Re: [Gimp-gui] Make the selected tool default to the Color Picker instead of the last tool used

[Jehan <jehan girinstud io>]

Hi,

On 2015-11-05 21:24, Elle Stone wrote:
> On 11/05/2015 01:26 PM, Jehan wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > > > On 2015-11-03 18:36, Elle Stone wrote:
>
> > > When working on an image, sometimes it seems like I use the Color
> > > Picker after just about every editing operation. Having to
> > > deliberately click on the tool icon to rechoose the Color Picker of
> > > itself is tedious. But I can ease that issue by assigning (and using)
> > > a keyboard shortcut.
> > >
> > > Here's what seems to be the real problem:
> > >
> > > For many tools, including Curves and Levels, the selected tool's
> > > Cursor doesn't actually appear until I "touch" the canvas, at which
> > > point the last-used operation dialog pops up and I have to dismiss
> > > that dialog and then choose the Color Picker.
> > >
> > > > I'm wondering if the issue in your specific example is not rather 
> > > > than
> > > > the cursor of "Curves" is nearly the same as the cursor of the 
> > > > "Color
> > > > Picker" (a small pipette)? Maybe this is confusing?
> > >
> > > It would help a lot if the Color Picker Cursor were changed, or 
> > > rather
> > > preferably change the Curves cursor and keep the Color Picker Cursor
> > > the same.
>
> > > It would help a lot (this would be the key change) if the selected
> > > tool's Cursor could immediately display "on hover",  *before* 
> > > clicking
> > > on the canvas, for more tools, specifically including Levels, Curves,
> > > Desaturate, and other tools with icons that can be put in the 
> > > toolbox.
> >
> > For me, this is an obvious bug. The Curves tool was not considered
> > "enabled" at selection but at initialization (which happened only when
> > you start computing, i.e. at the first click). Fixed with commits
> > 011c6db for Curves.
>
> Thanks! that's a nice commit. That makes Curves indicate that it's the
> chosen tool by showing the cursor icon upon hovering over the image,
> and also it causes the status bar to display the cursor icon and some
> explanatory text. The "show icon upon hover is the more useful of the
> two for people like me who tend to have no status bar, no menu bar,
> ect cluttering up the available screen real estate.
>
> > Desaturate on the other hand does not have any cursor here, which may
> > seem understandable since it does not look like it has a lot of
> > interaction on canvas. Does it have a special cursor in your case?
> > As for Levels, the cursor changes only when you explicitly check one 
> > of
> > the "Pick white/black/grey point" button, and disappears after, which
> > seems reasonable and consistent to me.
> > Did I miss something for these 2 tools?
>
> I went into Preferences and put every possible tool in the toolbox and
> checked to see what happens upon hovering over the image.
>
> These tools indicate that they are the selected tool by showing an
> icon when hovering over the image, and also by displaying the icon in
> the status bar, along with some explanatory text:
>
> airbrush
> align
> blur/sharpen
> clone
> color picker
> curves
> dodge/burn
> ellipse select
> eraser
> foreground select
> free select
> fuzzy select
> heal
> ink
> paintbrush
> paths
> pencil
> rectangle select
> scissors select
> select by color
> smudge
>
> These tools indicate that they are the selected tool by showing an
> icon when hovering over the image. But they don't show an icon or
> explanatory text in the status bar.
>
> blend
> bucket fill
> cage
> crop
> flip
> measure
> move
> perspective
> perspective clone
> rotate
> scale
> shear
> text
> unified transform
> warp
> zoom
>
> These tools don't show an icon upon hovering over the image and also
> don't show any explanatory text in the status bar:
>
> brightness-contrast
> color balance
> colorize
> desaturate
> gegl
> gegl
> hue-saturation
> levels
> posterize
> threshold
>
> (As an aside, the second gegl icon doesn't seem to do anything. Though
> if you click on the image, the history dialog shows that a gegl
> operation happened.)
>
> As all the tools listed above do have very nice icons, it would be
> nice if their icons would show upon hovering over the image.
>
> That would leave all the tools that are under various menus, but don't
> have icons to put them in the toolbox. Maybe a generic icon for "all
> other tools?

Which tools? Are you sure they are tools and not filters?

> What are the criteria that separate "shows the icon" tools from
> "doesn't show the icon" tools?

Different implementers? :-)
Joke aside, I think many tools UI were just made up as developers coded 
them and the only resemblances comes from getting ideas from existing 
tools and copy-pasting code. There is no real consistency.

I'll have a look at your list later. Maybe we could spec a base expected 
behavior for any tool (for things such as cursor, status bar icons and 
text…) upon which each should specify their more specific behavior on.

If there are any missing icons or specific cursors which would make 
sense for given tools, do not hesitate to contribute.

Jehan

> Best,
> Elle
>
> _______________________________________________
> gimp-gui-list mailing list
> gimp-gui-list gnome org
> https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/gimp-gui-list