To me, another huge benefit to having a dedicated eraser tool would be that I can use brush smoothing in the freehand brush tool to draw curves or to snap to assistants, whereas the eraser tool would not be smoothened and have snapping set off. Saves a lot of toggling these settings back and forth.
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I would just like to quickly switch to the actual eraser instead of having a negative version of my drawing brush (which is NOT 100% opacity). It would also be neat to group things together rather than having a giant pool of every single brush I have. Like I use like 6 brushes It would be awesome if I could make them tools for shortcuts. I know other programs do this and originality and stuff but like, they do it cause it works, letsâs just use the very common solution please.
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[Proof of Concept] Plugin as Eraser Tool (PET)
Youâre more than welcome to test and give some feedback. Just note that you need to use Krita 5.2.0 to use the plugin.
this could also apply to other ânot-eraserâ things as well, just being able to make a sketch tool and an inking tool (which are just brush folder-y things) would be convenient both the weird acid trip airbrush and the marker are the same tool and itâs a tad bit annoying.
edit: plus with this, you could just make an eraser tool anyways so two birds one stone ig
edit 2: yeah itâs redundant but I have like 200 brushes its annoying to sift through them every time I need to erase a line
It sounds like youâre essentially requesting dynamically-created shortcuts for activating the last used brush belonging to a particular tag or some other kind of category, which would be interesting.
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Currently there isnât a straight way of doing this, but with a little ingenuity and âsleight of handâ the plugin I posted before could do this.
I already did for erasers and non-erasers, but you can expand the plugin to specific blend modes, brush engine and even tags (or by almost any brush editor option).
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Your rough sketch seems an 1:1 representation of @Grum999 plugin Buli Brush Switch
Where you define a brush to a shortcut, and this brush/shortcut has custom features.
My plugin donât modify the brush itself, but define a shortcut to a âtypeâ of brush. For now it only has Erasers and Non-erasers, but maybe I could make more dynamic and expandable. Even adding a GUI too.
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I think the biggest problem with the current global eraser mode is that if I switch to other tools under eraser mode, such as selecting tool, and then switch back to the brush tool to paint, it will still maintain the eraser mode. If I remember that I am still in the eraser mode, I still need to press E to switch back to the brush mode. If I donât remember that and erase something, I need to press ctrl+z, and then press E to switch back. This operation is so tedious and not intuitive. So I prefer to have an independent eraser tool, which can switch to the brush used for painting at any time when I press B, rather than becoming an eraser confusingly.
You can assign different cursor for eraser mode. It is there in the krita settings. With this you know exactly when you are in eraser mode, but yeah you still need to switch back from eraser to normal that is true.
Disclaimer: This is a solution to your problem of not recognising that your in eraser mode, I am not denying that we need eraser tool.
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Youâre more than welcome to try the PET plugin.
You can test it out and see if it suits your needs.
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Yeah Iâve just tested your plugin, itâs a great work! With your plugin a dedicated eraser tool isnât necessory for me now. Thank you!
Yeah I was very glad to see the eraser cursor feature when updated to 5.1 and enabled it immediately. But it wasnât so useful as I imagined because I always focus on the canvas instead of the cursor and to confirm the state of eraser mode would break my mind. But I was surprised that the solution came so fastđ
I do wish though that I could increase the outline in width, for me it is so narrow that I can barely differentiate between them colour wise.
After trying to use Krita as my CSP alternative for more time, Iâd like to give more feedback and cite the reasons I think a dedicated eraser tool is a must have. Especially while sketching.
- While sketching the (pencil) brush size is typically small, switching to eraser mode means your eraser is tiny as well and you have to adjust the size every time you switch then readjust when switching back.
- Pencil brushes are typically textured, which means when you switch to eraser mode you canât erase in a clean way, the eraser leaves traces behind due to the texture.
- The pressure sensitivity of pencils is usually set so youâre producing softer lines with low(ish) opacity. When switching to eraser, you have to press really hard to erase effectively which can be uncomfortable.
- While drawing perspective or geometric shapes using guides, you want the pencil to snap to the guides but the eraser to remain unrestrained. Currently, you have to toggle the snapping on and off which is tedious.
- The kind of eraser you want to use depends on the stage of sketching youâre at; While doing the rough sketch you typically want a large soft eraser to make adjustments. When moving to the refining stage (drawing cleaner lines) a smaller and harder eraser is desired, these are just examples of the versatility needed.
- Using a different brush is an option but itâs not as quick and streamlined as pressing E, and you can accidentally mix up which brush is in eraser mode and which is not. You canât lock a brush to always erase which is a problem.
- CSP has both options: C for eraser mode like in Krita and E for dedicated eraser tool. I think something similar in Krita would be welcome and wonât take away any usability.
This is of course based on my workflow, but Iâm really finding myself taking way more steps to erase then resume drawing compared to CSP and I feel like itâs slowing me down.
I canât really see a downside to having a dedicated eraser, especially since it can co-exist with the current system as mentioned above. So I hope the devs reconsider their stance on the matter.
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Those are all good points. Surely itâs a workflow issue, but those methods are used by a lot of artists and so it becomes somewhat of a general issue sooner or later. Being a CSP user as well, they have the perfect solution. Having an eraser as well as being able to switch the current brush into eraser mode. I use both versions all the time depending on what stage of painting Iâm actually in or what I try to accomplish. Some brushes are OK to be switches to eraser mode. But some brushes (especially effect brushes) canât really be used as an eraser.
With this issue having a few votes now, it will maybe be picked up at some point.
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A few points of yours can be already be addressed.
Open the Brush editor (or press F5 while using a brush) and at the bottom of the window select the option: Eraser Switch Size
One is trickier, the other kind of cumbersome sometimes. Like before on the Brush Editor you can tick the option Eraser switch opacity. Having your eraser being more opaque (strong) than your drawing pencil.
Sure both this options mitigate the problem but donât solve it every time. Also while the editor option is global and persistent, you have to adjust every brush eraser mode separately. Not to mention texture brushes will always have textured erasers. 
On the tool option of your brush after selecting Snap to Assistants deselect the option Snap Eraser
Another trick problem. You can at least mitigate the confusion of erasers and non-eraser by enabling the Eraser icon in the Settings.
Settings â Configure Krita â General â Use separate settings for eraser
Shameless plug again: you are more than welcome to test the plugin I made as an Eraser Tool
I guess for those who tested (and, hopefully, still use) the plugin it might fulfill this need, at least the topic didnât spur any specific functionality or problem.
I intent to remove that âProof of Conceptâ as soon Krita 5.2 is formally released, as the plugin seems to function correctly so far.
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What I like the most in Krita is the way we can add keyboard shortcuts. We do not have to press ctrl or alt every time we press a keyboard shortcut. I think that cuts time drastically when working for long. I have used photoshop and I find it janky to use it with shortcuts. It kind of limits my potential in a way. Moreover, even the menu shortcuts canât be accessed without pressing ctrl key. That just adds extra unnecessary step.
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Thanks for the reply. I didnât know about some of these settings. Still donât solve the root issue as itâs more set-ups and fiddling, but they help for sure. Iâm still hoping for a more fundamental change.
Iâll make sure to check out your plugin. It looks promising, and maybe would pave the way for a native implementation.
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I use the pop up pallet to choose my eraser. i made a tag just for erasers. And never change the tag.
I forgot what it is like to use a dedicated eraser tool. I do not feel like I am losing anything out of it. in fact I think this way has itâs own advantages.
I could see having a dedicated eraser brush docker. And use the docker under cursor plugin to see it.
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