Top 43 Free Photoshop Brushes For Architects

All of the photoshop brush recommendations mentioned in this post can be downloaded for free. We don’t think you should ever pay for brushes as there are so many free ones out there that we are certain you will eventually find the ones you want.

Without any further ado, these are our 43 free photoshop brush set suggestions, to help save you time. If you are not sure how to get them to work, please scroll down to the bottom of this post for a quick guide to installing your brushes into photoshop.

​People

People brushes are great to add to your drawings to provide your viewer’s with a sense of scale. And since the built environment is designed for humans, it is a no-brainer that you add in those people. They can also be used to illustrate and further support the architectural narrative behind the design of your building.

Free People Photoshop Brushes 7 – Brusheezy

We also have our own set of People brushes, so do feel free to explore:
Free Photoshop Brushes – People (firstinarchitecture.co.uk)

Here are some examples of how you can human figures can be used in architecture visualisations:

Clouds

Cloud brushes are a quick way to create a realistic looking sky in a rendering. They are perfect for making your backgrounds a little more interesting. Clouds can also be the perfect elements helping to bring some atmosphere to the overall composition. By layering clouds you can bring some depth to your architecture drawings.

Free 24 Realistic Cloud Photoshop Brushes – PsFiles

These images are some examples of what you could achieve using cloud brushes:

Birds

Bird brushes are great for making your rendered skies come alive. They add movement to an otherwise static looking sky. Bird brushes can help your architectural visualisations emulate a natural environment, showing the harmony between your design and its context.

Birds Take Flight – Brushes – Fbrushes

We’ve even found some bird silhouette brushes – you can never have too many birds, right?

Feathered Friends – Brushes – Fbrushes

Check out these architecture renders with birds:

Light Beams

Light beams can really be useful when showing how light interacts with your design and structure. You can create loads of different effects, ranging from dramatic to ethereal by using these. Some can be used to mimic the sun and its rays. They can also be used to bring attention to certain parts or spaces within your design.

20 Rays of Light Brush – PsFiles

Here are a couple of examples:

Lens Flares

Lens flare brushes can be super great to give your architectural renders that photograph captured by a camera type of look. They can also be used to represent the sun, artificial light fixtures for your interiors and more.

Free 54 Lens Flares Photoshop Brushes Vol-1 – PsFiles

This rendered image shows lens flares in action:

Spotlights

These types of brushes are mostly used to show the effects of artificial light both on exterior and interior walls. Spotlight brushes show more concentrated light beams which are great to emphasise certain elements within your rendering. They often are seen in night renders as their effect is more dramatic.

Spot Light Brushes – Myphotoshopbrushes

Here is an example of how you can use the spot light brushes for street lighting in a night render:

Grass

Grass brushes are widely used in architecture renders, sketches and collages. They add that realistic natural element to designs in landscapes, outdoor spaces and even some indoor spaces. They come in loads of different varieties and textures that can bring depth to your visuals.

Grass Photoshop Brushes 4 – Brusheezy

grass – 123Freebrushes

These are some cool architecture visualisations with lots of grass:

Foliage/Vegetation

Foliage brushes can be used to inject some greenery to your designs. These brushes will be your best friend if you are designing a building that has lots of natural features and vegetation elements within it.

Vegetation / Foliage Textures by redheadstock – DeviantArt

20 Ivy PS Brushes abr vol.1 – Brusheezy

Check out these examples:

Trees

Trees brushes are a must have in every architecture student and architect’s photoshop brush collection. They can be used to show the natural context that surrounds your design and are always handy to have. You can get them in a variety of shapes, forms and styles.

Here are a few that you can use to enhance your architectural plans:
Nashe design studio- Gumroad

Now this is a little bit of self-promo, but hey these are our most popular download, so these Tree in Plan Photoshop Brushes are well-worth the mention.
Free Photoshop Tree Plan Brushes Set 1 – Firstinarchitecture.co.uk

We do have a bunch of different styles for you to choose from as well:

Free Photoshop Tree Plan Brushes Set 3 – Firstinarchitecture.co.uk

These are some images to inspire you:

You can also find tree elevation brushes such as the following:

Tree brush PS brushes – all-free-download.com

Because they are so useful so here are some more, in stylised versions!
Archivo – Gumroad.com

20 Free Tree Brushes – Myphotoshopbrushes

Do consider our Tree Elevation brushes as well:
Free Photoshop Tree Elevation Brushes – Firstinarchitecture.co.uk

All in all you can never have enough trees! And given that there are over 73,000 species of trees, we think it’s quite alright to have a big photoshop tree brush collection.

Here are a couple of images to show how they can be used in your architectural graphics.

Watercolour splatters

These brushes are really useful if you are going for a nice, artistic, watercolour effect on your visuals. They are great for adding texture to your backgrounds. You can also use them to create a more busy composition, if you find that your drawing is looking a bit flat.

Paint Splash Brushes 2 – Brusheezy

Free Hi-Res Splatter Photoshop Brushes – Bittbox

It is possible to create some really beautiful watercolour style images using photoshop, sometimes along with SketchUp. The following images give you an idea of what can be achieved, all of which can be seen on SketchUpArtists.org where they have tutorials on the production of each one.

And here are some more examples:

Grunge

Grunge brushes are mostly used to add a dramatic artistic touch to your drawings. They can work quite well for urban contexts that may show signs of creative expression in the form of graffiti. They can also be used to texture backgrounds much like the watercolour brushes.

Grunge Brushes #304 – BrushKing

Hi Resolution Grunge Background Brushes – Brusheezy

Check out these examples:

Fog

Much like the grunge brushes, these fog brushes are used to create atmosphere and mood in a drawing. They might not apply to each and every project, but can be super effective for a relevant context.

(FREE) Fog Photoshop Brushes – Photoshop Supply

This is a way you can use it in your drawings:

Arrows

Arrow brushes can be good for annotating drawings like site plans. If you primarily work on Photoshop to create such drawings, having arrows and symbols in the form of brushes may help speed up your workflow a bit. They can look quite good if not over used.

Free Doodle Arrows Photoshop Brush – Clementinecreative

Underline Photoshop Brushes 6 – Brusheezy

80 Hand Drawn Arrows PS Brush Set – DesignerCandies

We find some more cool ones:
Grungy arrow brushes set – Brusheezy

Here are a couple examples:

Cool Extras

If you are looking to create renders that have that urban street art type of style, explore these brush sets by Alejandro Chavetta:
372 free grunge and grit brushes – Adobe

This set by Syd Weiler has some really nice brushes, if you are looking to create an illustration style rendering:
Free Photoshop Brushes: Syd Weiler’s Fall and Winter Nature Set – Adobe

There are also these seamless stone wall brushes that are perfect for rendering walls:
Hi Resolution Stone Wall Brushes – Brusheezy

Top 7 Photoshop Brush Libraries

A couple of great photoshop brush libraries include:

Brusheezy

MyPhotoshopBrushes

PsFiles

BrushLovers

123FreeBrushes

BrushKing

Fbrushes