In the spotlight today the second part of exploring the Eraser Tool, which is found in both
Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. If you didn’t get a chance to see yesterday’s blog article ( Eraser Tool Part 1 ) then please check it out!
Today we will be exploring more advanced features of the Eraser Tool.
The basics of the Eraser Tool works about the same in both Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, so as you look at the examples below they will apply to either program unless we comment otherwise.
Digital Scrapbookers love the Eraser tool as it lets us erase items in digital scrapbooking pages, or photo editing projects. However, many avid digital scrapbookers and photo editors don’t know about the hidden extra eraser tools under the main tool!
If you click on the Eraser Tool (#1) and hold your mouse over until you get the fly-out menu, then you will see additional Eraser Tools (#2) like: the Background Eraser Tool, and the Magic Eraser Tool.
Let’s explore each of these features that are found under the main Eraser Tool:
The Background Eraser Tool:
The Background Eraser tool turns color pixels to transparent pixels so that you can easily remove an object from its background. With careful use, you can maintain the edges of the foreground object while eliminating background fringe pixels.
The tool pointer is a circle with a cross hair indicating the tool’s hotspot . As you drag the pointer, pixels within the circle and of a similar color value as the pixel under the hotspot are erased. If the circle overlaps your foreground object, and it doesn’t contain pixels similar to the hotspot pixel, the foreground object won’t be erased.
So in the example above, using the Background Eraser Tool I can erase the white area in my tag without erasing the yellow part of the tag even if my eraser tool goes into the yellow area!
Like the regular Eraser Tool the Background Eraser Tool has options that appear when the tool is selected.
Before using the Background Eraser tool, pick any of the following options:
- Brush Preset Picker
- Sets the presets of the brush, such as size, diameter, hardness, and spacing. Drag the Size pop‑up sliders or enter numbers in text boxes.
- Limits
- Choose Contiguous to erase areas that contain the hotspot color and are connected to one another. Discontiguous erases any pixels within the circle that are similar to the hotspot color.
- Tolerance
- Defines how similar in color to the hotspot a pixel must be to be affected by the tool. A low tolerance limits erasure to areas that are very similar to the hotspot color. A high tolerance erases a broader range of colors.
Photoshop has all these same options with the Background Eraser Tool as Photoshop Elements (see red arrows in the image below), however, Photoshop has few more option too! (These options explained in another future blog)
Both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements have another Eraser Tool hidden below the main Eraser tool – the Magic Eraser Tool
The Magic Eraser Tool:
The Magic Eraser tool changes all similar pixels when you drag within an image. If you’re working in a layer with locked transparency, the pixels change to the background color; otherwise, the pixels are erased to transparency. You can choose to erase contiguous pixels only, or all similar pixels on the current layer.
So in the examples above with a click of the Magic Eraser Tool (before), then all the white is instantly removed showing the green layer below (after).
In the Layers panel, select the layer containing the areas you want to erase.
Note: If you select the Background, it automatically becomes a layer when you use the Magic Eraser.
Like the other Eraser tools, you can set the options for the the Magic Eraser Tool in the top menu bar.
Set any of the following Magic Eraser tool options:
- Tolerance
- Defines the range of colors that will be erased. A low tolerance erases pixels within a range of color values very similar to the pixel you click. A high tolerance erases pixels within a broader range.
- Anti‑alias
- Smoothes the edges of the area you erase, making the edge look more natural.
- Contiguous
- Erases only pixels that are adjacent to the one you click. Deselect this option to erase all similar pixels in the image.
- Sample All Layers
- Samples the erased color using combined data from all visible layers. Deselect the option if you want to erase only the pixels on the active layer.
- Opacity
- Defines the strength of the erasure. An opacity of 100% erases pixels to complete transparency on a layer and to the background color on a locked layer. A lower opacity erases pixels to partial transparency on a layer and paints partially with the background color on a locked layer
Photoshop works basically the same as Elements using the Magic Eraser Tool
These are the advanced features of the Eraser Tool in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. These extra features are very handy for both digital scrapbookers and photo editor and once you try them you will probably want to use these tools in all of your projects!
Have a nice day, and take a few moments to learn about your digital scrapbooking and photo editing tools!
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