Shapebuilder and Eraser tools - Handy tips

[angelize]

Up in the Xara Xone a discussion cropped up that started us talking about the eraser tool. So I thought I'd get a thread going here where everyone can share tips and tricks regarding the eraser and the shapebuilder as well

The eraser tool is available in Designer Pro X, and Photo & Graphic Designer 2013 And the Shapebuilder is available in Designer Pro X

To start things off here are a couple of handy tips:

You can force the eraser to produce an opacity mask and non destructively edit vector shapes in two ways. 1. set some softness or 2. group your vector object with it's self.

You can use the H key to toggle the node view on and off

If you have Designer Pro X the shift key toggles between the shape builder and eraser tool for handy editing.

[BeanPole]

angelize,

The H key doesn't work for me to toggle the node view on and off.

Is there any way I can set up a shortcut key for this, or do this manually (through menus) to toggle the node view on and off?

[BeanPole]

angelize,

Once I used the eraser tool to erase part of a shape, and it erased the line. In other words the object had a line around it except where I had erased.

Once I used the eraser tool to erase part of a shape and the line was adjusted to outline the new altered shape.

Is there a way I can choose the line to remain or be erased? Not sure what I did differently each time.

[Fred C]

Hi BeanPole,
Check out the Help file for "Eraser tool" It explains what you're seeing.
Cheers,

[BeanPole]

Thanks Fred, I will check it out.

[angelize]

Hi Beanpole, as I mentioned in my first post the eraser tool works in two different ways. When you erased the line the eraser must have been set to have some softness or the object was grouped this makes the tool apply an opacity mask. Think of it as a hard erase and a soft erase. a hard erase cuts or moves nodes and a soft erase masks.

Some types of complex objects like blends or groups can only be soft erased.

The H key only toggles the nodes view if you have either the eraser tool or the shapebuilder tool selected and it only works with the eraser if you are doing a hard erase.

[BeanPole]

Thank you angelize

That does clear it up for me!

[angelize]

Here is another Shapebuilder/eraser tip for Designer Pro X users. The shapebuilder can be very handy for masking photos. Like all of Xara's drawing tools it can draw on the mask layer but if you hold shift while using it to toggle the eraser you can easily subtract from the mask! Softness settings give you a soft mask, combine this with a graphics tablet and turn on the pressure sensitivity and you can quite easily draw complex masks.

[Fred C]

Another Shapebuilder/eraser tip for Designer Pro X users: Both tools are Zoom dependent. You can zoom way in to draw / erase fine details. Choose (menu) Window>New View to open a new view (or more), then Window>Arrange Views. With the windows/views at different zoom levels you can see your changes in all views. Use Control+Tab to switch views and work in the current one.

[ad1066]

Another Shapebuilder/eraser tip for Designer Pro X users: Both tools are Zoom dependent. You can zoom way in to draw / erase fine details.

This is probably the one aspect of the Shapebuilder/Eraser tool that I find most useful. I can choose the curser size, and then just zoom in and out for the level of detail I need. Makes coloring behind my line art much easier than it would be in Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop.

-- Ben