It's been mentioned umpteen times on TG - people wanting an eraser tool for Xara. It's usually followed by an "explanation" of why Xara doesn't have it - usually a mixture of "erasers are for bitmaps", "this is the way we do it with Xara/vectors" and "vector software can't do this", "don't expect xara software to work like other software, work with the flow" or variations thereof.

I've never really seen the big deal about an eraser tool - after all we can juggle points around and get the same effect - right?

It's also tempting and convenient to consider that vector software can't do erasers. Well vector software is generating bitmaps for display continually from vector information and it's a fallacy and disservice to suggest that it's beyond vector tool developers to build an eraser that works with vectors.

But we don't really need new drawing tools, right? And neither would an eraser tool improve the productivity when drawing - it's only for sloppy people who are used to bitmap software - we all know that.

Today I saw a video of a guy using non-Xara software. I don't care if it's bitmap based or vector based, but the workflow blew me away - I have never seen anyone work in this manner before.

At first, I thought "Wow - this guy is working fast!", then I considered, yep he's a talented artist, then he started colouring in his B&W line artwork and man he was fast and the inking speed is spectacular.

Watching him working, he splashes on colour with complete abandon; color goes over lines, it's really fast and a bit messy. Then he switches to the eraser tool and just swipes back over the excess colour removing it wherever it's gone further than intended.

This is a stunningly fast, organic workflow and it's only possible with the use of an eraser tool (combined with layers).

I'm not a real artist in any shape or form, but for me this video shows why an eraser tool should be in Xara and why layers are important (so the eraser only wipes what you want it to wipe). The drawing tablet is pretty cool too..

I'm afraid the video blew me away and Xara, you should take notice.

Paul

Oh, you might want to look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJk0S...ature=youtu.be ;-)