Erasing

Affinity Photo lets you erase areas of a layer using a combination of the Erase Brush Tool, the Brushes Studio and the tool's context toolbar. Alternatively, you can use Background Erase to remove pixels from a layer.

Erase Brush example Background Erase example
Use of Erase Brush and Background Erase tools.

Erasing on a layer

You can use the Erase Brush to erase unwanted pixels directly on the layer using the same principles as the Paint Brush Tool.

Background Erase takes a sample of the colour under the cursor when you begin to erase, and will remove all closely matching colours directly under the brush stroke.

Erasing on a vector layer

As pixels don't exist on a vector layer, a pixel mask is created and applied over the vector layer instead; both vector and pixel layers can be edited using the respective vector tools and layer masking.

Erase Brush Tool To erase on a pixel layer:
  1. From the Layers Studio, select a pixel layer.
  2. From the Photo Persona, select the Erase Brush.
  3. From the Brushes Studio, select a brush of your choice.
  4. Adjust the context toolbar settings.
  5. Drag on the page in the direction that you want the erase brush stroke to follow.
Background Erase To use Background Erase:
Flood Erase Tool To use the Flood Erase Tool:
  1. From the Layers Studio, select a pixel layer.
  2. Select the Flood Fill Tool and change the Mode to Erase.
  3. Adjust the context toolbar's Tolerance setting to control the extent of flood erasing across pixels. Experimenting will produce labour saving results.
  4. Tap on the image to select the target pixel.
Erase Brush Tool To erase on a vector layer:
  1. From the Layers Studio, select the vector layer.
  2. From the Photo Persona, select the Erase Brush Tool from the Brushes pop-up menu.
  3. Paint over the vector layer content to erase.

in the Layers Studio, you'll notice a white triangular tab appear in the top right corner of the layer entry. Tap this tab to reveal the mask for the layer.

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