My stylus has a button bound to switching between Pen/Eraser mode. I also have a key on my tablet bound to “/” to switch between my last two brush presets. The problem is, if the last brush I used was an eraser in Eraser mode, “/” will pull up the eraser even if I am in Pen mode. The same applies if I am in eraser mode and was last using a pencil or paintbrush in Pen mode. I find that this is unintuitive and destroys the distinction between the two modes.
I suggest that “/,” or another key, be bound to switch to the last brush preset used in your current mode, Pen or Eraser rather than the last brush preset used independent of mode. For example, if you were in pen mode and have been using the hard and the #2 pencil, you could switch between those two presets using a hotkey even if you used Eraser mode in between.
I’m not sure if what you propose wouldn’t be even more confusing than currecnt behaviour
Although I understand your workflow and what you want to achieve, because I use similar workflow.
I have other idea how this workflow could be accomplished and extended.
I also use excessively Switch to Previous Preset action (pls use action names not default key bindings it will be easier to understand you )
This action is core to my workflow but I rely on the fact that it remembers Erase Mode and probably many users also do, so I would not change it but extended it.
So taking this into consideration it had two ways to accomplish it:
Add new Actions to Krita. (Something like your proposal but we will preserve Switch to Previous Preset action intact).
New action would be Switch to Previous Preset in current mode. In my opinion, it would be even more confusing UX. One user will think - “Ah so it will switch my preset but preserve my mode! Nice!”, other user will think - “Oh it will remember my previous preset that I used in my current mode. Nice!”. On top of that user will have to remember what mode he is in while using presets pairs. It starts to be confusing
And what if user wants first behavriou over your behaviour? Then we will have to add Switch to Previous Preset and preserve Eraser mode option.
So, now we have 3 actions: Switch to Previous Preset, Switch to Previous Preset in current Eraser mode, Switch to Previous Preset and preserve Eraser mode option.
Thats not the worst scenario we just added more Actions, also it’s relatively simple to add. Probably will be accepted in Krita main code-base.
Adding actions similart to Next Favorite preset and Previous Favorite Preset but for currently selected Preset Tag.
Something like: Next Preset and Previous Preset
To make this workflow effective it would need tools for better selecting, creating and managing Preset Tags. Maybe even temporary tag system or a docker with easy to use Tag Palette.
This workflow would be more powerfull but needs good design and users feedback. It’s also more work.
Both can be added tho and first one would be low hanging fruit, also actions for next/previous preset in tag also can be added, but I want more user feedback.
Thats my view on this proposal. What do you think?
I think the request for having a dedicated eraser tool solves this problem. I find all the methods that we device are roundabout way to make eraser different tool. Like showing eraser cursor, switching only to presets eraser tag or this feature switching to presets but not to eraser.
Rather than adding all these round about way we should solve the core problem that is to decouple eraser and normal brushes separate as a tool.
Well it would solve this particular use case, BUT how you will handle it?
Krita has Painting Tools for shapes, will we have Freehand Eraser, Multi Freehand Eraser, Line Eraser etc?
But then somebody will want dedicated Smudge Tool then dedicated, Pencil Tool, Paint Tool 2 and 3 (like me xD)
I would prefer to give users “tools to create workflows/tools” not “here have one extra tool”. So user can create his own workflows for tasks he wants to achieve the way his/hers/theirs brain works.
Maybe there is a loophole in my thinking, but from where I’m currently standing I don’t see it
There are not two modes of operation.
The two different stylus identities presented by the tablet are treated as Stylus-TipA and Stylus-TipB by krita.
You can select any brush preset to be used by Stylus-TipA and Stylus-TipB so you can use two different ‘painting’ brush presets by spinning the stylus around in your hand or by pressing the ‘mode’ switch on your tablet/stylus.
The problem seems to be that the history of brush preset use (as used by the ‘/’ key ) does not take the use of these two different Stylus-Tips into account.
Maybe if they had independently recorded histories then that that would solve the problem?
There is no need to have a corresponding eraser version of every tool. As erase mode would still be there. People can user both erase mode for the current brush and also dedicated eraser tool which can have its own brush preset history where the / key switches the preset from the brush history of this tool only. And the user can then have free hand brush tool which will have its own brush history and user can use the / key switch between normal brushes in whatever mode. That basically solves this request
The issue is also that krita’s brush tool preset is global as in once you select a brush it will be applied to all tools. Changing brush in freehand tool also changes it globally so when you switch to rectangle tool it will inherit this brush and we need to change it.
To really streamline workflows, I could see something like “Tag tools” basically, it would allow you to create a tool that activates brushes from a particular tag. Whether it is a clone brush, dodge or burn brush, shape brush, shape eraser, pencils, watercolours, etc. Those who need this can simply add a tool and those who don’t can keep using the brush tool for everything. If anyone likes the idea, I could create a feature request for it.
The switch to previous preset would then have to work based on the active tool (to make it work with the “Tag tools”).
I wasn’t familiar with exactly how this worked under the hood when I wrote the request, but yes, Stylus Tips A and B having independent histories would completely solve my problem.
A dedicated eraser tool would also help, as long as there was a single hotkey to toggle between brush and eraser modes. For my use case, what I imagine to be the much simpler and less disruptive solution of two histories for different stylus tips would be sufficient, but I can see why you might not bother if a dedicated eraser tool is already in the works. The “Tag Tools” idea would similarly work; it would also presumably need a hotkey to switch between Brush mode and the most recently used Tag mode.
That wouldn’t be switching between modes, it would be switching between tools.
There is already a paint/erase mode toggle switch, the ‘E’ key, which can be used to force a painting brush preset to paint with Eraser blending mode.
The disadvantage of that is that if you’re using a heavily textured painting brush then you get a heavily textured eraser which is often not what people want at the time.
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