[Gimp-user] Consistency in Selection

[Steve Kinney <admin pilobilus net>]

Hey,

I changed the Subject: here because I think Andreas' comments jump
out of the "For Casual Users" thread as something new, worth paying
attention to.

All us users will benefit from being more conscious of the
differences in "selected" behaviors in different parts of the GIMP
as outlined below.  I generally "approve of" the design choices
involved, but where and as possible I am also "all in favor" of
making these things as consistent across different functions as
possible.

:o)

Steve

On 07/21/2012 12:59 PM, Andreas Lemke wrote:
> (Hi this is Andreas - I am sending this from a different email address)
>
> I analyzed the following different selection types. It seems that in
> Gimp each tool uses its own way of making selections. Which
> introduces subtle inconsistencies. I am not saying they are
> critical, but this is a place I started my analysis.
>
> 1. The Selection – a set of pixels of the image
>
> Multi-selection: Press Shift or select mult-select icon
> The Select menu seems to apply only to this type of section.
>
> 2. Layers
> Multi-selection: Gimp uses a concept of chaining. Click chain icons
> to select more than one layer.
> This multi-selection only works for moving, scaling, flipping etc.
> It doesn't work for e.g. deleting or duplicating.
>
> 3. Layer Groups
> When a layer group is selected and the move tool is active: Dragging
> moves not the layer group but the layer under the mouse.
>
> 4. Alignment tool:
> Uses its own selection mode. Multi-select: Press shift. No toggle
> action.
>
> 5. Paths
> There are different selection types for paths:
> - In the path dialog a path can be selected (grey background). Path
> on canvas is shown in red
> - or with a blue background through clicking the path in the dialog
> - with the path tool active, a path visible on the canvas can be
> selected with a left click. Path becomes red and control points
> become visible. I guess I am now in path edit mode.
> - to select another path, I can Alt-click or select it in the path
> dialog
> So, when the path tool is activated, I can be in or out of edit
> mode. (Why are there these two modes?). Once in edit mode I cannot
> leave it without de-activating the path tool (?)
>
> 6. Path Edit Mode
> Multi-selection of control points: Shift click (has toggle action);
> drag moves the selection
>
>
> I am a bit inspired by the original work on GUIs at Xerox PARC and
> the later work on Windows and MAC, etc. The idea there was to have a
> consistent selection mechanism across all types of objects. Once
> again, I don't think these inconsistencies are critical but fixing
> them could be a contribution to an overall improvement.
>
> Best,
>
> Andreas
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