How to create .abr without using PS?

[Krikor]

Trying to save space I decided to convert some .abr brushes to .gbr.

So I ended up checking that in the .gbr format the file is gigantic, almost the size of the set in .abr 

My experience was as follows:
With a .abr set containing 15 brushes, I converted all 15 brushes to .png.

I compared the fidelity of the brushes created in .gbr via the images in .png and via direct conversion of the brushes into .abr by Gimp. There was no difference, even the final size and visually I did not detect any differences.

The .abr set is 37,844 KB (36.9 MB)

I chose Brush015 from this set to make the comparison.
In .png this brush015 was left with 3,471 KB (3.38 MB)
All .png together add up to 42.6 MB

Only brush015 converted to .gbr had 29,445 KB (28.7 MB); little less than the complete Set .abr.

Even if I only wanted two brushes from this Set, they would still end up taking up more space than the 15 brushes from Set .abr.

I tried to convert some of my .gbr brushes to .abr, first converting to .png and then using PS CS2 creating the .abr. But the version I downloaded, although apparently free, does not offer the Edit - Define Brush menu.

The question is:

Is there any other way to create .abr other than through PS? Some other software

[rich2005]

I have never seen a procedure / program to make a PS .abr brush without PS. The other way is possible, the application abrmate will deconstruct a brush to a set of png files or drag one of the abr brushes into the Gimp tools dock to open as a single image.

Nothing great about abr brushes in Gimp, just greyscale that take the FG colour.

Using Gimp keep sets of similar brushes in a folder or zipped collections using a resources manager.

Added a bit about Ofnuts addonCollectionManager here: https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-Set-up...ng-brushes

[Krikor]

rich2005,

Ofnuts addonCollectionManager is a great option, without a doubt. It speeds up the loading of Gimp and by using compressed files it also helps in saving space. But my intention was to reduce the size of the files, in order to consume less space on my USB flash drive, and if I managed to convert my .gbr to .abr I think the space savings would be huge.

With Ofnuts addonCollectionManager the files would still be on the USB flash drive, even if I didn't upload them to Gimp, and they would still be larger than if they were in .abr.

But ok, if there is no way without PS, the solution is to continue as is.

Thank you rich2005!

[rich2005]

I am a great believer in "use what you are comfortable with"  Gimp gbr brushes are large files, they do compress a great deal if you ever zip them for  use the collection manager. Even if you do not use that, consider a two-pane file manager to move files in and out of Gimp. 

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I do know of old the 'free CS2' (nothing from Adobe is truly free, they had to issue that version when they turned the CS2 registration server off )

Should work, the menu entry is there in the PS Edit menu (at least it is here). Example attached,  set of greyscale pngs from gimp into a .abr file

[Krikor]

The version I have of CS2 has Edit - Define Brush, but it is not accessible, it is disabled. Only the Define Pattern is released.
Hey, I downloaded this CS2 a long time ago, over a year or more, but this was the third time I opened this program.
   

[rich2005]

PS brushes are grayscale, try that and see if that Define Brush Preset becomes active.

[Krikor]

(11-17-2020, 08:47 PM)rich2005 Wrote: PS brushes are grayscale, try that and see if that Define Brush Preset becomes active.

It worked! In Grayscale mode the Edit - Define Brush menu has been enabled!   

It's late now, but tomorrow it looks like I'll have fun in sight.

Thanks rich2005!