Eraser Tool Properties

The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your drawing tool will make.

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 Properties Dialog section below.

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.

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.

By default, Harmony has preloaded eraser presets. You can also create your own eraser presets by configuring your eraser, then saving its properties into a new preset. It is also possible to export and import eraser presets.

Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.

Deletes the currently selected preset.

Allows you to rename the currently selected preset.

Allows you to import brush presets exported from Harmony.

Allows you to export your brush presets into an .xml file.

Allows you to perform drawing operations on both the Line Art and Colour Art layers of your drawing simultaneously.

When you erase part of a pencil line, this option determines the shape of the extremity of the pencil line where you erased:

• Round: Leaves a round tip at the extremities of the pencil line you erased.

  

• Flat: Leaves a flat tip at the extremities of the pencil line you erased. A flat tip is always perpendicular to the angle of the centreline of the pencil line, so it may not match the angle of your eraser stroke.

  

• Bevel: Leaves a bevel tip at the extremities of the pencil line you erased. A bevel tip is flat, but its angle matches the angle of your eraser stroke.

  

Allows you to select between one of the following eraser types:

• Solid Vector: Simply cuts out the eraser stroke's shape from the vector artwork. A solid vector eraser always completely erase the artworks leaving hard seams.
• Textured Eraser: Allows to configure the eraser with the same options as with a textured brush. A textured eraser will decrease the opacity of bitmap textures in textured brush strokes if it doesn't completely erase it. If it completely erases a brush stroke, it will cut out the erased part from the vector artwork.
• Textured, Preserve Vector: Like a Textured Eraser, except that it will not cut out from the vector shapes, even if it fully erases pixels in a textured brush stroke's texture.

This is where you select the shape of the eraser tip. By default, it is round. Note that some tips are designed to have semitransparent areas, even when the maximum eraser opacity is set to 100%.

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.

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.

• Maximum Size: Defines the maximum width of the stroke.
• Minimum Size: Defines the minimum width of the stroke in relation to and as a percentage of the maximum size.

If you check this option, the size of the eraser will be adjusted to the position of the camera on the z-axis. This means that if the camera is zoomed in on the scene, the eraser will be proportionally smaller so that it appears the same size in the rendered image. Likewise, if the camera is zoomed out, the eraser will be proportionally bigger.

The Roundness and Angle parameters allow you to change the shape and orientation of the tip.

• Roundness: The vertical scaling to apply to the tip. Reducing this setting squashes the tip vertically, allowing you to turn round or square tips into flat tips.
• Angle: The angle at which to rotate the brush tip, counterclockwise.

If your pen and tablet support tilt sensitivity, this option allows you to set whether your eraser takes your pen's tilt angle in account, and how much.

When your pen is fully tilted, your eraser tip will be stretched by the percentage you set in this parameter, in the angle in which you tilt it. For example, if you set the Pen Tilt Sensitivity to 50%, and you tilt your pen all the way up or down, your eraser tip will be stretched vertically by 50%. With the same setting, if you tilt your pen all the way left or right, your eraser tip will be stretched horizontally by 50%.

If enabled, and if your pen and tablet support tip rotation, your eraser tip will rotate with the angle of your pen tip.

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.

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.

The Randomness parameters let you create a varied bitmap eraser stroke. Refining these options can give your stroke a lovely, non-mechanical look.

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.

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).

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.

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.

• Maximum Flow: Sets the maximum rate at which colour and texture are applied as you create a fluid stroke.
• Minimum Flow: Sets the minimum rate at which colour and texture are applied as you create a fluid stroke. It is defined as a percentage of the Maximum Flow value. If the Minimum Flow value is set to 100%, then tablet pressure sensitivity will no longer be applicable. The flow will be set to the constant rate of the Maximum Flow value.

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.

• Maximum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the eraser mark when the pressure is heavy.
• Minimum Opacity: Sets the transparency limit of the eraser mark when the pressure is very light. It is defined as a percentage of the Maximum Opacity value. If the Minimum Opacity value is set to 100%, then tablet pressure sensitivity will no longer be applicable. The opacity will be set to the constant rate of the Maximum Opacity value.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.