Brush mode for painting, erasing and smudging at once - like in Procreate

[adrianszustakowski]

Hey,

I’ve been using Photoshop for over ten years. Few years ago I also started using Procreate on an iPad, because it feels more intuitive and natural for drawing.
Many artists with a similar background and experience, that I talked to feel that Photoshop is missing a feature that would make digital illustration much more convenient and faster.

Problem:

In Procreate you pick one brush and can switch freely between painting, erasing and smudging.
In Photoshop a brush preset is often tied to one tool(especcialy when you download some brush packs). Ofcourse You can duplicate the brush and remove the tool "binding" to the brush, but that wastes time and clutters the Brush panel.

Solution:

It would be a huge improvement if any brush could be used in all three modes even when it has a default tool assigned.
For example, when you download a brush set you could immediately use a brush to paint, erase or smudge without creating separate copies.
The current system could still be available for those who prefer it, but there could be buttons in the top bar or Brush panel to choose new functionality enabling the use of each brush in 3 modes (brush, eraser, smudge)

Benefits:
-more intuitive drawing workflow
-less clutter in the brush panel
-speeding up the work of illustrators

Best Regards,
Adrian Szustakowski

[Sameer K]

Hey, @adrianszustakowski. Welcome to the Photoshop Community. Thanks for writing a detailed post about this. I've checked your other post, and here are a few things you can explore. 

1 - Check the touch shortcut that allows using the alternate functions for selected tools: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/touch-gesture-shortcuts-ipad.html

2 - For drawing and painting-focused workflows, Adobe Fresco is the go-to. Please check it out: https://helpx.adobe.com/fresco/using/what-is-adobe-fresco.html

Let me know if this helps. Thanks!
Sameer K
(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

[Ged_Traynor]

@Sameer K neither of your links are working

[Sameer K]

Thanks for pointing this out, @Ged_Traynor. The link shortener is having a day.

Sameer K
(Type '@' and type my name to mention me when you reply)

[adrianszustakowski]

Hey Sameer,

Thanks for the quick reply!
One important thing I didn’t mention is that I’m mainly talking about the desktop version of Photoshop without touch-screen.
The iPad has its limitations when it comes to available RAM, which is why I prefer using Photoshop on PC for larger projects.

1. The solution you sent applies only to users with touch screens. Additionally, even though Procreate is software designed specifically for the iPad (a touch-screen device), its creators still choose one-hand solution I mentioned by allowing the use of just the pen, which, in my opinion, remains a better and more intuitive option.

2. Why would I switch to Fresco when I already mentioned that Procreate has features that - in my opinion - make it a very natural medium to work with?
You also wrote that Fresco is the "go-to" program for drawing/painting purposes, but that’s a very subjective matter. For many artists in the industry, Photoshop is the real "go-to". They can customize it on many levels (brushes, plugins, shortcuts, etc.), but some features can only be implemented by the developers, and of course only if a significant part of the community supports the proposed changes.

Good to know that the iPad version of Photoshop has some solutions similar to what we’ve been discussing. However, there is still a large group of people working on desktops who should also be taken into account.
Fresco is an interesting program, but recommending it as a replacement won’t improve Photoshop’s functionality. For many people, Photoshop is still the preferred application for digital illustration itself 🙂

Have a great day!
Adrian

[adrianszustakowski]

Hey,

For those who like me, were looking for a similar workflow, I found that Adobe implemented a shortcut in Photoshop CC 2020.
The "~" key switches the brush between "Normal" and "Clear" blending modes.

Have a great day,
Adrian

[Wienke]

Half of your wish is almost there: When using a regular brush, if you hold down the backtick key (`), which is just above the tab key, you'll see that the brush's mode switches to "clear," and it will then act as an eraser.

But as soon as you release the backtick key, the brush goes back to acting like a brush.

Of course, as I think you've already noticed, you can easily hard-switch to whatever is currently assigned as your eraser by typing "e" (I think that's the default shortcut).

I actually prefer Photoshop's current handling of this as a desktop app because of that temporary backtick-eraser switch, combined with the ability to assign any brush tip to the eraser, brush, or smudge tool. In Procreate, if you want a different tip for the eraser from that of the brush, you must specify that different tip, that different brush, every time you switch (though there is that "use current brush as" option; Procreate's interface is ingenious). On a desktop, I find it easier to type B, E, and U (all assignable to Wacom buttons, as is backtick).