Photoshop Elements > Brushes

Change the Hardness

You can change the hardness in the options bar.

Hardness can also be changed by increments of 25% on the keyboard.

Shift + [ = Decrease by 25%

Shift + ] = Increase by 25%

The advantage of the latter method is that you can see the brush cursor change as to press Ctrl + [ or ].

However, you have to make a change in Preferences, which will be described below.

Scroll down, or click here.

Here is a 50 px brush at different hardness percentages.


100%	75%	50%	25%	0%

Here are brush strokes of the 50 px brush at different hardness percentages.

100%

75%

50%

25%

Enable the Brush Cursor Circle

When you press Ctrl + [ or ], you can't see the hardness change.

However, if you change a setting in Preferences, you can.

The circle of the brush cursor becomes more-and-more mottled as the hardness goes from 100%, none, to 0%, maximum feathering.

Below, the brush cursor shows the mottling due to the hardness of 0%, maximum feathering.

By default, the size of the brush cursor is 50% of the size of the brush.

Change the cursor size to 100%.

Then, you'll be able to see the mottled edge when the brush is feathered.

Go to Edit > Preferences > Display & Cursors (Windows) or Photoshop Elements > Preferences > Display & Cursors (Mac).

In the Painting Cursors section, select Full Size Brush Tip.

As you press Ctrl + [ or ], to change the hardness, the brush cursor will be:

• Solid if the edge of the brush doesn't have any feathering.

• More mottled, as the feathering goes from 100%, none, to 0%, maximum feathering.