the History brush across the image.The places you drag are restored to their original (first opened) state.[View full size image]
Did You Know?When you use the History brush on an image layer, you're changing the information based on the chosen History state or snapshot. However, you will gain more control if you use the History brush in a separate layer. Just create and select a new layer, and when you use the History brush, paint in the layer. Not only does the separate layer isolate the original image from damage, but you can utilize blending modes, and opacity settings for even greater creative control. |
Get Fancy with the History Brush
Apply a major change to a document (possibility a Brush Stroke filter).
Select the History palette.
Click the Create New Snapshot button to take a snapshot of the image in its current state.
Click on the original snapshot to return it back to its first-opened state.
Click in the History source box of the snapshot you created in step 3 to change the designation of the History brush.This instructs the History brush to paint using the special filter-effect image.
Drag your mouse over the image to replace the original image with the image information contained in the selected snapshot.
[View full size image]