What is a .brushset file, and how do you open one?

What a .brushset file is

Procreate, the iPad painting app, saves brushes in three file formats. In the words of the Procreate Handbook: "Brush files use the .brush extension, brush sets use the .brushset extension, and brush libraries use the .brushlibrary."

So a .brushset is a whole set of brushes in one file: several brushes, the set's name and their order. It is the format Procreate produces when you share a set. In Procreate you share a set by tapping it twice and choosing Share, and the app hands you a .brushset file to send or save.

If you have one in your downloads and nothing happens when you tap it, that is expected on a device without Procreate. The file is made for Procreate, and most other apps on your phone or computer don't know what to do with it.

What is inside a .brushset file

A .brushset is a ZIP archive, the same kind of file as any .zip, with a different ending. Open-source projects that read these files, such as this Blender add-on that imports painting brushes and this Mac viewer for Procreate files, open the ZIP and read the parts inside:

• brushset.plist, at the top of a set: the list of brushes in it.
• One folder per brush, holding the same files a single .brush file holds.
• Brush.archive in each brush: the brush's settings (size, opacity, pressure response and the rest), stored as an Apple binary property list.
• Shape.png and Grain.png: the images the brush paints with. The shape is the mark the brush stamps; the grain is the texture inside it. A brush only carries the images it needs.
• QuickLook/Thumbnail.png: the preview picture of the brush.

A stand-in shape can make a brush paint a little differently, so a good importer shows you which brushes came across exactly and which did not.

You can look inside a file of your own the same way. Copy the .brush or .brushset file, rename the copy so it ends in .zip, and open it with the unzip tool on any computer. You will see the folders and images listed above. Keep the original as it was, and only ever take apart the copy.

How to open a .brushset file on an iPad

On an iPad with Procreate, the file opens in the app it was made for. The Procreate Handbook's page on sharing brushes gives three ways:

1. Tap the file. If the .brushset is online or in an email, tap it and Procreate offers to import it.
2. Import it from Files. In Procreate's brush library, tap the button in the top-right corner, then Import from Files, and pick the file.
3. Drag it in. Press and hold the file in the Files app, or another app that holds it, and drag it into Procreate.

The same page notes that Procreate also imports Adobe Photoshop .abr brush files, as well as its own .brush and .brushlibrary formats.

Can other painting apps open a .brushset?

Not that we found. We checked the official documentation of four other painting apps:

App	Brush formats its documentation names	Opens .brushset?
Clip Studio Paint	.sut, .abr (version 1.10.5 or later), .tos	Not listed
Krita	.abr, .bundle	Not listed
Infinite Painter	Its own brush format	No, by its own statement
Adobe Fresco	.abr	Not listed

Infinite Painter is the clearest: its documentation says brushes and brush sets in Infinite Painter 7 "are not compatible with brushes from other applications."

What about converting a set to Photoshop's format instead? We found no official converter. Adobe's documentation for Substance 3D Painter says "ABR files (Photoshop Brush presets) can be created from Adobe Photoshop only." Even if you rebuild a brush by hand in Photoshop, each app's brush engine works differently, so the result is an approximation of the original, not a copy.

Brush licences: what buying a set usually covers

A brush file is a piece of someone's work, and buying a set usually buys a licence to use it, not ownership of the files. Read the licence that came with the set. Creative Market's standard licence terms, for example, grant "a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use, modify and reproduce the Item" and forbid redistributing the item on its own, "not even for free."

Terms like these generally let you paint with the brushes in your own work, but not share the .brushset file for others to download. Licences differ, so when in doubt, ask the brush maker.

Opening a .brushset on Android

Procreate is not available on Android. Procreate's own site lists Procreate for iPad, Procreate Pocket for iPhone and the animation app Procreate Dreams, and no Android version.

That leaves Android artists with brush sets they already have and no obvious way to use them. Pinxa, the painting app we are making for Android tablets and phones, is being built to import .brush and .brushset files directly. It isn't out yet; our guide to importing .brush and .brushset files shows how import will work, including how it will flag brushes that use a built-in shape.

If you are choosing a tablet to paint on, what matters most is the pen. Our article on whether Android tablets are good for drawing covers what to check.