Hey i just wanna discuss this really short, even though i know some people here might be very defensive of the eraser blend mode I hope everyone here is still up for some
conversation.

To make it short, the problem is this:

Eraser is a toggle, not even an indicator on the cursor.

This, to many, might not sound like a big deal. And many would say it is not. But it is.
You could make an indicator, sure, but that would not resolve the problem.
I press the hotkey for brush and I'm on my brush.
I press the hotkey for another tool (like moving stuff around).
I press the hotkey for Eraser mode, and I do NOT have an eraser.
Also i come back to the brush and have no clue, if I'm erasing or not.
And if don't want to use the brush as an eraser, but another eraser, I will use the "toggle between last preset" function for example.
Now i have 2 toggles ( !!!) and no indication what my brush is doing without checking the UI.
To work fluently and distraction free i find it crucial to know that I press 1 Button and i am using 1 tool/function.
Also on a side note: When i use the back of my Pen... what "tool" is being used ?? the "No-we-don't-have-an-eraser-tool-tool-that-you-cant-access" ?
Seriously. Keep the blend mode and make a cursor indicator PLUS add an eraser tool.
Also i have read many people writing about wanting to have an Eraser tool for a multitude of reasons.
I sincerely have the feeling it is just not being done because devs want to keep this "oddity" of the eraser mode.
And I'm not saying the Eraser mode is bad. I am just telling you, that beside the eraser mode, there HAS to be an eraser tool for the sake of having a simple and effective workflow.


Tank you for reading.

P.s.: this is what happens to me all the time:

- Be brushing
- Press hotkey for "eraser"
- Oh thats not the eraser I want
- Press switch presets to be on the Eraser I want
- Press Brush to go back to the brush
- Oh no I am still erasing....

2 times i press a hotkey and i am literally not on the tool that i want..... How hard can it be to access 1 BRUSH and 1 ERASER !!!!!!!!!!??????

I mean seriously, at any time both hotkeys for eraser and brush can do the exact opposite. This is utter ****. Sorry, but thats what it is. ****.

Krita 4.0 bundles a python plugin called "ten brushes", it allows you to select a set of 10 presets, and the possibility to map each of those to a unique keyboard shortcut(by default they're set to ctrl+alt+[1-0], but you can easily decide one should be on E instead of the eraser mode toggle).

The problem isn't that there's some technical limitation, it's just that we were always worried that people would want to map more presets than just one to a key and we could never figure out the proper gui for this. As a python script, people aren't necessarily dependant on us, the C++ devs, to extend that type of functionality(and, you can use it as a reference for your own set of brush switching actions).

aaronamadeus wrote:...I mean seriously, at any time both hotkeys for eraser and brush can do the exact opposite. This is utter ****. Sorry, but thats what it is. ****.

I'm afraid is not, this feature is not utter ****, this is called frustration due to automated reaction routines, you may call this "bs" if you want, but that's what it is, you (as I was, and many other were and will be) are simply used to different programs, if all programs would work the same, well, there wouldn't be the need to make them to begin with.

The simple "solution" is coming as Wolthera mentioned, if you must erase with a single on only one eraser that is, but please take in account, there is no solution to this because is not a problem, I would rather invite you to explore the benefit of having erasing mode, you must be new to Krita, I understand that, the brush system is not your typical, and is not a developers "wimp" as you mentioned, is "the" killing feature of Krita as some seasoned Artist has called.

Any way, welcome to the club, if you give it a chance rather than fight it, you will see that the system can be a very good asset to have, and please don't assume developers don't do things because they don't want to, this is a non for profit organization product, build by many volunteers who gave the time for free.

I also extend the invitation to join the Krita communities like the facebook and Google plus, you may find very good tips to make the most out of your painting with this program.

Quiralta wrote:I would rather invite you to explore the benefit of having erasing mode

I'm currently experiencing the same frustration as aaronamadeus.
Could you tell me the benefit?

If no one liked the current E toggle, it would have been changed a long time ago. There are a lot of people that say the "E toggle" is a superior design to a dedicated eraser tool, so it is making it much more difficult to change. People want it to work two fundamentally different ways. This is the primary reasons that the eraser is still not a dedicated tool. This is the functionality that making it a toggle creates...

#1. Erasing works with multiple tools. No other program has this functionality so it is confusing for people that come from programs like Photoshop. Erasing works with more than just the freehand brush tool. Erasing works with other tools: gradients, patterns, and all the shape tools like rectangle, ellipse, etc. Making the eraser a "tool" will destroy all that functionality.

#2 Some people like to toggle between erasing and drawing very quickly. They like to toggle with the same key, not wanting to press different keys. They don't want to use one key for drawing, and another shortcut key for erasing. It is about convenience and speed for some people.

The biggest con that people in the "eraser tool camp" have is that your brush and eraser are tied to the same preset. Going from the transform tool to an eraser is impossible. With the Python Ten Brushes plugin you can assign specific brush presets (or erasers) to specific keys to get around this. I doubt this will be good enough for those people though. I am sure it is possible that a python plugin could be created to have a simple dedicated eraser like some people want.

Removing functionality is almost impossible to do with applications...which is why it has remained the toggle.

Thanks, was wondering whether any would benefit me before I change things.
But 95% of the time I'm using the brush and eraser, so for the times I use those other tools it is no problem for me to activate eraser mode through the toolbar.
And when I'm in the flow of things it is just too hard to track state.

So here is a little script for the people that feel the same:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/sotzc2keo ... Plugin.zip

It creates two new actions that allow you to select the brush in eraser mode or the brush without eraser mode, no toggling, no switching to the brush first.
To install dump the "krita" folder from the zip in the same folder as your krita resources folder, they should fuse.
On Windows that's: "C:\Users\<USER_NAME>\AppData\Roaming\".
Restart Krita and bind the new actions "Direct Eraser" and "Direct Brush".

I haven't worked with it yet, but it seems to satisfy me so far.

JoannesJ wrote:I'm currently experiencing the same frustration as aaronamadeus.
Could you tell me the benefit?

Why the attitude @JoannesJ ? Did I sold you the program? or the advice? Did I build your pc, sold you the tablet or the OS you use?
Please don't use this forums for rants, if you don't like what people comment you are free not to read and/or to leave.
The original post mentioned an issue and I simply commented back, whether you take it personally or not is your own problem not mine.

I'm always open to genuine dialog, not to sarcasm.

Quiralta, you are heavily projecting, if there is anyone ranting it seems to be you.
I'm new so I'm trying to figure out my workflow within Krita.
So if I find a feature that is counter intuitive to me, I look up why this feature was designed this way.
So when you mention there are benefits to this design, I would like to know.

How you manage to read so much into me asking for clarification, is beyond me.

Just registered here to agree with OP.
Actually this alpha-brush eraser feature is a nice thing, but here is a case:
You use complex brush with opacity, mask, sizing, texture, etc. You want to clear some of your strokes, but its actually pretty hard to do it with alpha version of current brush, cause it require a lot of moves to erase with textured shape. Try to erase something with "watercolor texture" in 4.0.
Sure you can switch to regular circle brush, but calling brush menu and finding brush/switching back is a lot longer then just pressing one button.

Another case:
Line art. Its hard to refine you strokes via switching to alpha if you use pressure-size sensitive brush. For example if you want to make line thinner, you need basic erasing circle without any pressure sensitivity, because its a lot easier to cut some line-weight when your circle size is solid.

Possible solution:
Opensoure for me is all about having an option.
Krita's brush engine already have some options on similar cases: https://i.imgur.com/YODhqKR.png
So it would be cool if there were an options to disable some brush settings for eraser. (Like pressure sensitivity, texture, and shape)

Second solution (more intuitive) is just adding regular eraser tool, with brush presets, or at least basic circle/rectangle things, and a hotkey for them, like "e" for alpha brush and "shift+e" for regular eraser.

Open source is not all about choice: open source is about having the opportunity to change the code. If you feel any of these things are needed, you need to get the code from https://phabricator.kde.org/source/krita/ and start implementing.

Whether or not a patch would be accepted into Krita is another thing, but people can always maintain a fork.

I have to admit that at one point I was ready to add another freehand brush tool that would only accept eraser presets just to get rid of the pressure, but then... That would be another case where pressure from people who want to turn Krita into a clone of other applications would have succeeded, and _every single time_ I've given in to that pressure, I've regretted it.

I am kinda lost why just configuring the ten brushes plugin properly is not a solution... I mean yeah, it has a typo error in 4.0, but that was caused by boudewijn trying to fix a different bug, we'll be doing a bugfix release soon with these kind of fixes.

Ten Brushes is definitely an option, where you set it up with your primary brush and eraser each session.
I imagine it requires a bit more discipline, especially if you are still becoming familiar with the brushes.
But I'm going to try it out.

Btw, just found out you can right-click a lot of the toolbar menubar options to set a shortcut, really nice!
So even though you can't bind the Ten Brushes window from in the settings menu, you can right-click it in the toolbar menubar.

JoannesJ wrote:Ten Brushes is definitely an option, where you set it up with your primary brush and eraser each session.

Huh, it's not remembering over sessions for you? It keeps remembering the brushes over different sessions here on Linux. O_O

It does remember over session, I was just being unclear
What I meant was setting up Ten Brushes whenever you need a different style/technique.
Your primary brush/eraser will likely be different depending on whether you are going to do sketches, speedpainting, inking, etc.

Hito wrote:Just registered here to agree with OP.
Actually this alpha-brush eraser feature is a nice thing, but here is a case:
You use complex brush with opacity, mask, sizing, texture, etc. You want to clear some of your strokes, but its actually pretty hard to do it with alpha version of current brush, cause it require a lot of moves to erase with textured shape. Try to erase something with "watercolor texture" in 4.0.
Sure you can switch to regular circle brush, but calling brush menu and finding brush/switching back is a lot longer then just pressing one button.

Another case:
Line art. Its hard to refine you strokes via switching to alpha if you use pressure-size sensitive brush. For example if you want to make line thinner, you need basic erasing circle without any pressure sensitivity, because its a lot easier to cut some line-weight when your circle size is solid.

Possible solution:
Opensoure for me is all about having an option.
Krita's brush engine already have some options on similar cases: https://i.imgur.com/YODhqKR.png
So it would be cool if there were an options to disable some brush settings for eraser. (Like pressure sensitivity, texture, and shape)

Second solution (more intuitive) is just adding regular eraser tool, with brush presets, or at least basic circle/rectangle things, and a hotkey for them, like "e" for alpha brush and "shift+e" for regular eraser.

Couldn't agree more.
I also registered because I had (and still have) some problems with the eraser.
I can see the advantages of being able to use every brush in erase mode, sure.
But maybe we should talk more about how we'd use the eraser tool.

Personally I have the exact same use case as you, erasing linework.
I want to be able to quickly select an eraser that has no texture or other fancy stuff. I just need to erase a few lines.
And the easiest way to do that is by having an circular eraser, 50% hardness, and with approximately 1.2-4x the size of the current brush.

"Ten brushes" is working ok for this, but unfortunately there's no way to revert to the previous brush again when the key is released again... (like the eraser works in photoshop).

As you can imagine sometimes having to press a button is already too much.
How would you feel if there'd be no SHIFT key, but just caps lock, and you'd have to toggle it on and off every time.
Maybe you'd think it wouldn't be too bad for normal English sentences, but pretty soon you'll realize that you might want to type symbols other than capital letters (symbols)...

What I mean to say is, there's a reason why some things are only reachable by clicking through menus, and others are optimized for speed through hotkeys.
And even hotkeys have different stages. There are things like CTRL+ALT+DEL, there's CTRL+S which is one button shorter and easier to press, and then there's something like "E" for eraser mode which is even faster... because its used more often than for example CTRL+S.

Has anyone in the past tried to just make a poll, to see if it might be worth it to optimize more here?
Nobody wants to remove the current way of doing things, but adding a way for people coming from other programs to get the same sort of workflow they're used to could have some real benefits.

Seeing as this was debated "time and time again" then maybe there's a reason for that.
I wonder how many people got turned away from this awesome program/project by little things like that...


Side rant:
I tried out Krita and I liked it a lot. The idea of having a distinction between "application tools" like draw/line/ellipse and "brushes" is cool.
The way you can more easily edit alpha channels, even normal map painting (wow!)....
But even if there were 20x as many awesome features, it simply won't help when there are basic things blocking people.