Erasing Shapes

[sj3girls]

I have a hard time erasing shapes I make out of paper scraps. I pull in the paper scrap, make it into a shape, then when I go to do some erasing, it just shows the entire paper scrap and not how it looks with the shape. So then I'm doing a lot of guess and check to get it how I want it. (same thing for photos I made into shapes).

If I'm going about this all wrong please let me know the easy way! LOL If that is the only way to do it...could we get that tweaked in an update so that when we erase, we can see the item just like it is, not the original paper scrap???

(for an example, I was working with Fiona's shapes from the Mid Month Challenge 6 and wanted the holly leaves green and the berries red, so I pulled in red and green paper scraps, then on the red one I erased the leaves so only the berries would be red. Took forever going back and forth to check if I'd erased too much or too little.)

[makeyesup]

The only way that I could think of to get around this is to save the item to a .png file and then bring that file in the page to do the erasing. Wish I could find an easier way around this too.

[ValerieElaine]

I do the same as Makeyesup,can't think of any other way. Look on the plus side - you now have a new shape/embie.

[Lorne]

Yeah, the best approach right now would be to do it all in the eraser instead of using the shape in the photo settings. Basically, turn off the "Custom shape" check box and instead load the shape image using the buttons on the Eraser window.

That will let you start out with the eraser mask in that shape, so you can see the shape as you modify it. It will also let you unerase parts of the image that are transparent in the custom shape.

[makeyesup]

This is a good way to do it as long as it is a standard SBM type shape because I did not find any way to invert the shape. Many on the shapes I have are reverse where the actual shape is in black and it works perfect in the regular 'custom shape' method. However, it wouldn't work in the eraser method. If you have a .png or a .jpg shape file with the black as the shape, it would have to be reversed before it is brought into the eraser window.
Any other way to work with those types, Lorne?

Yeah, the best approach right now would be to do it all in the eraser instead of using the shape in the photo settings. Basically, turn off the "Custom shape" check box and instead load the shape image using the buttons on the Eraser window.

That will let you start out with the eraser mask in that shape, so you can see the shape as you modify it. It will also let you unerase parts of the image that are transparent in the custom shape.

[Lorne]

Pressing the i key in the Eraser window will invert the mask. (This is explained in the Eraser window's help topic. )

[makeyesup]

craftyscraps_butterfly5.pngThe "i" key works well with the standard SBM shapes; however, did some testing on a shape that is black and it did not work for me.
Attached is one of the shapes that I am talking about.
Also attached is a file with screen dumps to show you what is appearing in the eraser window when pressing the "i" key.
I have Window 7 Professional, 64 bit.
Always use drag and drop to insert papers, elements etc. and browse to my EHD for shapes and masks.

Pressing the i key in the Eraser window will invert the mask. (This is explained in the Eraser window's help topic. )

[Lorne]

That has nothing to do with it being black or white -- the image you attached is a 32-bit PNG file, so it's an image with an alpha channel. When you use a 32-bit PNG, Scrapbook MAX! uses the alpha channel as the mask.

The shape you're seeing is the shape of that image's alpha channel.

To use the image's black and white parts instead, you just need to convert it to a greyscale image. (Or a 24-bit PNG, in which case SBMAX would convert it to greyscale for you.)

See the attached image, which I've converted to greyscale for you.

[makeyesup]

Did look at the properties of my file and your conversion. Did notice 32 in the details under depth on my original file and 24 in the details under depth on your file. However, do not know what you did to convert it. More than 1/2 of the shapes that I use are of the same type and work perfectly in the normal SBM shape process. What did you do to convert this specific one to make it 24 so it can be used in the eraser window? Thought maybe because you are calling it grayscale, you used that effect in SBM on it?? Since that didn't work, need more info from you.

That has nothing to do with it being black or white -- the image you attached is a 32-bit PNG file, so it's an image with an alpha channel. When you use a 32-bit PNG, Scrapbook MAX! uses the alpha channel as the mask.

The shape you're seeing is the shape of that image's alpha channel.

To use the image's black and white parts instead, you just need to convert it to a greyscale image. (Or a 24-bit PNG, in which case SBMAX would convert it to greyscale for you.)

See the attached image, which I've converted to greyscale for you.

[Lorne]

Ah, I just used XnView (a free image viewer) to convert it. I told it to convert to 8-bit grayscale, but it sounds like it may ultimately have saved it as a 24-bit PNG. I had meant to save it as an 8-bit PNG (256 shades of grey) so the file size would be smaller, but I did it pretty quickly. Oops.

You should be able to use any free image viewer to convert an image...e.g. XnView, Irfanview, Picasa. The exact method will vary with the tool, but basically you want to save the file as either an 8-bit greyscale or a 24-bit PNG (and then Scrapbook MAX! will convert it to greyscale when it loads the image).

You can convert the image to a 24-bit PNG in Scrapbook MAX! by putting it on a page that is sized to the same size as the original image, and then saving that page as a PNG...but it will be quicker to do in an external image viewer, especially if you have to do it for many different files.