How to Install Manga Brushes in Clip Studio Paint (Step-by-Step Guide)
Updated: Sep 19
Want to install new brushes in Clip Studio Paint? Good news, it only takes a minute or two!
For most brushes, simply open the Sub Tool palette (the one on the left with the pen/brush icon), locate your downloaded .sut or .sutg brush files, and drag them into the palette. Clip Studio Paint will add them to your brush library automatically.
If your brushes came in a .zip file, unzip it first. A .zip is just a compressed folder and cannot be installed as a brush itself.
If you want the full walkthrough, including importing brush packs, organizing your library, and troubleshooting common problems, keep reading.
What You Need Before You Start
Clip Studio Paint for Windows, Mac, iPad, or another supported device Get Clip Studio Paint HERE
Your downloaded brush files
Clip Studio Paint can import these common brush formats:
.sut — a single Clip Studio Paint tool or brush
.sutg — a group containing multiple Clip Studio Paint tools or brushes
.abr — Adobe Photoshop brush files
Brush packs are also commonly delivered inside a .zip file. If so, extract the .zip first to access the brush files inside.
Step 1: Get Your Brush Files Ready
Clip Studio Paint brushes usually come from one of three places:
CLIP STUDIO ASSETS — Clip Studio's built-in material marketplace
Third-party brush packs downloaded from an artist's shop or website
Brushes you've exported yourself from another Clip Studio Paint installation
If you downloaded a third-party pack, check the extracted folder for .sut or .sutg files.
You may also see .abr files. These are Photoshop brushes, but Clip Studio Paint can import them as well. Because Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint handle some brush settings differently, an imported .abr brush may not behave exactly like it does in Photoshop.
Step 2: Install the Brushes in Clip Studio Paint
There are several easy ways to install brushes.
Method A: Drag and Drop — Fastest
Open Clip Studio Paint.
Make sure the Sub Tool palette is visible. If you don't see it, go to Window → Sub Tool.
Open the folder containing your downloaded brush files.
Select the .sut or .sutg files you want to install.
Drag them directly into the desired brush group in the Sub Tool palette.
A .sut file will add an individual brush.
A .sutg file contains a group of brushes and can be imported as a group.
On iPad, you can also drag supported brush files from the Files app into Clip Studio Paint.
Method B: Import from the Sub Tool Menu
If you don't want to drag and drop:
Open the Sub Tool palette.
Open the palette menu.
Choose Import Sub Tool or Import Tool.
Locate your .sut, .sutg, or supported brush file.
Select it and import.
A single .sut brush will normally be added to your current group. A .sutg containing multiple tools can create a new group.
Method C: Install Brushes from CLIP STUDIO ASSETS
For brushes downloaded from CLIP STUDIO ASSETS:
Download the brush from CLIP STUDIO ASSETS.
Open Clip Studio Paint.
Go to Window → Material → Download.
Find your downloaded brush.
Drag it into the desired Sub Tool group.
You can also find downloaded materials through CLIP STUDIO → Manage Materials → Download.
Step 3: Find and Use Your New Brushes
After importing your brushes:
Open the Sub Tool palette.
Find the brush or brush group you just installed.
Click a brush to select it.
Open the Tool Property palette to view its main settings.
If you imported a large pack, it may appear as its own new group rather than inside the brush group you were already using.
Step 4: Test Your Brushes
Create a blank canvas and make a few test strokes.
Check things like:
Brush size
Pen pressure
Opacity
Texture
Stroke spacing
Stabilization
Brush direction or rotation
Some brushes are designed for specific sizes, resolutions, or drawing styles, so experiment with the brush size before deciding whether something imported incorrectly.
Pen Pressure Not Working?
If the brush is supposed to respond to pressure but every stroke looks the same:
Open the brush's Tool Property settings.
Check the Brush Size dynamics and make sure Pen Pressure is enabled where appropriate.
Make sure your drawing tablet or stylus is being detected correctly.
On Windows or Mac, check File → Preferences → Tablet if you're having tablet-related problems.
Update your tablet driver if necessary.
Step 5: Organize Your Brush Library
Large brush collections can get messy quickly, so organizing them early helps.
You can create groups such as:
Inking
Pencils
Coloring
Screentones
Textures
Effects
Backgrounds
Manga
Anime
You can also rename brushes and move them between groups to create a setup that matches the way you draw.
Back Up Your Brushes
Clip Studio Paint lets you export brushes you've customized.
Export an individual tool as a .sut file.
Export multiple tools or an entire tool group as a .sutg file.
This is useful when moving to a new computer or saving custom versions of your favorite brushes.
Troubleshooting
Brush doesn't appear after dragging it in? Make sure you dropped it directly onto the Sub Tool palette, not somewhere else in the CSP window. Restart CSP if it still doesn't show up.CSP says the file format isn't supported? Double check it's actually a .sut or .cvs file and not a .zip you forgot to extract, or a texture-only .6tt file that needs to be imported through the Material palette instead of Sub Tool.Brush strokes look flat with no pressure sensitivity?
Update your tablet driver to the latest version.
In CSP, go to File → Preferences → Tablet (Windows/Mac) and confirm your tablet is detected.
Open the Tool Property palette for the brush, expand Brush Size, and confirm Pressure is checked as an influence source.
On Windows, try toggling Use Windows Ink in CSP's tablet settings if pressure still isn't registering.
Brush lags or feels sluggish on large canvases? Lower the Stabilization value for that brush in Tool Property, and check File → Preferences → Performance for GPU rendering settings.Imported brush looks nothing like the preview? Some third-party packs ship with a linked texture file that didn't import correctly. Re-download the pack and make sure any accompanying .6tt texture files were extracted in the same folder as the .sut before importing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What file formats does Clip Studio Paint use for brushes? .sut for a single sub tool, and .cvs when a texture is bundled with it. Downloads are often packaged as .zip files containing several .sut/.cvs files.Can I use Photoshop .abr brushes in Clip Studio Paint? Yes. Drag the .abr file onto the Sub Tool palette and CSP will convert it automatically. Conversion quality varies since .abr and CSP's native format handle textures differently, so results can look slightly different from the original Photoshop brush.Do brushes transfer between CSP on desktop and iPad/Galaxy Tab? Yes, if you're signed into the same CLIP STUDIO account and the brush was installed through CLIP STUDIO ASSETS or exported/re-imported as a .sut. Manually copying files between devices isn't supported the way it is on desktop.How do I install brushes on Mac vs Windows? The process is identical. The Sub Tool palette and Import Sub Tool option work the same on both platforms.
Ready to Draw?
A few settings worth exploring once your brushes are loaded:
Tool Property → Stabilization: raise it for smoother lines on fast strokes
Tool Property → Brush Tip → Texture: swap in different paper or canvas textures for varied strokes
Correct Line Ends: a small toggle in the Tool Property palette that noticeably cleans up stroke starts and ends for inking brushes
Once you've got a few brushes installed and organized, the rest is just mileage. The more you draw with them, the faster you'll build a shortlist of go-to favorites.Get my go-to favourite manga and anime brushes here! MANGABRUSH.com
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