This is a bit of a tangent but a behavior that could potentially improve the workflow for me: If the eraser mode is meaningless in the context of the current tool (transform tool for example) then pressing the eraser preset shortcut (say Shift+C) would switch you to the freehand brush tool automatically. Currently you have to press B, then Shift+C for it to work.
Bullseye. Imagine âeraser modeâ or âeraser preset brushâ is another tool, then just press it and you get what you want. switching is much simpler and clearer. Itâs all down to it being a âmodeâ or âpresetâ, and not a tool. They are different switching logic.
No.
What Iâd like is:
- Activate the Eraser brush (tag) with a dedicated hotkey
- Decouple eraser mode for erasers invoked with the hotkey, if I need eraser mode, I would only use it for brushes. Decoupling from eraser mode allows me to change the current tool to the brush tool. I donât want the eraser hotkey to affect any other tools (e.g. rectangle tool).
- A dedicated brush history, so I can recall an eraser with a hotkey and a brush with another
- If I change to an eraser brush or a paint brush from the brush docker, this should not affect the brush history in the eraser or paint stack respectively (e.g. donât remember erasers in the brush history and donât remember paint brushes in the eraser brush history).
Any method that does less than the above 4 makes it harder to toggle a paint brush or eraser brush by hotkey.
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I only really need 1 thing that i realize.
To be able to jump straight to eraser from other tool.
Right now to go there its;
- press B â press E (if the brush is not in eraser mode) or
- press B (if the brush is already in eraser mode/ or eraser mode is activated) or
- press B â select Eraser brush
Sometimes your just in [for example] selection , or guides , or fill tool and you notice something you wanna erase jumping straight to erase without going to brush is convenient.
This is what I thought while thinking how to do that ;
Some sort of steps.
Pressing Eraser Tool Shortcut should execute the following;
1.a Switch to brush immediately [if there is no dedicated eraser yet]
2.a No Eraser Preset List
- Ensure the brush preset is in eraser mode;
2.b if With Eraser Preset List
- Switch to last active eraser preset
- Ensure the last active eraser preset is in eraser mode;
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Erase.
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Going back to other tools , last previous mode should be back.
Thatâs pretty much it to mine.
I tried code a quick extension with the jump to (brush + erase mode) to a hot key, to see if that fits what i want. Just to find out erase_action is a toggle lol. TBH its close to what I need - just need to make sure its in eraser. 
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The âToggle Eraser Presetâ does just that, apart from switching to the brush tool. If it could do that, it would be close to what most people want, I think.
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I think that first part is really the crucial 1 and essentially what makes it kinda like a tool.
When a tool is invoke you switch to it immediately no matter what you are using.
If an action can be provided for it. I think thatâs about what half of us need.
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After trying out the new âToggle Eraser Presetâ, I feel like itâs missing one key change to make it work the way people here want it to work.
Right now all it does is toggle between presets, be it set in eraser mode or paint mode and without its own icon on the toolbar thereâs no feedback whether youâre actually using the âEraser Presetâ or not. For example you could use preset A as your paint brush and for âEraser Presetâ also set preset A and donât toggle erase mode for it, toggling between 2 slots will work but neither will be an âeraserâ and youâll lose track which is which (unless you set âToggle Eraser Presetâ icon on toolbar, which is currently same as âSet eraser modeâ one so that may also be an issue).
To address this issue, one way would be to force âSet erase modeâ to âToggle Eraser Presetâ so that when you toggle to âEraser Presetâ it always forces erase mode and doesnât allow turning it off. Similarly toggling the âEraser Presetâ off could ensure the erase mode is off whenever you toggle back to normal preset from âEraser Presetâ but still allow manually setting erase mode if you wish so.
I wonder if anyone working on this feature is aware of the plugin Threeslots which does almost exactly what I described but being a plugin itâs not accessible to everyone.
This plugin allows setting three different presets to a shortcut similarly to Ten Brushes but also ensures the âEraser Presetâ is always in erase mode and the two âBrush Presetsâ are always in paint mode. Another great feature of the plugin is that it âremembersâ preset size and opacity.
The only thing I didnât like about the plugin is the forcing erase mode off for the two âBrush Presetsâ not allowing for a quick erase mode toggle if I wish to use same preset Iâm painting with without making changes to actual âEraser Presetâ. Iâve modified the last bit of the plugin code to trigger only if current_idx == 0 and that seems to work although Iâm unsure if thatâs the correct way to fix it. It allows me to still toggle erase mode for the two brush presets and forces erase mode for the âEraser Presetâ but manually changing one of the two brush slots to the preset thatâs currently set in for eraser preset wonât trigger erase mode off until slot change happens (can still be manually turned off or simply swap between slots).
Adding the functionality of the Threeslots pluginâs âEraser presetâ to the âToggle Eraser Presetâ could potentially make both sides happy. There would be a dedicated Eraser Preset and we would still keep the Kritaâs erase mode toggle functionality.
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After so many years of using Krita, I still hope this feature is made official. My ideal solution is like CSP: you can have any number of groups, each group with a shortcut, and it remembers which group you are at, and which brush is/was selected for each group. The last sentence is why itâs a better design than Photoshopâs and Kritaâs default system.
Threeslot is quite similar to this, but without UI feedback telling you which slot you are using.
Itâs such an elegent solution that I canât believe itâs not more well adopted. I highly suggest every checks out how CSP manages this problem.
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I just read the first 70 or so posts and the last 20-ish so i missed a couple of hundred in the middle. Also I know nothing of programming and donât understand half the nuances of brush history or toggle presets etc⌠ButâŚ
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I would not change how Kritas E shortcut works for anything. Took a little time finding it (and other tools, like stamp etc) at first but I really do love it now that Iâm used to it and know how to find it. For most part I love how the eraser and the brush behave the same. Only time itâs frustrating is if I do lineart with a tiny brush and need to erase.
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Is there a way - without a plugin - to assign a shortcut to a specific brush?
So I could configure Krita to bring me one of the eraser brushes with pressing a key, instead of picking it by clicking on the icon for the eraser brush.
If not, or if thatâs just possible with a plugin (I donât understand how the three brushes work, and I generally donât love plugins⌠I always mess things up when trying to install such stuff) that function could be neat. But Iâm just a hobby painter and I work around it by making sure both the eraser brush and sketching brush are tagged in the brush box thingy so theyâre within reach. A short key to a specific, large eraser brush would be nice but not important to me enough that Iâd do too much work to get it (like messing with plugins or wrapping my head around all this âpreviously used brush historyâ stuff⌠Iâm too ignorant in the linguistics to understand what half of the discussion talks about)
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Is there a way - without a plugin - to assign a shortcut to a specific brush?
There is a new icon you can add to one of your toolbars. Once you select the eraser icon and then select an eraser preset, it will remember which eraser preset you last chose (whereas E simply changes your current preset to eraser blend mode).
Itâs called âtoggle eraser presetâ
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Oh, that sounds great. Iâll have to search the term to see how to set it up.
I think @tiar is taking a look about how much work an implementation of this will needâŚ
According to the number of plugins trying to provide workarounds to the current Kritaâs eraser implementation and how hot this topic is, Iâve the feeling whatever the solution that could be implemented, the result will be the same: user will complain that is not exactly how Photoshop works or CSP is better, or this, or that⌠
I whish good luck to her 
Grum999
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I havenât used it personally, but thereâs also a plugin TenBrushes, you can find it in the menu in Scripts (sorry, Iâm AFK right now and canât look it up where exactly it is).
If Iâm not mistaken, this plugin lets you assign 10 brushes to hotkeys. The hotkeys themselves can be changed in the settings, where all Krita keys are defined.
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10 Brushes has to be activated in Krita via ââSettingsââ >> ââConfigure Kritaââ >> ââPython Plugin Managerââ, there scroll down to its entry and set the checkmark in front of it.
There also exists an extended version of the Ten Brushes plugin, âTwenty Brushesâ.
TwentyBrushes on hotkeys
I donât want to skim through this topic again, but I think @Grum999âs Buli Brush Switch belongs to the Plugins aiming to help here, but it offers much more functions, is a versatile tool.
Buli Brush Switch
Also @EyeOdinâs Eraser Shift plugin seem to aim at the same target.
As well as @Daishishiâs [Proof of Concept] Plugin as Eraser Tool (PET).
The next candidate, JoannesJâs âKrita Direct Eraserâ unfortunately the old KDE-Forum is taken down or was moved to an unknown location, but you can get it from my cloud including copies of the forum pages where it was presented:
Another versatile plugin, what should be of use here is @Luciferâs Ten Brush Slots I guess.
Ten Brush Slots
And then there are very probably also all those private solutions unknown to me or this forumâŚ
Michelist
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Because Clip Studio Paintâs solution seems to be a popular one, Iâll try to explain how exactly âSub Toolsâ work there in hopes itâll help developers better understand what Krita is currently missing to achieve what people want.
In CSP, unlike in Krita, âFreehand Brush Toolâ is split into different categories such as Pen, Eraser, Brush, Airbrush, Pencil, etc⌠which are exact same tool just each category has its own shortcut. While in Krita we have one shortcut for Freehand Brush Tool, be it eraser or any other paint brush.
As CSP has these different categories of freehand tool it also allows user to set custom Icon per âSub Toolâ (preset in Krita). Sub Tools are simply presets that can be grouped into a Sub Tool Group that is then called by any chosen âcategoryâ shortcut. (You can also have a paint brush sub tool group on âEraserâ tool shortcut if you desire so)
Just like in Krita, the CSPâs âEraserâ Sub Tool (preset) is simply a drawing preset that uses âEraseâ brush blending mode, but you can set Icon to eraser, or any available tool Icon.
The Output process here is a tool (like Gradient, Eyedropper, Move, Select, etc) where âDirect drawâ is a Freehand Brush. The Input process is a sub category of each âOutput processâ, here Direct draw can be âInputâ as Brush, Pen, Eraser, Fill, Figure (circle, rectangle), etc. where both Brush and Eraser are same, just Eraser sets Blending mode to Erase while Brush sets it to Normal by default. (But can be changed at any time)
Also just like in Krita, CSP too has the ability to toggle between paint and transparency (Erase mode toggle in Krita), where you simply paint with transparency, and any sub tool can toggle that. The difference here being that Krita stores this per preset while CSP has a global toggle. Per preset is better imo.
This exact same categorization can already be achieved in Krita with the use of Shortcut Composer. Where you can group all âEraserâ presets that use blending mode âEraseâ onto one Pie Menu (shortcut), all âPencilsâ onto another Pie (shortcut), all âBasicâ paint brushes onto next and so on.
Examples
Krita with Shortcut Composer Pie Menus:
CSP Sub Tool menu:
Both approaches are very similar but Pie Menus being a plugin arenât accessible to everyone.
If Krita wanted to offer similar experience natively, first step would be to allow user to set custom Icon per preset (Eraser, Brush, Airbrush, Blend etc) which would be set in brush editor and for feedback shown in place of Freehand Brush Tool slot. Then next step would be a native approach to preset groups (either by tag or manual) on more than one shortcut. (Similar to how Shortcut Composer Pie Menus work)
I hope this wasnât too long to read, and donât get me wrong, Iâm not in any way trying to say that CSP is better than Krita as I natively use Krita. CSP simply does this categorization more naturally as it allows user to have these sub âtoolboxesâ to sort their presets (you need an eraser you hit one shortcut, you need a brush you hit another, you need a blender you hit another and each âtoolboxâ remembers last preset you picked from it).
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Thank you very much. I did try to promote CSPâs solution but I couldnât explain it clearly as you did.
By the way adopting this approach doesnât mean we have to abandon the current âEâ's function.
CSP subtool = a system to manage and select brushes
Krita âEâ = a shortcut to set the selected brushâs blend mode to Eraser.
They are completely orthogonal.
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As I have mentioned in the post above, CSP has both too, you can set a shortcut to E for âSwitch drawing color and transparent colorâ which will do exactly what Kritaâs Eraser toggle does, just globally instead of per preset.
Having both a dedicated shortcut for eraser preset group and a per preset toggle is a good thing. This allows you to temporary turn a painting brush into an eraser for specific situations where you may want to quickly erase with same brush youâre painting with without changing your current eraser in eraser shortcut.
Edit:
Even Photoshop has both, pressing a shortcut any brush in use can toggle to paint with transparency. I guess people there wanted what Krita and CSP had 
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If I interpret what you say correctly, in CSP you have subcategories, like
,
and
Than I see no difference in the current implementation of the presets krita already has.
You can choose in the brush-preset your favorite brush to draw with, then switch to the eraser-preset and select your favorite eraser and erase.
The selection of the eraser or brush is exactly the same.
CSP has 5 presets or so, while krita has 2. Ok Iâll take 3 more then.
But kritas presets are more powerful, as you donât have to be restricted to the brush tool. You can select a selection tool for the eraser-preset and switch between brush and selection 
So I still see no need to implement an extra tool for the eraser.
Maybe the pop-up palette could also reference an other tag, when in eraser-preset, but that would be an other request. 
So what I extract from this whole discussion is, that more presets would be nice and that each preset should be configurable to tags and not to the whole range of tools⌠
As I have explained yes both are the same in what an Eraser preset is. Simply a preset that uses Erase blending mode, same as Krita.
The only difference is that Kritaâs eraser preset is still a âFreehand Brushâ while CSP can have it use an Eraser icon, which shows up in toolbox and appears to be a âdedicated eraser toolâ.
Exactly this, if all people want is what CSP does then all thatâs missing is ability to change Tool Icon per preset. If Freehand Brush Toolâs icon could change depending on what preset Icon is set to that alone would give an illusion of a different tool. (exactly what CSP does).
CSP has 7 shortcuts that are all âFreehand brush toolâ in disguise, just each has different Icon by default. (Again as I said you can have any Icon on any shortcut, you can have same preset on any shortcut, 7 Erasers? sure, 7 erasers with different Tool icons too)
Kritaâs âeraser presetâ shortcut gives no feedback and if you happen to turn erase mode on for both youâve no idea which is which slot anymore.
This is not necessarily true as both are very equal in what you can do with presets. You can erase with selection, fill tool or whatever in CSP too. (I mean you can create a sub tool that draws a ruler (assistant) using a freehand selectionâŚ) Even brush engine is fairly equal, things are just at different places.
This alone would be a good start. Remember tag for slot in use (Eraser shortcut or Brush shortcut). As currently with Kritaâs approach, you always choose preset from a single tag group. If you have erasers in one tag and paint brushes in another you have to change tag each time youâre choosing new preset for each âtoolâ. In CSP each of those 7 shortcuts can have any number of preset groups (tags) (tabs in sub tool menu) and any number of presets within each group (tag).
In short, personally Iâm more than happy with Pie Menus from Shortcut Composer as this allows exactly that, extra shortcuts for Freehand Brush where each can have its own group of presets to choose from. (Erasing with one, Painting with another and smudging with a 3rd preset using 3 shortcuts)
But thatâs a plugin and not what Krita allows natively.
There seems to be an misunderstanding on what CSPâs implementation exactly is and what the âSub Toolsâ actually are so I simply shared personal experience. Although CSP has an unlimited free trial and anyone can test and see what exactly is going on there and what people are trying to achieve here in Krita.
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I put the âtoggle eraser presetâ in my toolbar now, and assigned it a hot key.
It does exactly what I want; pressing the key gives me an eraser of the right size regardless of what brush I have, pressing again get my brush back. A new icon tells me if itâs engaged (just like the E icon but in a different spot) and I could click that icon instead of a short key.
While E still sets to eraser mode on the brush Im using like it always did.
So⌠Now I donât know what exactly others are still lacking. But Iâm happy. 
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