How do you erase to black and other non white colors in SA?

[Rondan]

How do you erase to black and other non white colors in SA? For portrait work I would like to be able to use a low opacity brush and bring a portrait through a black (or other non white background). If I bring back more of the underlying image, than I want ; I am looking for the ability to erase to black or the other background color.

[Rondan]

To be clear I want to use my Wacom pen to do the erasing-not the erase button!

[liveart]

do you have the "toolbox" set of presets installed? In there exists a "black out," "white out" and "a bring the background layer up to the current layer brush" along with a great deal of other useful tools.

If not you will need to create brush that in paint fill set up has these settings Fill from : Black //Fill to: Canvas Image// Fill option : blend or blend+src brush make other modulations as you feel you might want. For example you might try different settings in the Paint Fill Apply menu, the basic being replace.

When you have the eraser setting that you want store it in the eraser paint memory. The eraser paint memory button is or should be at the lower left of screen in the Paint Patch memories sub panel. It is the one with the red E. As usual option click to store. One can actually store any preset in there so it can do as you would like and erase to a color or even be a "melter" or redraw button.. it's up to you.

[Synthetik]

If you look at the Default : Erasers : A Simple Eraser preset, it erases to white. To edit this preset to erase to a different solid color, do the following. Open the preset, then go to the Paint Fill Setup control panel in the paint synthesizer. Note that the Fill From option is set to White. Change it to Fixed Color 1.

The goto the Fixed Color control panel in the paint synthesizer. Change the Fixed Color 1 Color Source to Fixed. In 3.5 or previous versions you can then option click the Fixed Color 1 memory button that appeared when you changed the Color Source to Fixed. Your current source color will be recorded into the fixed color 1 memory button.

In v4 you would use the 'Edit : Paint Synthesizer : Fixed Color 1 : Record' menu to record the current source color as the static fixed color 1 (there is not color memory button in the Fixed Color control panel in the Editor in v4).

So it's pretty easy to edit any of the eraser presets that erase to white to erase to a different solid color. Export your modified eraser preset when done.

To make your new eraser preset the default eraser used when you turn the wacom pen over, in 3.5 or previous version you would first open the secondary control panel (bottom left side, adjust the popup to bring up the patch Edit Memories) while in paint synthesizer operation mode. Make sure your custom eraser preset is the current loaded preset, then option click the eraser memory button, which is the one on the right side with the E icon in the button.

In v4 you would load your custom eraser preset as the current preset, then run the 'Edit : Paint Synthesizer : Pen Eraser : Record' menu.

[Rondan]

Thanks for the above replies.

Quickly reading the replies makes me think I may not have framed the question correctly.

What I really want to do is pick the canvas color for example red or black or yellow and regardless of the preset I am in, be able to erase to the underlying canvas color (not white) with my Wacom pen.

[Synthetik]

What we described above only changes the eraser preset used, not what preset you are using when working. You initially setup an eraser preset for your canvas color, then record that into the Pen Eraser memory button. At that point it's associated with the wacom eraser tip and you can forget about it and just work.

So it seems like regardless of what preset you are using, you can erase to the underlying canvas color with the wacom pen.

Am i misinterpreting your question?

[Rondan]

Thanks John. That worked fine. I figured there was a way to do it in SA 3.5.

Would you consider setting up a canvas color dialog box which would accomplish the same thing in one step i.e. plug in the canvas color and it automatically erases to the background color chosen?

[liveart]

I attach a Paseq that will erase to the background layer.

It is a bit different Idea. But it will work like this.. create a layer. color it any way you want, re-name it from layer 1 to Background. Then set your eraser to the Paseq I am attaching.

Open a new layer and work as you would normally.

Now you can have any color in your "background" that you want and can even change the background color at any time and the eraser will erase to that color. Just remember that this layer must but in the first position for the "eraser" to work.

erase to background-.zip

[Rondan]

Thanks for the preset liveart .That also seems to work fine.

[Dee Flouton]

Yes, it's cool and easy to use. Thanks for sharing.

[liveart]

I understood your question to ask how to set up SA so that the eraser side of the pen on working on a wacom tablet has a particular behavior. (erase to a color)

That is the question answered by both my and JD's replies. John was as usual more thorough in his answer. I presumed that when I described how to make a preset you would know that you should save it. John correctly includes this step. The real KEY to what you are asking is to set the Eraser memory button to the (erasing) preset of your choice/making. SA is WACOM eraser aware. SA "knows" that when the eraser is on the tablet it should switch behaviors to the preset recorded in the eraser button.

I am curious which presets are you describing as low opacity brushes?