Erasing Fills and Contours
After you go through considerable trouble applying contour lines and their corresponding fills, at some point you may want to remove elements or modify shapes by removing portions of the presentation. The Eraser tool operates in several modes, discussed next, with options appearing on the main toolbar.
Modifying Shapes with the Eraser Tool
If you are having a really bad day and you want to simply wipe out everything on the stage, you can delete everything by double-clicking the Eraser tool in the main toolbar. Luckily, an undo quickly reverses that brief flash of insanity.
The Eraser tool includes the following modes when it's selected. These modes change the way the Eraser normally behaves:
NormalThis is the normal operating mode for the eraser, letting you remove any fill or stroke in the active layer.
Erase FillsAs you run the Eraser across the stage in this mode, only fills are deleted. No stroke lines are removed.
Erase Selected FillsThis mode operates the same as the previous one, except it erases only fills that previously were selected. Again, it will not affect strokesselected or not.
Erase InsideThis option removes fills only from the shape you begin running the eraser through. Other shapes on the stage are not affected, and, if you don't start inside a shape, nothing is erased.
In addition, the shape of the Eraser tool can be modified. Click the drop-down menu options at the bottom of the main toolbar when the Eraser tool is engaged to select various circle or square sizes for the eraser head.
Eliminating Shapes with the Faucet Tool
The Faucet option of the Eraser tool acts as a kind of one-click delete function, taking out entire filled areas or stroked lines and curves. To put the Eraser in this mode, first click the Eraser tool, and then click the Faucet icon in the options area below the Eraser. The Eraser stays in this mode until you turn off the Faucet or select another tool. To use the Faucet tool on thin stroke lines, hold the water drop over the line and click.
The Faucet does eliminate the area you click, but only as far as the first intersection or break in the area. For intersecting lines and strokes, you might have to click a few times to wipe out the desired area.