Re: Text rotation

[Lars Clausen <lars raeder dk>]

On Mon, 2007-11-12 at 15:02 -0500, Michael Ross wrote:

> On Nov 12, 2007 1:44 PM, Lars Clausen <lars raeder dk> wrote:

>         Curious about the better bezier editing, will have to check
>         that.
>
> It is not that different except in the activation of it.  With
> Inkscape you have the vector tool active and you double click to add a
> segment.  I often use the Bezier in a transparent layer to outline
> something important.  This implies a complex profile and lot's of
> segments.  In Dia it is a little clunky by comparison.  

I can understand that.  I have pondered doing an alternative creation
style (maybe shift-selected?) where you keep adding points with single
clicks.  This would be useful for polygons, beziergons, polylines and
bezierlines, and maybe for zigzaglines, and should help in your
scenario, too.  However, I have not gotten to how to cleanly incorporate
it in the object creation process, which is very click-and-drag
oriented.

> I just reviewed it in both though and it isn't as bad as I remembered.
> Once the bezier is selected/activated it is just <right click, move
> mouse, left mouse>, <right click, move mouse, left mouse> versus
> <dbl-clk>, <dbl-clk> in Inkscape.  The first time you pick a bezier it
> is 3 clicks to get a segment added.  I am nit picking aren't I? 

Two clicks if you keep down the mouse when picking the menu item.  How's
that for nit-picking? :)

> Now that bezier has come up.  I frequently make odd shapes with sharp
> corners using the bezier region (which is a neat function).  When
> there is a corner that is sharp you can't move it around without the
> antennea sticking out so that the grip is visible, or so I thought.  I
> grabbed a corner the other day and it DID move without my needing to
> extend the control rod (or whatever that thing is called).  I haven't
> been able to repeat this but it was tantalizing.  

You're trying to move the segment handle (the green handle) while both
the control points (the orange handles) are on top of it?  For all
corners but one, one of the control points' handles is one top of the
segment handle.  I guess you happened to pick the segment handle that's
at the "end" of the list of segments (either first or last, not sure
which), where because of a curiosity in how the control points are
place, both points are below the segment handle.

I take it you're placing the control points on top of the segment handle
in order to avoid the side bending when the next segment handle over is
moved, thus keeping the lines straight (the cusp control *corners* are
always sharp, but the lines are not necessarily straight).  I don't have
a good interface solution for setting a corner to be "polygon-like" like
that.

> Same complaint about having to get the Add Segment menu pick instead
> of something handier.  When is there ever a bezier curve or region
> that does not need more segments added? I would rather have an add
> segment toggle than to pick it the from menu every time.  dbl-clk
> opens the properties in the Dia version I am using. 

It does so in all Dia versions.  I find it not too onerous to
press-move-release the mouse button to add a corner.

> Anyway it is a lot of work to make a bezier region into an odd sharp
> cornered region becasue when a corner is sharp, you most can't move
> it.  

See comments above about cusp points.

> Inkscape doesn't have a bezier region.

Score one for Dia, then:)  Now if only the beziergons could have
holes... they'd be totally confusing:)

-Lars
>