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Go, Go BrushInfo!!
The BrushInfo lets you view, edit, and save your current brush.
The two horizontal bars on the bottom of the BrushInfo box are the MinimumSize and BrushWidth bars.
According to our lovely friend Ross, MinimumSize is "for people with pressure sensitive tablets. It sets how much smaller the brush can get (in percentage) at the smallest pressure. It's really good for making different effects and stuff, but it doesn't do anything if you're not using a pressure sensitive drawing input device." MinimumSize is not available on the Watercolor, Blur or Eraser brushes.
As for BrushWidth, the bottom bar, it changes the width of the brush. If you pull the BrushWidth's tab to the right, the size will increase (thus, the [+] sign on the right side) and decrease when pulled to the left (thus, the [-] sign on the left side).
In the middle of the BrushInfo box is a preview of how big the brush is. Also, it previews how much MinimumSize is applied.
The graph-box on the lower right of the BrushInfo box is called PressCorrect. You can click the line in the middle and move it around. Here's some information about it contributed by Hevia: "If you move the line up, your brush gets darker - more pressure, if you move it down, it gets lighter - less pressure. I think it's meant to be used with a tablet..."
Enable/DisableSize, Enable/DisableTransparency, EnableEdgeSmooth are three options that apply to brushes.
Enable/DisableSize has to do with the MinimumSize bar, seeing as it does not affect the brush's width when disabled-- if you know how this option works, please contact me via e-mail. Enable/DisableSize is not an available option on either the Blur or Erase brushes.
Enable/DisableTransparency has to do with the transparency mostly in Pencil/Pen and does not seem to effect either Eraser or Watercolor's transparency. It is not an option on the Blur brush. (NOTE -- If you are working with a tablet and wish to cancel the pencil-esque effect, click Disable Transparency and the brush will become completely opaque.)
EnableEdgeSmooth affects whether the current brush has 'fluffy' edges or 'fine' edges. This option is only available on the Watercolor or Eraser brushes.
Pencil/Pen - An opaque brush, set at default as 1.5 pixels in size. Draws/colors in the current color. (NOTE -- If you happen to be coloring with a tablet, the Pencil/Pen tool will respond to pressure by coloring in lines from light to darker, unlike Photoshop which does thicker to thinner depending on the amount of pressure. When you have a tablet, think of Pencil/Pen as an actual pencil!)
Watercolor - A semi-opaque brush, set at default as 16 pixels in size. Colors in the current color. If one color is put too closely to another color, they mingle like normal watercolors would. It is possible to fade from one color to another with this brush by drawing lines in one direction from one color to the other.
Side notes
Effect, EnvEffect and Penetrate are three bars located on the middle-right of the BrushInfo box and are only available when the Watercolor brush is selected. I've tried to study what they change in the Watercolor brush and these are my theories on their purposes:
Effect - Controls the gradience of transparent color to opaque color. At 0% it remains opaque, at 50% it has a short transparent tail, at 100% it has a longer transparent tail.
EnvEffect - Controls how much of the current color is in the paintbrush. At 100% EnvEffect the current color is not present, thus making an excellent smuge/blend tool; at 50% half of the color is present and half of it is 'water'; at 0% there is no 'water' and the brush colors much like the opaque Pencil/Pen.
Penetrate - Is "how "dominant" the paint part is compared to the blend part." (Information gotten from this page. Thanks, Dinah!)
Blur (new) - A transparent brush, set at default as 12 pixels in size. When drawing with Blur, it slightly blurs the areas it touches. Each time you go over with Blur it blurs the area slightly more each time. Does not color in the current color.
Eraser - An opaque brush set at default as 12 pixels in size. Erases areas it draws on by making them white. Colors in white only. (Helpful tip - If whatever layer you're working on frustrates you and you want to start it over, simply click that layer and press the Delete key. BOOM! The whole layer is emptied and you can start afresh!)
With all of these variables you can make some very individual brushes by mixing options around. Now-- what if you wanted to SAVE a particular brush you made? It's EASY! First, click a tab from the top of the BrushInfo box (the default tab is marked with a red dot in the reference picture of this guide). Second, make the changes in size, transparency, edge, etc. of your brush until you have it the way you want it. THEN, click the little 3 1/2 Floppy icon located on the top-right of the BrushInfo box. Now your setting is saved and any time you click on that tab, it will bring up your custom brush!