Eraser Tool not 100%

[Ken Veal]

I have opacity and density set to 100% but the eraser tool is not erasing
everything, leaves bits here and there, what I am doing wrong or not doing in PSPo X ..................................Ken

[skier-hughes]

I use photoshop, but assuming it may be the same principle.
If you have layers and some items are on a different layer then the eraser will only erase what is on the selected layer.

If not, I'll leave it to those who use the app to give further advice

[Ken Veal]

No layers, just a base image where I am trying to have only a person showing and erase the background

[skier-hughes]

In which case I'm out of ideas, sorry.

Although, can you go back to these items and erase them, or are they just not erasible at all?

I wonder if the eraser has a fade on it so the very innner erases, but gradually towards the outer circle it reduces???

How about drawing round the person, then selecting the inverse, so al except the person is selected and then make super large eraser and merrily rub everything out? Works this way in PS, so I'm just guessing here, but that's how I'd do it.

[Ron P.]

You might try setting the Hardness and Tolerance settings up. I think by default the Tolerance is set to Auto Tolerance, which you can shut-off by unchecking the box beside it in the toolbar.

Also check the Steps settings, to see if it is set to a larger number, if so, change it to 1. Holding down the Backspace key while dragging will give a complete erase.

[Ken Veal]

Have now got settings 0f 100% for hardness,and opacity.
Step to 1
Cant find Tolerance !
What I had previously got was a white background around the person
after erasing background , this had lots of grey bits in it.
How do I change the background colour?
I will try again and report back in the meantime I really would like to change the coloue too .......................Ken

[Tim Morrison]

Open the Brush Variance palette - View > Palettes > Brush Variance. Make sure that all the settings are at "Normal" and that "Position Jitter" is set to zero.
Which version of PSP are you using? In PSP 9 and earlier, when you use the Eraser on a background layer, you will actually be painting with the Background Material. You will need to promote the background layer to erase to transparency. (This happens automatically in PSP X and later).
Are you using just the Eraser Tool, or is it actually the Background Eraser? (The Background Eraser might be better for the job that you're doing).

[Ken Veal]

Went to
View-Palettes-Brush Variance.
On the right in P S Pro X under brush variance(+ with image in main window) Fade rate+ Position Jitter+Impression per step were all greyed out but set to zero.Scale box unchecked.
Have been using the eraser tool- what are the basic differences for using this and the background eraser, will the BG eraser only apply to one colour. ...............Ken

[Tim Morrison]

ended up with two copies of the post. I can edit the second copy, but can't work out how to delete it.

[Tim Morrison]

Have been using the eraser tool- what are the basic differences for using this and the background eraser, will the BG eraser only apply to one colour.

See http://www.campratty.com/4tooltours/kz/bge1.html for a full explanation.
When using the Background Eraser (BGE), you will see a crosshair cursor in the centre of a circle. You use it by keeping the crosshairs over the background that you want to erase and the circle over the edge that you want to erase up to. It constantly updates itself with the colour under the cursor, so it can be used when there are multiple background colours.
It has several advantages over the normal eraser for this purpose. It finds the edge automatically, so it doesn't need the drawing accuracy that the normal eraser requires. On an edge there are a few pixels that are a blend of the colours of the background and the foreground object. With the normal eraser, you would erase up to this edge, but when you paste the object on a new background, you will see a ring of the old background colour. The BGE performs colour unmixing on this edge... removes the background colour from this fringe area and only leaves the foreground colour with varying degrees of transparency. Once the object is placed on the new background, the new colour shows through this edge and gives a far more realistic blend.
The BGE generally works very well, except when the background and foreground colours are very similar, or the background contains a fine pattern.

[Ken Veal]

Thanks men, just the sort of replies a novice hopes to get.............Ken