Erasing Shield

An erasing shield is a thin template or mask, usually cut from flexible plastic or stainless steel and punched with a pattern of small openings, that is laid over a drawing or a piece of writing so an eraser can correct one small area without disturbing the work around it. Artists, calligraphers, drafters and typists have all used the tool, and it was especially valued by typists correcting carbon copies, which smudged easily when erased directly. Calligraphers and other artists working in pencil, charcoal or pastel still use an erasing shield today, and its cutouts can double as a simple stencil or as a guide for drawing evenly spaced dashed lines. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/