I dragged the erase tool down over the part of the line I want erased or cut, but when I let go of the mouse button, my whole line is erased.

I tried the other method of drawing a line over an object I want clipped. I then select the object, the shift select the other object. I then select Object > Path to stroke. I then select Object > Clip > Set. But it leaves the line I drew, not the other line I want clipped. I have tried lowering my line to the bottom but still no luck.



How to do this very simple task? I'm confused why I can't just erase it.

Thank you in advance

Hi.

The cutting you want to achieve would require the strokes to be converted to paths (Ctrl+Alt+C). (So then they are closed paths, filling in an area, and not open subpaths with almost no defined areas.)

There is a cut boolean operation but in your case probably the stroke ends wouldn't blend in with the rest of the image if you remove a part of a stroked path with it.

For the clipping, make sure the clip object is on top and that it is a closed path (convert stroke to path).

Other workaround could be with masking, where you can use an open path/group of objects as well for the masking object. However it doesn't convert well when saving as pdf so wouldn't recommend that.

Eraser has settings... which were used?

Personally, I would suggest not to use the Eraser tool. It often doesn't work for me.

Really, an eraser is more of a raster tool. The "vector way" to edit paths in Inkscape, is to use the Node tool. Or possibly one of the path operations (booleans) or even clipping, as you tried. But it depends on what all is happening on your canvas - what kind of objects they are and what else you're planning to do with the drawing.

If you could share the SVG file, we could offer specific suggestions. It's hard for us to know what's happening, from a PNG attachment.

The eraser is a vector path editing tool. It changes and/or creates paths, or deletes paths, depending on the settings.

Oh yes, it absolutely is. But what I meant, is that the concept of an eraser tool fits better with raster graphics. In my opinion, using node editing or booleans would be a better way to remove parts of a path or object.

For myself, I pretty much have to use other methods, because it hardly ever works for me.

Thank you all! Sorry for the late update. Yes, I ended up drawing the line where I want the object cut/clipped. I then select the line and the object below it. I then select Path > Stroke to path. And lastly I select Path > Difference. And then line I drew disappears along with the section below it that I wanted clipped. Many thank you for all your help for us noobs!