How to edit your brushes

📝 Note: This article reflects the new, updated BioRender canvas. For guidance on the older, Classic canvas, check out this article. 

Brushes in BioRender help you quickly draw repeating icons like membranes and filaments. This guide covers how to customize brushes to suit your figure, from adjusting size to converting brushes into editable icons.

Table of contents

• Change brush size
• Customize anchor points
• Switch brush types
• Flip asymmetrical brushes
• Change brush line type
• Cut a brush
• Separate brush into editable icons
• Related articles
• What’s next
• Need help?

Change brush size

You can adjust the brush size in two ways:

1. To maintain the aspect ratio, click and drag a corner of the bounding box.
2. Select the brush and, in the properties panel under Size, use the slider or type in a number to change the size of the icons in the brush pattern.

If you skew the brush, BioRender will automatically generate it at the correct ratio.

Customize anchor points

You can change the length and shape of the brush using anchor points:

• Drag the blue dots at each end to extend or shorten the brush.
• Click the white dots to add more anchor points.
• Drag any blue dot to change the path of the brush.

Switch brush types

To switch to a different brush icon:

1. Click on the brush > Edit 
2. In the properties panel beside "Icon", select a different icon to change the brush type.

Flip asymmetrical brushes

Some brushes (like the phospholipid monolayer) can be flipped:

1. Click the brush > Edit
2. Click Flip in the properties panel.

Note: Flip only applies to asymmetrical brushes.

Change brush line type

To adjust how the brush flows:

1. Select the brush.
2. In the properties panel under Brush Line Type, choose between:
   • S-shaped
   • Curved elbow

Cut a brush

You can cut a circular brush and adjust its length:

1. Select the brush.
2. Hover over a white dot until scissors appear.
3. Click to cut the brush.
4. Drag the blue dot to adjust length.

Once cut, the brush becomes a grouped icon. Each segment can now be edited independently.

Separate brush into editable icons

You can convert a brush into a “grouped icon,” and then modify a region of it as needed. This is a useful function for showing before-and-after comparisons or highlighting a cell that’s different from those around it.

Note: Once you convert a brush to a grouped icon, it will no longer be editable as a brush.

To convert a brush into a grouped icon:

1. Select the brush.
2. Click Brush Options.
3. Separate the brush into editable icons.
4. A box will appear to confirm the action.
5. Your brush will switch from having a blue bounding box to a purple one to indicate it’s now a grouped icon.
6. Double-click on the brush to edit the group or ungroup the icons to edit (see this article for steps on editing grouped icons).

Related articles

• Exploring Icons, Templates and Brushes
• How to edit grouped icons
• Creating custom brush colors

What's next

Learn how to reshape brushes, adjust anchor points, and convert to grouped icons. Watch the tutorial – Learning Hub

Create presentation slides from your figure: Use BioRender Slides (Premium) to export your edited brush designs into shareable slide decks. Try BioRender Slides.

Need help?

1. Email: support@biorender.com
2. Live Chat: Available by clicking on the "Help" bubble in the app on the bottom right-hand corner.