Figma: Eraser and Drag-to-Fill for Vector Editing
FigmaFigma introduced an eraser tool and a paint bucket fill for vector editing, bringing familiar raster-style interactions to precise vector work on the canvas. Designers can now erase vector paths directly to clean up stray marks or reshape artwork, and drag to fill or recolor multiple regions at once with a chosen color or gradient. Both tools are available in Figma Design's vector edit mode and in Figma Draw, accessible via the Shift+E shortcut.
Key Takeaways
- Figma introduced a vector eraser that lets designers brush away stray marks or reshape paths directly, instead of manually deleting anchor points or segments.
- A new drag-to-fill paint bucket applies a color or gradient across multiple vector regions in a single motion, speeding up recoloring of complex illustrations.
- Both tools are scoped to vector edit mode, available in both Figma Design and Figma Draw, Figma's dedicated illustration surface.
- The Shift+E shortcut toggles the eraser in vector/Draw mode, while its separate use in the Design mode Prototype tab is left untouched to avoid conflicts.
- The release continues Figma's push, following tools like Vectorize and Delete and Heal, to make vector editing feel as direct as raster retouching.
- The change targets a long-requested workflow gap: cleaning up and recoloring hand-drawn or imported vector artwork without dropping into path-level node editing.
Erase and Drag-to-Fill Arrive for Vector Editing
Figma rolled out two new interaction models for working with vector paths: an eraser and a paint bucket. The update is aimed at making precise, hands-on edits to vector artwork feel as direct and intuitive as retouching a raster image, without leaving the vector workflow or breaking the underlying path structure.
Eraser for Vector Paths
The new eraser lets designers erase vector paths directly on the canvas to clean up stray marks or reshape existing artwork. Rather than manually selecting anchor points or deleting entire path segments, users can now brush away unwanted parts of a shape the way they would erase a mistake in a raster tool, while Figma still preserves the vector nature of the result underneath.
Drag to Fill and Recolor
Alongside the eraser, Figma added a paint-bucket-style fill interaction. Designers choose a color or gradient and then drag across the canvas to fill or recolor multiple regions of a vector shape at once, instead of selecting each region individually and applying a fill through the properties panel. This is particularly useful for complex illustrations or icon sets built from many overlapping vector regions.
Where It Works
Both tools live in vector edit mode within Figma Design as well as in Figma Draw, the dedicated illustration surface. Shift+E switches to the eraser in vector edit mode or Draw mode; Figma noted the existing Shift+E shortcut used in the Prototype tab of Design mode is unaffected and continues to work as before.
Taken together, the two additions lower the friction of manual vector cleanup and recoloring — tasks that previously required node-by-node editing — and push Figma's illustration tooling closer to parity with the direct-manipulation feel designers expect from dedicated vector and raster editors.