Adobe PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS Manual page 149

parency, the pixels change to the background
color; otherwise, the pixels are erased to trans-
parency. You can choose to erase contiguous pixels
only or all similar pixels on the current layer.
Erasing similar pixels
To use the magic eraser tool:
Select the magic eraser tool ( ).
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Enter a tolerance value. This defines the range
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of colors that can be erased. A low tolerance erases
pixels within a range of color values very similar to
the pixel you click. A high tolerance erases pixels
within a broader range.
Select Anti-aliased to smooth the edges of the
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area you erase.
Select Contiguous to erase only pixels
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contiguous to the one you click, or leave
unselected to erase all similar pixels in the image.
Select Use All Layers to sample the erased color
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using combined data from all visible layers.
Specify an opacity to define the strength of the
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erasure. An opacity of 100% erases pixels to
complete transparency. A lower opacity erases
pixels to partial transparency.
Click in the part of the layer you want to erase.
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ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS
Using the background eraser tool
The background eraser tool lets you erase pixels on
a layer to transparency as you drag; this allows you
to erase the background while maintaining the
edges of an object in the foreground. The
background eraser samples the color in the center
of the brush, also called the hotspot, and deletes
that color wherever it appears inside the brush. It
also performs color extraction at the edges of any
foreground objects, so that color halos are not
visible if the foreground object is later pasted into
another image.
Note: The background eraser overrides the lock
transparency setting of a layer.
To use the background eraser tool:
1 In the Layers palette, select the layer containing
the areas you want to erase.
2 Select the background eraser tool (
3 Choose a brush size from the pop-up palette in
the options bar. To learn more about using pop-up
palettes, see "Using pop-up palettes" on page 35.
If a brush is too large to fit in the palette, it appears
as a smaller brush with a number indicating the
actual diameter in pixels.
Choose a Limits mode for erasing:
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• Discontiguous to erase the sampled color
wherever it occurs under the brush.
• Contiguous to erase areas that contain the
sampled color and are connected to one another.
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User Guide
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