Is there a way to draw/fill with eraser (tikz)?

Question

I wish build up a tikz picture from layers. Is there a way to draw/fill one of the layer with "eraser" (not transparency)? Somehow:

enter image description here

I have no idea therefore neither MWE :-/

(I know, that there is an easier way to do the example document above, but that is only an example.)

mwe is usually added to save us from the annoyance of writing those rectangle and color parts. — percusse, Dec 28 '16 at 16:01
your question is not clear. see, if the following MWE gives what you expect: \documentclass[tikz, margin=3mm]{standalone} \begin{document} \begin{tikzpicture}[ box/.style args = {#1/#2}{minimum size=#1, fill=#2, font=\Large\sffamily\bfseries} ] \node[box=44mm/green,draw] {Text}; \node[box=33mm/red] {}; \node[box=22mm/white,draw] {}; \node[box=11mm/blue] {}; \end{tikzpicture} \end{document} — Zarko, Dec 28 '16 at 17:29
What you are asking cannot be constructed by piling layers on top of each other; in effect, you want your eraser layer to cut into the layers beneath it. AFAIK that is impossible. This question discusses a possible work-around: http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/336502/make-white-transparent-in-a-tikz-picture/336509#336509 — Michael Palmer, Dec 28 '16 at 19:54

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 02 '18 at 15:12

Instead of erasing, you could simply not draw the filling in the first place:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}

\begin{document}

\begin{tikzpicture}
\fill[green] (0,0) rectangle (1,1);
\draw[red, line width=3pt] (0.2,0.2) rectangle (0.8,0.8);
\fill[blue] (0.4,0.4) rectangle (0.6,0.6);
\end{tikzpicture}

\end{document}

Is there a way to draw/fill with eraser (tikz)?

1 Answers1