I can't select the eraser tool

[ViksyBiksy]

I usually switch between brush and eraser very often. Everything works great until the moment when Affinity Photo, for some reason, doesn't allow me to select the eraser again. I click on the eraser with a hotkey, but it returns me to the previous tool - a brush or something else. Selecting the eraser from the panel works normally. All other tools switch normally too.

I haven't yet been able to reproduce this on purpose; it happens randomly. Restarting Affinity Photo helps, but it may happen again during the working process.

[Alfred]

There’s a setting that controls the effect of repeated presses of shortcut keys, but the default behaviour swaps back and forth between the previous tool and the current one. So if you’re using the Eraser Tool and you press B for the Brush Tool, pressing B again (whether deliberately or accidentally, perhaps because of the key bouncing because it’s faulty) will take you back to the Eraser Tool.

[ViksyBiksy]

16 hours ago, Alfred said:

There’s a setting that controls the effect of repeated presses of shortcut keys, but the default behaviour swaps back and forth between the previous tool and the current one. So if you’re using the Eraser Tool and you press B for the Brush Tool, pressing B again (whether deliberately or accidentally, perhaps because of the key bouncing because it’s faulty) will take you back to the Eraser Tool.

Thank you, now I understand how it works.

Could you tell me where I can find this setting, please?

[Alfred]

24 minutes ago, ViksyBiksy said:

Could you tell me where I can find this setting, please?

I’m on Windows, but I think it’s the same on macOS. In the Tools options under Settings (or Preferences) you can choose to make cycling between tools occur only when the Shift key is pressed.

[ViksyBiksy]

On 7/22/2024 at 11:56 AM, Alfred said:

I’m on Windows, but I think it’s the same on macOS. In the Tools options under Settings (or Preferences) you can choose to make cycling between tools occur only when the Shift key is pressed.

Thank you!
It looks like my problem is not related to this option.

I have a theory of why this might be happening.

The eraser tool can be used in the same principle as the colour picker - hold down the corresponding key and use it while it is held down. When the key is released, it returns to the previous main instrument. However, if you press it fast enough, it permanently switches to another tool.
I think, there are some internal timings that we can't tweak for such tools.

However, at some point, after a certain amount of work time without program restart, the permanent switch mode stops working and only the return-tool-back mode is activating, despite my pressing time, even after a super quick one. Restarting the Affinity Photo fixes the problem.

I suppose, after some time the performance is slowly (sometimes noticeably) degrading, at least at my Macbook Pro, and Affinity cannot handle switching to the quick-press mode anymore, so I'm constantly returning to the previous tool (the brush in my case). And again, restarting the Affinity resolves the problem of switching tools and the overall performance.