The Object Paint Eraser tool lets you erase any unwanted parts from an object. You could erase just around the edges, in the middle or virtally anywhere on the object. When you click on the Eraser Icon on the tool bar and select the Object Paint eraser, the attribute bar will change to show the options above. Let's go over them briefly.

• Shape - the width of the eraser. Change to suit your needs.
• Trans - Transparency value. 0 = no transparency.
• Soft Edge - Gradually fades the edges of the object.
• Freehand - erases freely anywhere on the object.
• Straight Lines - Adjust Shape to width of line to be erased. Click starting point, click ending point. This erases everything between the two points. Hold down shift key before placing the second point to get various angles.
• Connected Lines - Adjust Shape width, Click starting point, click next point, click next ending point, etc. Double-click to end. Everything under the lines will be erased.
• Toggle Pen/Eraser - Lets you paint back what you have erased.
• Trim - Erasing part of an image does not change the size of the bounding box. Trim causes the bounding box to be resized to fit the adjusted image size. After using Trim, you can no longer use the Toggle Pen/Eraser to recover something you erased.

The samples below show the results of using the various tools when using the Object Paint Eraser tool.

Exercise

Now that we know what the Object Paint Eraser tool does, let's give it a try. Open PhotoImpact. Right-click the Tool Tyme logo sample on the right and save to your hard drive. Open the image in PhotoImpact. On the menu, click Selection and make sure Preserve Base Image is NOT checked. If you don't do this, you will erase and erase and nothing will happen. We will erase the hammer and nails but first we must convert the image to an object since this is an object eraser. Right-click on the image, select All, Right-click again and select Convert to Object. Click on the Eraser, Object Paint Eraser tool. Set the attributes as shown below:

Carefully, erase the word sample, the hammer and nails completely. If the eraser is too large or too small, feel free to change the size. You should end up with a nice clean area inside of the circle. The selection lines are not part of the image, they show the area you erased. Oops! We really didn't want to erase those nails! No problem, we can get them back. While the selection lines are still visible, Click on the Toggle Pen/Eraser button on the attribute bar and erase the area where the nails were. This will "un-erase" them. If you un-erase too much, just click the Toggle Pen/Eraser button again and erase the excess. Once you are satisfied with your work, right-click and select Merge All to finish this project. This will remove the selection lines as well. Note: The Unerase feature will not work if you have your "undo's" in the General Preferences turned off.

THE OBJECT MAGIC ERASER

The Object Magic Eraser tool allows you to eliminate all of a given color from the object with a single mouse click. When you click on the Eraser Icon on the tool bar and select the Object Magic Eraser tool, the attribute bar will change to show the options above. Let's go over them briefly.

• Select by Line - Dragging a line across an area will erase all pixels in the image that match those that touch the line depending on similarity.
• Select by Area- Drag the mouse across an area and all pixels in the image that are within the area you drew will be erased depending on similarity.
• Transparency- Transparency value. 0 = no transparency.
• Range of Colors to Erase- Pixels equal to or less than the range value specified will be erased.
• Search connected pixels- Will delete only connected pixels using either selection mode.
• Anti-aliasing- When selected, makes the lines around the image smoother.

The samples below show the results of using the various tools when using the Magic eraser on object.

Select by Line, Range of colors 15, Search connected pixels. Dragged line across dress - one pass.

Select by Line, Range of colors 15. Dragged line across dress - one pass.

Clicked on picture in different areas, Range of colors 15, Search connected pixels. Four clicks removed all the missing pixels.

Exercise

Now that we know what the Object Magic Eraser tool does, let's give it a try.

Save the sample image on the right to your hard drive and open the image in PhotoImpact. Make sure your background color is set to white. On the menu, click Selection and make sure Preserve Base Image is NOT checked. We will attempt to remove some of the background on this image but first we must convert it to an image object. Right-click on the image, select All, Right-click again and select Convert to Object. On the menu Click on the Eraser, Object Magic Eraser tool. Set the attributes as shown below:

Using the eraser tool, click once in the upper left corner of the picture and just like magic, the entire background will disappear. There may be a few unwanted pixels that can easily be removed using the Object Paint Eraser tool. You now have a new object that you can save as a .ufo. You can use it at another time on a different background or as part of another image. Note: To fill the background, make sure your object is not selected (click anywhere in the image to un-select). If this is a Beginners Workshop project, add a background using a solid color of your choice, otherwise double-click on any fill pattern in the Easy Palette to add a background.

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Copyright© MaryLou White.
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