A quick way to install custom brushes in Clip Studio Paint
Clip Studio Paint brush files have the file extension .sut (meaning “sub tool”, which is what “brushes” are called in CSP).
How to install brushes
There are a number of ways to install brushes. But you usually download multiple brushes in a pack, so you usually want to install multiple brushes at the same time.
The fastest way to install multiple brushes is to select them in your file manager (File Explorer, Finder, Files App), and drag them into Clip Studio Paint’s [Sub Tool] Palette.
The [Sub Tool] palette is the palette that shows the list of brushes under a tool.
Drag-and-drop brushes into the [Sub Tool] palette to install.
Steps
- Make sure your brush files are visible in your file manager.
- Make sure Clip Studio Paint is open. And the [Sub Tool] palette is visible.
- In Clip Studio Paint, select the tool you want to import them under.
- In your file manager, select the downloaded brush/sub tool files.
- Drag them into the [Sub tool] palette inside Clip Studio Paint.
And that’s it! You’ll see the brushes added to the list and you can use them like your other brushes.
Alternatively: There’s also an [Import sub tool…] menu option, which only allows you to import one brush at a time.
Brushes from Clip Studio Assets
The official Clip Studio Assets site hosts many paid and free brushes that you can download. Brushes you download from the Assets site get automatically downloaded into your Clip Studio Paint Materials library instead of downloaded as files.
After downloading brushes from the Assets site, you need to browse your Materials library to find the brushes/sub tools you downloaded. Then just drag them to the [Sub Tool] pallete.
Clip Studio Paint lets you open multiple [Materials] windows, so just open one (go to Window > Material >choose any of the options) and navigate to where the downloaded brushes are. Normally, you will find them in the Download folder.
Importing brushes to Clip Studio Paint for iOS
The iOS Files app has the ability to unzip files.
Tapping the zip file in the iOS Files app will extract the files in that folder.
You can use iPadOS Split View or Slide Over to drag the brushes from the Files app to the Clip Studio Paint app. 
If the brushes are not inside a zip file/compressed folder, brushes can be imported via drag-and-drop from apps like Google Drive or Dropbox.
However, those apps can sometimes push out updates that make this not work. If this happens, you can try to move those files onto your iPad storage first, and then use the Files app to drag the files from the folder and into the [Sub tools] palette.
How To Import Brushes In Clip Studio Paint
It is important to know how to install new brushes in Clip Studio Paint. After all, we just got some new and good looking brushes to have some fun with and we need to add them to the software! There aren’t as many Clip Studio Brushes around as we wish, but there’s still some very good material.
Besides, Clip Studio also has an Asset Store where you can buy or get for free new and different material, including brushes. Importing these brushes, both from the store or from a folder on your computer is pretty straightforward.
How can you import brushes in Clip Studio Paint? The easiest way is to simply drag the brushes from their folder into a Brush/Pen tab you have opened in Clip Studio Paint.
There are other ways to do it and depending on if you’re on a computer or an iPad, you’ll have to import them differently. I’ll explain each method right here, accompanied by images to make to whole process easier for you!
Table Of Contents
Importing Brushes In Clip Studio Paint
Importing Brushes in Clip Studio Paint is fairly easy, as long as they’re specifically made for Clip Studio. These brushes are usually named with the .sut extension! There are actually two ways to import brushes. A more complex one, but not too much, basically it just take quite a few extra steps.
And then the easiest one, which is very useful if you’re importing more than one brush!
Let’s start with the first method. Go to your pen or brushes tab. It doesn’t really matter which since you can then move your new brush to any tab you want. But if you don’t want to have more work later on, choose the tab you’ll want to have your new brush on.
Right-click any brush in it. Again, it doesn’t really matter which one because it won’t replace it. Now go down and click ‘Import Subtool…’. A new window will open and you just need to find the location of your brush and select it. Click Ok and it’s done!
You’ll notice that the brush you just imported will be at the bottom of the list of brushes in that tab. If you wish to change its place simply click and hold it and move the brush to where you want it.
For example, you can create a new Subtool tab, by dragging it to the side of the tab you’re on. You can put it in another Subtool tab by dragging it to the top of an existing tab and releasing it. Finally, you can also create a new brush tool icon on the toolbar. You just need to grab it and drag it in between icons!
The second method is much more simple. You can actually use this method to add just one brush as well. Open up Clip Studio Paint, choose one of the brush or pen tabs. Whichever you prefer. Now open the folder where you have your new brushes.
Select as many as you wish and drag them to the brushes tab. That’s it! The brushes you just imported will appear right away and are now ready to use.
If you want to give your brushes a more personal touch though, you might be interested in creating your own brushes in Clip Studio Paint, which you can learn how to do right here!
How To Import Brushes Into Clip Studio Paint For iPad
There are different ways to import your Brushes into Clip Studio Paint for iPad. The main difference is where you have them stored. You can save your brushes in the Dropbox, for example.
First, you should open up Clip Studio Paint, and choose one of the brush or pen tabs. Make sure that’s where you want your new brush to be in. Now go to the Dropbox app and select the brush you want. Select ‘Export -> Open In…’, now choose Clip Studio!
And that’s it! If you go back to Clip Studio, you’ll notice your new brush in the tab you left open. If not, try to close and open Clip Studio again to refresh it.
Other than Dropbox, you can also import your brushes from Google Drive! Just like before, be sure the tab where you want your brush to go is open in Clip Studio Paint. Then select the brush you want in Google Drive, select ‘Open In…’ and then ‘Copy to Clip Studio’.
Your new brush should now be ready to use!
Notice that you should have each individual .sut file available both in Dropbox and Google Drive instead of a .zip folder. Be sure to unzip the brushes you want and then you can import them.
Unfortunately, I don’t know of any way of importing more than one brush at a time. You need to go one by one. Still, it is rather simple to import your brushes and once in Clip Studio Paint you can move them to any tab you want, just like we do on the computer!
How To Download Brushes From Clip Studio Assets
Clip Studio Paint has a very handy tool where you can download new and different material. It can be brushes, models, textures, etc. There’s a lot you can find there and they’re made by other artists and Clip Studio users. There are paid assets, but there’s also a vast array of free assets that you can download and use!
To access this, simply open the Material Tab and then select the ‘Search for Additional Materials’ button. Alternatively, you can also click the third icon on the tab below the menus!
To download a brush, you need to have a Clip Studio account. Be sure to register and login before trying to download anything, because it will ask you for it!
Now that you’re set, feel free to search for brushes or other materials. If there’s something you want to use on Clip Studio, simply open it and then click the ‘Dowload’ button to the right.
When you download a brush, you can then go back to Clip Studio Paint, go to the Material bar on the right side of your screen and go to the ‘Download’ folder. The brush you just downloaded should appear there!
If you had this folder already open, you might need to click another folder and then go back to the downloaded material so it refreshes.
Now you just need to grab your new brush and drag it to the Pen or Brush tab you have selected! The brush you downloaded is now ready to use.
Again, you can move it to another tab if you wish to. Just click on it and drag the brush to where you want it to be!
All material assets that you download can be used both for non-commercial and commercial uses. So feel free to explore the materials available and try them out. You can always credit the people that made the assets so other people can find their work as well and use it!
Additional Questions
How do I export clip studio brushes? To export a brush, simply right-click on it then select ‘Export Subtool…’. Choose a location and save it. You can create your own brushes in Clip Studio and export them to share or sell with other people!
Can I give the downloaded material to another person? No. When downloading something from the Asset store you cannot give it to someone else nor sell it as your own. If you want another friend to use it, simply show it to them, so they can download the material as well!
Tip: Always consider using Vector Layers in Clip Studio Paint so you’ll never lose quality!
A quick way to install custom brushes in Clip Studio Paint
I’m in the process of preparing some custom brushes for people. So I’m writing this as a quick guide I can point to.
Clip Studio Paint brush files have the file extension .sut (meaning “sub tool”, which is what “brushes” are called in CSP).
An example of a sub tool file.
How to install brushes
You usually download multiple brushes in a pack, so you’ll want to install multiple of them at once.
The fastest way to install multiple brushes is to select them in your file manager, and drag them into Clip Studio Paint’s [Sub Tool] palette.
- Make sure your files are visible in your file manager
- Make sure Clip Studio Paint is open
- Select the brush/sub tool files.
- Drag them into the [Sub Tool] palette inside Clip Studio Paint
There is also an [Import sub tool…] context menu item but that only allows you to import files one at a time.
Brushes from Clip Studio Assets
Note that this can also apply to sub tool materials you get from the Clip Studio Assets site. These get added to your Materials library rather than downloaded as files.
In this case, you need to browse your Materials library to find the brushes/sub tools you downloaded. Then you just do the same steps mentioned above, except they’ll come from the [Materials] window instead of the operating system file manager.
- Go to Window > Material > Material [Download]. This should open a new Material window and the “Download” material folder.
- In that folder, look for the brushes you downloaded from Clip Studio Assets.
- Select them.
- Drag the brushes to your sub tool list.
If you can’t find Material [Download] just choose any other material window in the list. You can navigate to the “Download” Material folder in the list of folders on the left of any Material folder.
For more info on how downloaded materials from the Clip Studio Assets page works, check out their How-to-Use page: https://assets.clip-studio.com/en-us/help#how-to-use
Brush packs for Clip Studio Paint for iOS
The iOS Files app (since iOS 13) has the ability to unzip files and better manage files independent of the apps they came from.
Look for the file you downloaded, then tap on it. iOS will unzip the file in that folder.
Tapping the zip file in the iOS Files app will unzip it in that folder. You can then follow the normal steps listed above.
You can use iPadOS Split View or Slide Over to drag the files from the Files app to the Clip Studio Paint app.
Drag and drop subtool files from the Files app to Clip Studio Paint on iPadOS
For older versions of iOS, you need to be able to extract files using a different app, or a computer.
If the brushes you download are not inside an archive file, sub tool files can be imported via drag-and-drop from the apps of your online storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox. The same steps listed above apply.
If this fails, you can try to move those files locally onto your iPad first, and then drag the files from there using the Files App as described above.
How to Add a Brush (or Pen or Pencil)
Clip Studio Paint breaks your art creation tools into three categories: Pens, Pencils, and Brushes. It’s completely arbitrary, but it is suggested that you organize your tools along those lines just for sanity’s sake.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to add a brush, move a brush around to a different category, create and delete a new category, and delete the brush. As a bonus, I’ll also show you the trick for how to add multiple pencils or pens or brushes at once.
Grab a New Brush
First, download the brush/pen/tool/what have you to a directory of your choosing. Remember where it is. This will be important.
Here, I have a pack of brushes I picked up from the DAUB Brushes site, all together in their own directory.
OK, go back to Clip Studio Paint.
Preparing to Add a New Brush
The big trick with this process is that you need to pick where you want to install your brush to before you install it.
First, push “B” to go to the brushes.
On my screen here, you can see I have three tabs named “Watercolor”, “Oil Paint,” and “India Ink.”
Keep in mind: These distinctions are completely arbitrary. They’re ultimately meaningless. You could put pens and pencils in here for all Clip Studio Paint cares. But, for consistency’s sake and your own mental health, I suggest running with this categorization of the tools. Keep the brushes together in one spot, pens in another, and pencils in a third.
For this example, I want to add an ink brush to my tool set. So let me click on the India Ink tab first.
Import the New Brush
To add my new brush to this category, I click on the little button in the upper left corner here with the three lines and the arrow. The documentation refers to it as a “menu,” so we’ll call it the Brush Menu here.
That brings up some possibilities. We want to “Import Sub Tool…”
That will pop open a file picker. Sub tools have “.sut” file extensions. If your Finder is set up to show file extensions, you can read it easily enough, but don’t worry: Any files that aren’t tools will be grayed out in any case, so don’t worry about it.
Also, you can only add one brush at a time this way. You can’t shift click to get a bunch at one time, or CTRL-CLICK to pick other individual tools. Don’t bother trying.
Just pick the one you want and click OPEN. Or just double click the file name.
Magically, your File Picker closes and BAM! your new tool is there at the bottom of the list.
Congratulations on importing your first brush.
Move the Brush Around
Now, you can drag and drop it somewhere else in the list if you want to change the order around.
You can even create a new tab by dragging this brush into an empty spot amongst the tabs. This will create a new family of tools, which will be automatically named after this brush, in particular. You can then right click or CTRL-click on that name to change it if you wish.
You can move the tool to any other tab from that new tab by dragging and dropping it to another tab. And, if it was the only tool in that beginning tab, that tab will disappear. It lost its raison d’etre there.
For those of you who prefer a good animated gif, I give you this:
Deleting Brushes
To get rid of the brush, itself, you can right click or CTRL-CLICK on the brush and choose “Delete sub tool.” You will get a confirmation box before the deed is done. You won’t see one in this example because I once clicked the “Do Not Show Me This Window” option, so it never pops up for me anymore..
If you DELETE a tool like that when it’s the sole tool in a tab, the tab will disappear also. It’s not just moving the tool that will collapse the tab, but also deleting it.
Here, I’ll show you:
- Import Tool.
- Move it to create a new tab.
- Right Click and delete tool.
The tab is now gone along with the brush.
Multiple Brushes
There is a trick to adding multiple brushes at once. You have to open a Finder window on the screen. Here’s where you can CTRL-click individual brushes, or just shift-click to highlight a bunch that are already in a row.
Then, click back to Clip Studio Paint. Now, drag and drop that brush or bunch of brushes to an empty spot in the tab where you want to add them. In the animated GIF below, I have the Finder window inside of Clip Studio Paint’s proscenium of tools, just behind where an image I’d be working on would be. You can also move brushes over to Clip Studio Paint from a window on another monitor, if you have one.
The trick here is that both the Finder window and CSP have to be visible at the same time. If you have that, you can pull this off.
After that, you can move them around to the different tabs if you so choose. Remember: stay organized!
There is no way to delete a group of tools at the same time. At least, none that I know of yet. Leave me a comment if you know that trick.
And that’s how you add, move around, and delete brushes, pens, and pencils.