Re: [Gimp-developer] Bring back normal handling of other file formats

[peter sikking <peter mmiworks net>]

Elle wrote:

> There is one little interface change that would make things easier for
> me. I'll suggest it, most tentatively. At present, the order in the
> Gimp 2.9 drop-down menu is "Save, Save as, Save a Copy, Revert, then a
> big line in the sand, then "Export to, Export, Create Template" (I
> can't check the 2.8 drop-down because I accidentally destroyed my 2.8
> installation).

you can see the old state also in the spec:

<http://gui.gimp.org/index.php/Save_%2B_export_specification#file_menu_changes>

> So how would it be if the line between the "Save" options and the
> "Export" options disappeared? And if "Revert" and maybe "Save a copy"
> got moved to down below "Export" and "Export to"?

first of all: why are there separators (that line) in menus?
it is to divide menus in sections that can be readily digested
by users. al lot of menu items in a row take longer to scan,and
to find your way back when you choose a menu item for the 100th time.

‘a lot’ starts fundamentally at 7. keeping 5 or less items in
section is a good design goal.

I was not going to stick 7 items in a section, thus the
separator is there.

also of course the items in a section ‘belong together.’ this
helps users to faster figure out what items stand for.

so I needed to distribute 7 items over 2 sections and take
28 years of established File menu history into account.

All the 3 Saves belong together, really no doubt about that.
Revert belongs to the Saves, because it is ‘Revert to saved’
it is often even labeled like that.

this is a nice demonstration of the value of the new save + export.
in 2.6 you have the strudel that if you ‘Saved’ to png (with losses)
and you Revert, what are you going to get? your paths and layers?
in 2.8 the situation is 100% clear: the last save to the xcf, which
contains ‘everything.’

thus the Save section is getting full, and the 2 Export items go
in the second section. it is really something different. Modern
apps using Export do the same. Create template is also a derivation
process, so I put it also in the second section.

btw: putting the Export items in their own section makes users
find and hit them faster than when they were the Nth items in the
Save section.

> It also might ease the pain of transitioning to a new way of doing
> things if "Save" read as "Save xcf", "Save a Copy" read "Save xcf
> Copy", "xcf" serving as a gentle reminder of what will really will
> happen.


28 years of File menu say that that is too much belts and braces.

    --ps

        founder + principal interaction architect
            man + machine interface works

        http://blog.mmiworks.net: on interaction architecture