Hello all.

I'm pretty new to Inkscape. I've tried it a few times over the years, but usually just to dabble. Recently I've decided to take up an old hobby - producing a web comic. My old weapon of choice was Flash MX 2004. Usually used for web animation, Flash actually has (had maybe? I haven't used newer versions) some pretty unique vector graphic tools.

One such tool, which I haven't been able to find in other vector program, is the ability to switch the eraser between erasing fills and lines. This tool fits my drawing style very well, as I actually draw my lines with two separate lines, fill in the field, then switch the eraser to "erase lines only" and clear just sweep over the entire drawing - erasing only the lines, leaving the fills. I know that probably doesn't make much sense, so I included the 1st-grader drawing steps below:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/805/bitmapw.png/

Subject labelled "1" shows my outlining, "2" the black "lines" filled in as well as the body with color, and "3" shows a touch of shading. My questions mainly pertain to subject "2" and "3". As you notice, in both of these drawings, the fill tool didn't completely fill in the areas between the lines. Now I have scoured the internet for answers as to why this is happening. I have filled with the threshold, grow/shrink, and the gap filling. I also have the stroke and fill set to the same color. There are obviously no pixels or gradation in the way of the fill, as this was a simple drawing I did solely with the radial drawing tool (stroke set to black, fill set to transparent "x"). Why are the fills so sporadic? I read that after version .46, the "new" bucket tool was supposed to be functioning as people would usually expect. I know I'm doing something wrong, as I've seen art using Inkscape that use the same drawing techniques I use.

Long story short - Does Inkscape distinguish between lines/strokes and fills when using the eraser tool? Is there anyway to set the eraser to only erase lines or ONLY erase fills? Also, can someone please tell me how to get that darn bucket to fill in the ENTIRE enclosed area?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

hi, and welcome to this forum!
I'm sure a more technically able person will come and answer your question better than I can, but if you're checking for answers and eager to get started on 'something' before anyone else comes on, I'll give you a basic answer.

The good thing about Inkscape is that the stroke is connected to the object. So, when you create an object, let's say for sake of conversation, when you draw your first circle base for the smiley face, all you need to do is select it, then choose a color to fill it with, then (and here's the cool part), all you need to do is open the fill and stroke dialog box, and click on the X on the stroke menu - that gets rid of the stroke totally, so voila, no erasing needed! The cool thing is that you can have an object that is just stroke only, or fill only. From the designs you're showing, they ought to work for your smileys.

Using the paint bucket to fill an object is another thing enirely, you have to kinda play around with moving nodes to where you want the paint to show, it tends to frustrate me.
Anyway, I hope the first paragraph gives you enough info to play around with.
again welcome, feel free to ask questions, also don't forget to use the search box, because many questions you'll have will already be answered.
dee

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

When I look at your sample image, it looks pretty well filled completely. I see just a little glitch of some sort in the black portion of the small ellipse on the right (not sure if those are eyes?). It's hard to say what's causing that, without looking at the SVG file. But it sounds like you're aware of the Grow/Shrink and Threshold settings, which typically are used to reduce or eliminate the gap. And I would say that it is very tricky to get the proper Grow value, that fills all the gaps, without having the fill "leak" outside the area -- especially if there are sharp or tight corners or curves in the space to be filled. I'm not sure if these things can be called bugs, or fixable. It's just the nature of the tool, to my understanding.

The short answer is that no, the Eraser tool does not distinguish between stroke and fill. However, the way it appears you construct your drawings, I don't understand why you would need to distinguish erasing strokes or fills. If you're using the Paint Bucket tool to fill everything, including the thick black borders, it seems that all you have is fills. Hhmmm.....ok, you're talking about erasing all the paths that you used to define the areas for filling with Paint Bucket.....right? So no, the Eraser tool won't work for that.

But what if you drew all the original paths on one layer, then place all your fills on another layer? Then when you're finished, you can just hide the layer with the paths. Or if you just really want them deleted, having them all on one layer will make them easy to select all at once (by hiding the other layers) and then just Delete

Btw, someone posted a tutorial recently on a very unique way of coloring comic drawings. .....Hhhmm, I'm not sure if I'll be able to find it. But meanwhile, you might want to check out this excellent Inkscape artist: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9424 He has some brief tutorials, if you read through the whole topic.

Edit
Oops, I see flamingolady posted while I was typing. That's another good option that she suggested, just select and remove them with the X button. If the path has no fill, it's the same thing as deleting

as I actually draw my lines with two separate lines, fill in the field, then switch the eraser to "erase lines only" and clear just sweep over the entire drawing - erasing only the lines, leaving the fills.

If you use the color palate at the bottom of the screen, you can:
* draw the shape
* Click on the color you want to fill the shape with; the shape will fill with this color.
* Shift-click on the red X on the palate. This will make your outline invisible, leaving only the fill visible.

no paint bucket or eraser tool required.

Does this match what you are trying to do?

(Edited to add: this is just a slightly different way to do the same thing flamingolady described, just using the palate instead of the fill and stroke styles dialog. Everyone has their preferred way of working; do what works for you )