Lesson C: A Bit of Erasure

Layers with Options

• Back in “chalkboard BEFORE.psd,” duplicate the astro-illustration layer. You can right-click and choose Duplicate Layer…, providing a name, if you like, or use the shortcut ⌘-J/Ctrl-J and accept the name given.
• Hide the original so we can focus on this one.
• With the duplicate highlighted, lower its opacity substantially (maybe to 40%).
• Hide it for a moment.

We’ll use the existing eraser marks on the blackboard as guides. Now we can see streaks on the blackboard. Think about where you’d like the erasure to be. I see a strong eraser mark about one-third of the way up the left-hand side. That should be good to play with. It looks to be at between 10º and 15º from the horizontal. Why mention that? Well…

• Make that duped layer visible again. Choose Filter > Blur > Motion Blur…. Set its Angle to between 10º and 15º. Of course, you decide. You should also decide Distance. I’m going with 100 pixels. Click OK.
• Some of the lines in the art that happen to be at the same angle are still too sharp. Double-click on the name of the existing Gaussian Blur under the layer’s name. It needs to be more than subliminal now. A Radius of 3 to 5 pixels should do.

That looks nicely, incompletely erased. But we don’t want to see that layer everywhere. Let’s create a new layer on which to paint an erasure area.

• Use the Layers panel menu to choose New Layer…, and give the layer a name like “erasure.” Imaginative, I know.
• Activate the Brush tool (B). Choose any color at all from the Color panel. Choose a brush tip from the Brush Settings panel, just a soft round one will do.
• Disable any dynamics or scattering left over from former lessons. Adjust the size of the brush and paint along streaks on the board. This will not be the final attempt!

• In the Layers panel, drag the erasure layer below the blurred chalk art layer. Clip one to the other by option/Alt clicking the line between them. It doesn’t look good yet.
• Double-click near the name of the erasure layer. Uncheck the Blend Clipped Layers as Group checkbox and lower the Fill Opacity to 0. Now you should see a bit of erasure and no more. Also, set Knockout to Deep. Click OK.

• Make the original astro-illustration layer visible. It should be hidden where you painted.
• Don’t like your erasure? Select all (⌘-A/Ctrl-A), highlight the erasure layer, and press delete/backspace. Paint anywhere and it should look like you’re erasing the art. Save!

The result is one that can be endlessly altered as needed. The linked Smart Objects can be swapped out or edited, the filters can be tweaked, and the painting can be easily revisited. When we work for others (or do requests), this is valuable indeed.