[Gimp-gui] Possible places to save vertical space in Single (and Multiple) Window Mode

[Elle Stone <ellestone ninedegreesbelow com>]

Hi All,

After years of using GIMP in Multiple Window Mode, I'm thinking about 
switching to Single Window Mode - the "sticking point" is not enough 
vertical space in Single Window Mode.

Here's a screenshot showing several possible places for saving vertical 
space in Single Window Mode:

https://ninedegreesbelow.com/files/possible-places-to-save-vertical-space-in-single-window-mode.png

1. A good quarter-inch of empty space above the tool icons - could this 
space be removed?

2. I like having the "Foreground & background colors" dialog be in the 
tool box, but look at all the wasted horizontal space. If this icon 
could be made the same height as all the tool icons, and also simply 
float in line with the other tool icons, then vertical space could be saved.

3. I think the extra space around the Tool Options sliders is currently 
determined by the system font size. So choosing a larger font 
automatically increased the "padding". I really need a largish font to 
be able to read the slider text. But the extra padding means wasted 
vertical space.
     If the padding could be independent of the font, and possibly be 
user-settable, that would be very helpful. It would also be helpful to 
have the option to set the font size. It seems right now the only way to 
set the font size is by modifying the user's (hidden) .gtkrc-2.0 file, 
which of course affects many more programs than just GIMP.

4. Same as above: The opacity slider has too much vertical padding.

5. It seems to me that a tiny bit of extra vertical space could be saved 
by decreasing the vertical padding surrounding the icons at the bottom 
of the various Toolbox panels.

6. This is the biggie, literally. It would be nice to have the option to 
not have the image window tabs at all. But if having these tabs is a 
requirement, at least make the tab height and tab icons as small as 
possible. Is there a place in Preferences that controls this icon size? 
It's huge! Where in the code is the tab/icon size set?

7. Same as 5 - it seems like maybe a little less vertical padding could 
be used here, though of course there is the option to not show the task 
bar at all.

Actually, except for "6", all these "vertical space saving 
possibilities" also apply to Multiple Window Mode. Especially when using 
the Paint tools, the Tool options dialog is very "tall" and every bit of 
vertical space that can be saved helps avoid the dreaded scrollbar.

Elle