Photoshop Eraser Tool
Photoshop's eraser tool can be found in the second group of icons in the toolbox. It has three
variations: Eraser, Background Eraser and Magic Eraser.
The eraser is basically a brush which erases pixels as you drag it across the image. Pixels are
erased to transparency, or the background colour if the layer is locked.
When you select the eraser tool, you have various options available in the toolbar:
Brush: Options include the size of the eraser, hardness of edges and various styles. Brush
options are not available in block mode.
Mode: There are three options: brush (soft edges), pencil (hard edges) and block (square brush
size).
Opacity: 100% opacity erases pixels completely, 0% does not erase at all. 50% is semi-
transparent (or coloured). Opacity is not available in block mode.
Flow: Determines how quickly the erasure is applied by the brush. Lower settings produce a
more subtle effect. Only available in brush mode.
Airbrush: Use the eraser as an airbrush. Only available in brush mode.
Erase to History: Erases to a saved state or snapshot of the image. To use this feature, click the
left column in the history palette next to the desired state.
Background Eraser Tool
The background eraser tool allows you to remove the background colour from an image or layer.
When you click the image, the eraser samples the colour at the centre of the brush and erases this
colour as you drag. Options in the toolbar allow you to specify the type of erasure, colour
tolerance and sampling method.
Magic Eraser Tool
The magic eraser tool erases all colours within a set tolerance. This is essentially the same as
using the magic wand and hitting Delete. Using this tool you don't need to drag — just click
once.
Gradient tool
The gradient tool can be used to draw linear, radial, angular, reflected or diamond gradients. To
use the gradient tool go to the Options bar and click on the gradient ramp (see Figure 1) to select
a gradient option such as Foreground to Background color, or click on the small arrow to the
right to open the gradient list (see Figure 2). When you drag with the gradient tool inside an
image window, a gradient fill is created between those two points. If you hold down the Shift
key as you do this, you can constrain the gradient angle to a horizontal/vertical or 45 degree
angle. If you check the Reverse box you can reverse the gradient fill colors before you drag.
Noise gradients
The Gradient Editor also has a Noise gradient editing mode which you can select by mousing
down on the Gradient Type section and selecting ‘Noise’. Noise gradients are based on a random
distribution of colors between a specified color range, but note that any settings made in the
Solid Gradient Editor will have no bearing on the appearance of the noise gradient.
The Roughness amount determines the smoothness of a noise gradient and the Color model
settings allow you to edit the range of colors used. One of the best ways to experiment with this
feature is to click on the Randomize button and adjust the settings from there. Noise gradient
settings can also be saved the same way as you can with solid gradients.
Paint Bucket tool
The Paint Bucket tool fills adjacent pixels that are similar in color value to the pixels you click.
The Paint Bucket tool is grouped with the Gradient tool in the toolbar. If you can’t find the Paint
Bucket tool, click and hold the Gradient tool to access it. You can fill the inside of a selection,
path, or layer with a color or pattern. You can also add color to the outline of a selection or path,
called stroking.
3D Material Drop Tool
Material editing and enhancing process is much easier currently with the 3D Material Drop Tool
in the 3D panel. With the 3D Material Drop tool, Alt-click (mac: Option-click) a material to load
it then click anywhere to drop it to one more part of your model, another 3D mesh, or one more
3D layer. Make use of the 3D Select Product tool to help target the right material as suggested by
the material picker thumbnail in the 3D panel.
