How to Use Photoshop Eraser Tool
Got a speck of dust on your lens that shows up on your image as a blob? Or maybe you have a background element you want removed, like a telephone pole growing out of your subject's head. Erasing those pesky problem areas is a breeze using Photoshop's Eraser Tool.
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Instructions
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With your photo already open in Photoshop, set the background color to the color you want to erase by clicking on the background color icon in the Toolbox menu.
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If you're unsure of the exact color you need to erase, use the Eyedropper Tool from the Toolbox (it actually looks like an eyedropper). Click on the Set Background icon. Click the Eyedropper on the color you want to remove and this becomes your new background color.
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Next, select the Eraser Tool from the Toolbox. It's the icon that looks like one of the old-fashioned red rubber erasers you used in grade school. Choose a brush size from the options menu at the top of the active window. Choose a mode for the eraser from the pull-down menu (Brush, Pencil, Block).
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Brush and Pencil act just like they do when you're painting. Block is a square eraser tool with a hard edge. Using Brush or Pencil you can set opacity and flow, whereas with Block you can't. Set the opacity to 100 percent to erase all pixels, or lower opacity to erase partial pixels.
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Use the Magnifying Tool (looks like a magnifying glass) to enlarge the image to 200 or 300 percent. Enlarging the image will make it easier for you to pick the exact pixels you want erased.
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Move the Eraser over the area you want removed, being careful not move the eraser into other areas of the image that you want to leave unchanged.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're erasing an area that is right next to a part of your image that you don't want erased, be sure to choose a brush size that allows you to get into very small spaces.
Make sure you pick the Background, not the Foreground color as your eraser setting. If you forget, instead of erasing, the Eraser Tool will paint whatever color you've chosen for the Background color.
