Eraser Tool (E)

The Eraser tool in its simplest form will erase pixels from an image and change the pixels to the current background colour, providing it's a background image or a layer with the transparency locked. A Layer with the transparency unlocked will erase to transparency.

To restore the erased parts to their original state, select the Erase to History button on the Options Bar and re apply the eraser to the areas to be restored.

A quick way to restore an accidental brush stroke or a series of strokes is to hold down the Alt key and then re erase that section, the Eraser tool acts as if it were erasing to history. (You can choose any history state, by clicking on the left column in the history palette).

The Background Eraser Tool allows you to Erase selected colours. On the Options Bar set the Limits to Contiguous, chose a tolerance and set the Sampling to Once. Click on a colour to be removed and brush it out. If you lift your brush then the next area you click becomes the selected colour to be erased. The Background Eraser is a useful tool for making complex cut-outs.

The Magic Eraser Tool works in the same way as the Magic Wand, Click on a colour and all similar colours in the image will be erased. Set the tolerance to a high level to remove more areas - 100% will erase most of the image, start with a low tolerance and increase to suit the image. Select the Contiguous button and only joining areas of similar colour are erased. The Magic Eraser can leave harsh edges, it is best used on large areas of colour and then fine tune the edges with the Background Eraser Tool.

To quickly switch between Eraser Tools, hold down the Shift key and press the letter "E". The tools rotate in sequence on each press of the letter key.