You can upgrade your custom brushes in Paint Shop Pro 6 by adding a texture to them. To begin, open a new file, set the dimensions to 225 x 225 pixels and, under Image Characteristics, set the Background Color to Transparent. Next, click on the Paintbrush tool in the Tool Palette. Then click on the Brush Type icon in the upper-right corner of the Paintbrush Tool Options Palette, and choose Custom from the drop-down menu. Choose the preset brush that you want to customize. A great one to add a texture to is the leaf brush. Choose gray for the Foreground color in the Color Palette. Click the brush in the center of the transparent background image. Click on the Wand selection tool in the Tool Palette, and then click the wand on the leaf to select it. Now click on the Image menu and choose Effects, Texture. Add a texture that you like and click OK. Click the Paintbrush icon in the Tool Palette. From the Paintbrush Options Palette, click on the Brush Type icon and choose Custom. Finally, click the Create button in the resulting dialog box, and you now have a new textured brush in your Paintbrush library.

Although Paint Shop Pro 6 gives you several brush shapes to choose from, it has its limits. Fortunately, you can create custom Paintbrush tips by following some simple steps. A handy shape that's easy to make is a diamond. Open a new file, set the dimensions to 225 x 225 pixels and, under Image Characteristics, set the Background Color to Transparent. Now click on the Shapes tool in the Tool Palette. From the Preset Shapes Tool Options Palette, choose Triangle from the drop-down menu. From the Color Palette, choose Black for the Foreground color. Draw a triangle in the top half of the transparent canvas. To get a perfect triangle, hold down the Shift key while you click and drag. Next, click on the Layer menu and choose Duplicate. Click on the Image menu and choose Flip. Scoot the two halves together to make a diamond shape. Now click on the Layers menu and choose Merge, Merge Visible. Click on the Wand tool in the Tool Palette and click it on the diamond to select it. Click the Paintbrush icon in the Tool Palette, and from the Paintbrush Options Palette, click on the Brush Type icon and choose Custom. Click the Create button in the resulting dialog box, and you now have a new shape to use when you need it.

N.B.
In Paint Shop Pro 7, you will need to Set the Background Color for the Triangle shape to black as well. Create the shapes as raster layers.

You can use any image to create a custom Paintbrush tip for Paint Shop Pro. First, open the image you want to make into a Paintbrush tip. A Paintbrush tip can never be larger than 225 x 225 pixels, so you may need to resize the image if it exceeds that limit. Make sure the image is 16.7 million colors (24 bit). If it isn't, click on the Colors menu and choose Increase Color Depth To 16.7 Million Colors (24 bit). Next, click on the Selections menu and choose Select All. Click on the Paintbrush in the Tool Palette and, from the Paintbrush Options Palette, click on the Brush Type icon and choose Custom. Click the Create button in the resulting dialog box, and you now have a new image to use as a custom Paintbrush.