Eraser Tool Properties
When you select the Eraser tool, its properties and options appear in the Tool Properties view.
The Eraser tool properties are almost identical to the Brush tool properties.
Icon | Tool Name | Description |
Stroke Preview Area |
The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your drawing tool will make.
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Eraser Properties Dialog |
The arrow button right of the display area opens the Eraser Properties dialog, which gives you access to all the parameters and options for your eraser. The Tool Properties view only gives you access to a few of the eraser properties, a list of eraser presets and options for the Eraser tool that are not related to the eraser properties. For more information on the Eraser Properties dialog, see the Eraser Tool Properties section below.
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Maximum Size |
Defines the maximum size of the eraser.
If the tool is used with a pressure sensitive pen tablet, the width of the stroke will vary between its maximum size and minimum size depending on the amount of pressure used. If used with a mouse, the width of the stroke will always be its maximum size. |
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Smoothing |
Defines the number of control points added to the centre line. The fewer the control points the smoother (but less faithful) the line. |
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Flow |
Lets you set the opacity for each instance of the eraser tip that gets erased from your artwork. Contrary to the Opacity parameter, the flow parameter has a cumulative effect. This means that a lower flow will make your eraser strokes less effective towards its extremities and more effective in its center. Your stroke's flow will also accumulate if you draw over it. By default, your eraser's flow varies with the amount of pressure you put on your tablet pen. NOTEThis option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view when drawing on a bitmap layer.
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Opacity |
The Opacity parameter are where Lets you set the opacity of your brush strokes. Contrary to the Flow parameter, the Opacity parameter is non-cumulative. Your whole brush stroke's opacity will not exceed the Opacity parameter. By default, the Opacity parameter varies depending on the amount of pressure you put on your tablet pen. NOTEThis option is only displayed in the Tool Properties view when drawing on a bitmap layer.
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New Eraser |
Creates a new preset based on the current eraser properties. |
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Delete Eraser |
Deletes the currently selected preset. |
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Rename Eraser |
Deletes the currently selected preset. |
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Import Erasers |
Allows you to import brush presets exported from Harmony. |
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Export Erasers |
Allows you to export your brush presets into an .xml file. |
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Small Thumbnail, Large Thumbnail, and Stroke View |
Allows you to display the presets as small square thumbnails, large square thumbnails or a list of stroke preview. |
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Apply to Line and Colour Art |
Allows you to perform drawing operations on both the Line Art and Colour Art layers of your drawing simultaneously. NOTEIf you have Overlay and Underlay Art layers enabled, they will also be affected when this option is enabled.
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Tip Style |
If you erase the end of a pencil line or erase a pencil line through the centre, new line tips or line ends are created. Use the Tip Style option to customize the shape of the new line tips that are created.
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Apply to Synced Drawing Layers |
When working on a synced layer, the tool is applied to the current layer and all the layers that are synced to it. This option only works in the Camera view. |
Eraser Properties Dialog
Erasers have an extensive set of options and properties that are not displayed in the Tool Properties view, but rather, in a dialog you can access from it. To open the Eraser Properties dialog, click on the arrow button right of the stroke display area.
The Eraser Properties dialog has
Tip Tab
The Tip tab allows you to configure the shape, size, hardness and spacing of your eraser tip.
Tool Name | Description |
Eraser Type |
Allows you to select between one of the following eraser types:
NOTETextured erasers only work as expected on textured brush strokes. Using a Textured eraser on a solid vector brush stroke or on a pencil line will only cut the eraser stroke's shape out of it. If you use a Textured, Preserve Vector type eraser on a solid vector shape or on a pencil line, the eraser will not erase anything.
NOTEThis option is not available when working on a bitmap layer. With bitmap layers, erasers are always textured, and textured eraser options are always available.
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Eraser Tip Library |
This is where you select the shape of the eraser tip. By default, it is round. To create a custom eraser tip, you must prepare the file ahead of time, either in Harmony or in a third-party software, such as Adobe Photoshop. Colour is not supported and transparency is not supported in the traditional sense. Black appears as 100% opaque, white appears as 100% transparent and all the shades of grey in between appear as varying degrees of semitransparency. A range of file formats are supported—.jpeg, .png, .tif, .psd, .tga to name a few. Alpha channels are disregarded on import. It is recommended that your file be between 100 x 100 pixels and 400 x 400 pixels. You can also import eraser tips that you exported from Harmony, so you can share them with colleagues. |
Minimum and Maximum Size |
The minimum and maximum sizes of your drawing tool produce the thick and thin effect on your stroke. This works with the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
NOTESetting the Minimum Size value to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating width variation on your stroke. In other words, you would be forcing a uniform line width using the Maximum Size value.
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Roundness and Angle |
The Roundness and Angle parameters allow you to change the shape and orientation of the tip.
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Hardness |
The Hardness and Spacing parameters allow you to change the softness and spacing of the marks made by the eraser tip. You can preview the hardness and spacing at the top of the Eraser Properties window, stroke preview area. The hardness value corresponds to the softness of the eraser tip's edges. The lower the value, the softer the tip edge. The higher the value, the sharper the tip edge. Be aware that some eraser tips are not 100% opaque, so they will always appear somewhat soft, even at 100% hardness.
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Spacing |
Defines the amount of space between each stamp of the eraser. A value of 100% sets the stamp marks edge to edge, if there is no white space around the shape. The larger the value, the greater the space between marks. A really large value can make the eraser stroke appear as a string of individual marks. Conversely, a small spacing value will give the appearance of a fluid brush stroke. Spacing is only evident when making a continuous stroke.
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Randomness |
The Randomness parameters let you create a varied bitmap eraser stroke. Refining these options can give your stroke a lovely, non-mechanical look. |
Random Size |
You can create variation between the thick and thin of your eraser stroke just by setting the Maximum and Minimum Size values. If you add randomness to the mix, pressure sensitivity from your drawing tablet will still be applied. Light pressure will create random values around the minimum, while heavy pressure will create random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger the range of random variation.
NOTESetting the Minimum Size to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating width variation on your stroke, whether you are applying randomness or not. Therefore, you would be forcing a uniform line width using the Maximum Size value.
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Random Angle |
Sets the range for random rotation around the set Angle value. For example, if the Angle is set to 45° and the Random Angle set to 10°, the software will choose values between 40°–50° (plus or minus 5 degrees, equaling a total of 10 degrees).
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Random Spacing |
Sets the range for random spacing around the set Spacing value. For example, if the Spacing is set to 50% and the Random Spacing is set to 10%, then Harmony will choose values between 45%–55% (plus or minus 5 percent, equaling a total of 10 percent).
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Smoothing Tab
The Smoothing tab contains options to configure how Harmony should automatically smooth your eraser strokes as you paint.
Tool Name | Description |
Centerline Smoothing | Defines the amount of smoothing Harmony should perform on your eraser stroke's direction, curves and corners. A higher setting will prevent your line from being shaky, but is liable to reduce drawing precision and turn sharp angles into curves. |
Contour Smoothing |
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Transparency Tab
The Transparency tab allows you to decide if your eraser has antialiasing as well as to set its flow and opacity settings.
Tool Name | Description |
Antialiasing |
Enabled by default. This option causes the contours of the eraser strokes to blend with the surrounding colours, to create an illusion of smoothness otherwise not possible due to the picture resolution. If antialiasing is disabled, the eraser will either fully erase pixels or leave them intact. NOTEWhen disabled, all other options in the Transparency tab are disabled.
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Maximum and Minimum Flow |
The Maximum and Minimum Flow parameters let you set the range for the rate at which your eraser's effect flows. The greater the flow, the more consistent the effect is. If the flow is light, then the effect may look spotty. This feature works with the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
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Maximum Opacity and Minimum Opacity |
The Maximum and Minimum Opacity parameters are where you set the opacity range for a eraser mark. This works with the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet.
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Randomness |
Th Randomness parameter lets you set the range for the randomness of the flow and opacity. This works with the pressure sensitivity of a pen tablet. |
Randomness Flow |
You can create variation in the flow of your eraser stroke just by setting the Maximum and Minimum Flow values. If you add randomness to the mix, pressure sensitivity from your drawing tablet will still be applied. Light pressure will create random values around the minimum, while heavy pressure will create random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger the range of random variation.
NOTESetting the Minimum Flow value to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating flow variation on your stroke, whether you are applying randomness or not. That is, you would be forcing a uniform flow using the Maximum Flow value.
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Random Opacity |
You can create variation in the opacity of your eraser stroke just by setting the Maximum and Minimum Opacity values. If you add randomness to the mix, pressure sensitivity from your drawing tablet will still be applied. Light pressure will create random values around the minimum, while heavy pressure will create random values closer to the maximum. The larger the percentage, the larger the range of random variation.
NOTESetting the Minimum Opacity value to 100% eliminates the possibility of creating opacity variation on your stroke, whether you are applying randomness or not. That is, you would be forcing a uniform opacity using the Maximum Opacity value.
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Dual Tip Tab
The Dual Tip tab lets you set the parameters for creating a dual tip eraser. The primary bitmap eraser tip and the dual tip always work together. You can set the parameters for the primary tip in the Tip tab and those for the dual tip in the Dual Tip tab. The Blend mode you select determines how the tips are combined.
By default, the Blend Mode is set to Multiply and the Random Angle to 360°.
Tool Name | Description |
Enable/Disable | The checkbox inside the tab allows you to decide whether or not your eraser uses a dual tip. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Dual Tip tab will be disabled. |
Blend Mode | The Blend modes let you decide how the primary tip and the dual tip are combined. |
Multiply |
This is the default blend mode. When the two eraser tips are combined in this mode, they essentially cut each other out in overlapping areas, where one or both tips have an area of 100% transparency. The less opaque the eraser tips are, the lighter their combination.
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Colour Dodge |
In this mode, the primary tip cuts out the shape of the dual tip. Where the tip shapes overlap, within the boundaries of the primary shape, the colour and opacity appear darker.
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Combine |
This mode treats the two tips as two different and separate erasers that have the same colour and follow the same path.
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Paper Texture Tab
The Paper Texture tab lets you configure a paper-like texture for your eraser. You can also add textures by importing image files, or import paper textures that were previously exported from Harmony.
Tool Name | Description |
Enable/Disable | The checkbox inside the tab allows you to decide whether or not your eraser uses a paper texture. If this checkbox is unchecked, the options in the Paper Texture tab will be disabled. |
Texture Scale | Increase or decreases the size of the paper texture. |
Additive |
This option layers the texture on top of itself as you scribble overlapping lines in one continuous stroke. If this option is turned off, areas of overlapping lines from a single, continuous stroke will appear the same, in terms of darkness and texture, as non-overlapping areas.
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Aligned |
This option defines the way separate, overlapping strokes behave. If this option is enabled, the paper texture's position does not change with each sweep of the eraser. If this option is disabled, each sweep of the eraser produces a different texture position. The texture orientation always stays the same. |