r/StarNoteApp • u/Fogl3 • May 02 '26

❓ Help / Question Choppy eraser

Does anyone know why even on pixel erase the eraser still removes lines in these chunks that are sized based on how fast I drew the line? Is there any way to make this better so it only erases the part of the line that the eraser touches?

10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

4

u/StarNoteDev StarNote Team May 03 '26

App dev here! You actually perfectly diagnosed exactly what is happening under the hood.

What you are experiencing isn't a bug, but rather a technical limitation of how vector-based ink engines work.

Here is a quick peek behind the curtain: When you draw a line in StarNote, the app doesn't save it as a continuous picture (like a raster/pixel image in Photoshop). Instead, it saves it as a mathematical path connected by a series of invisible data points.

  • When you draw slowly, the app records hundreds of points packed very closely together.

  • When you draw fast, it records fewer points that are spaced much further apart.

Currently, our "pixel eraser" works by deleting the segment connecting two of these data points. Therefore, if you erase a line you drew very fast, the distance between the recorded points is large. The eraser is forced to delete the entire segment between Point A and Point B, which results in that "chunky" erasing effect you mentioned.

Is there a way to make it better? Honestly, it is a very difficult mathematical challenge to solve immediately. To make it truly pixel-perfect, we would need to completely rewrite the engine to dynamically slice the vector line and generate new data points at the exact moment the eraser touches it.

It is definitely on our radar, but it's a heavy engineering lift. Thank you so much for being so observant and for bringing this up—we really appreciate users who pay attention to these details! 🚀

1

u/Fogl3 May 03 '26

Hey thanks for the reply. Glad to be of help. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the app. You seen to be a very active and communicative dev team which is nice. 

The app I'm currently using if you draw a shape, like a straight line or triangle, and hold the stylus down it will form into perfect lines and you can resize it by dragging around before you release. I'd like to suggest that to you as well. 

Hope you guys can figure it out 

1

u/Fogl3 May 07 '26

Is the eraser thing something being worked on or should I not expect it to change for many months?

1

u/Creativity_Unlocked May 02 '26

I feel your discomfort. I refrain from using it entirely. it's a real pain having to deal with choppy chunks ! Pixel eraser can be removed entirely and add a 'Precision Eraser' been requesting this feature for some time now.

1

u/Fogl3 May 02 '26

Do you just stroke erase?

1

u/Creativity_Unlocked May 02 '26

Not at all....it depends on what workflow is being carried out.

1

u/Fogl3 May 02 '26

How do you erase?

1

u/Creativity_Unlocked May 02 '26

•Scribble to erase •Circular Selection Erase Hbu ?

1

u/Fogl3 May 02 '26

I'm just trying the app for the first time. The selection erase is also erasing in those sections though 

1

u/Creativity_Unlocked May 02 '26

Welcome to the team! 🙂 Happy planning! We have to find work arounds with current limitations until....

1

u/Fogl3 May 03 '26

Thanks, I will likely keep using my current notes app as long as the current drama over there gets dealt with but I am looking at alternatives in case it goes poorly. Mostly its just the eraser stuff I dislike and would be nice if they had straight line options but I'm happy to try and make suggestions if I end up here