[Gimp-user] HATE the new save vs. export behavior

[billn <forums gimpusers com>]

I like the new save vs export behavior. The only thing I might change if not
already in Gimp in a way in preference to put the export formats i use most
often to the top of the drop down list.


> I /hate/ the new Save vs. Export behavior. It is completely 
> non-intuitive to me, it makes my brain stumble every time I try to do 
> just about any of the things that I do in GIMP on a regular basis, and
> it makes most of my workflows take more thought and more button clicks
> /
> key presses than they used to.
>
> Here's just one use case that is completely destroyed by this
> change...
> Loading a JPG to edit and save back to JPG. Old way:
>
> 1. "gimp file.jpg".
> 2. Make changes.
> 3. Type ctrl-s periodically while working to save progress.
> 4. Type ctrl-q.
>
> New way:
>
> 1. "gimp file.jpg".
> 2. Make changes.
> 3. Open File menu and select "Overwrite" (no keyboard shortcut for
> that!).
> 4. Periodically type ctrl-e to save further progress (because for
> some
>    inexplicable reason, once you use the "Overwrite" command it
>    disappears and is replaced with the "Export" command which appears
>    to do exactly the same thing, but /this/ one has a keyboard
>    shortcut; how does that make sense, exactly)?
> 5. Type ctrl-q.
> 6. GIMP tells me I have unsaved changes, even though I just saved
> them
>    with ctrl-e.
> 7. Click "Discard Changes" to really exit.
>
> If I can't remember whether I've saved already or not and hit ctrl-e 
> instead of using File | Overwrite, an export dialog pops up and if I 
> just accept the file name in it, I am asked to confirm that I want to 
> replace the file. Then I'm prompted for export settings. This is
> absurd.
>
> Here's another use case that's rendered more complex by this change...
> Load an image, edit, and save in a different format. Old way:
>
> 1. "gimp image.fmt1".
> 2. Make changes.
> 3. ctrl-shift-s.
> 4. Modify extension in save dialog.
> 5. ctrl-q.
>
> New way:
>
> 1. "gimp image.fmt1".
> 2. Make changes.
> 3. ctrl-shift-e. (and, mind you, I have to /remember/ that it's
>    shift-ctrl-e, instead of shift-ctrl-s like in every other freakin'
>    application I use on either Linux and Windows)
> 4. Modify extension in save dialog.
> 5. Type ctrl-q.
> 6. GIMP tells me that I have unsaved changes, even though I just
> saved
>    them with shift-ctrl-e.
> 7. Click "Discard Changes" to really exit.
>
> But what about when I /do/ want to load an image in a non-XCF format
> and
> then save as XCF? Well, Ctrl-shift-e won't work for that, because the 
> export dialog doesn't let you export as XCF. I see no advantage 
> whatsoever to this restriction. So I have to remember that in this one
> special case of changing the format of an image, I have to use ctrl-s 
> instead of ctrl-shift-e.
>
> There isn't a single thing that I use GIMP for that is made easier or 
> faster by this interface change. Not one thing.
>
> I understand that there is "information loss" when an image is saved
> as
> a format other than XCF. But the fact of the matter is that when all
> I'm
> doing is retouching an image, which is what I do most with gimp, I
> don't
> give a flying fig about that "information loss." I just want the image
> to save, nice and easy, when I'm done editing it. And I don't want to 
> have to remember different commands for GIMP than for every other 
> program I use. And I don't want the command I have to use the first
> time
> I save an image to be different from the command I use the next time; 
> that just makes no sense. Because of this particular "feature," I
> can't
> even make this problem less onerous by swapping the ctrl-s/ctrl-e and 
> shift-ctrl-s/shift-ctrl-e bindings. Brilliant!
>
> I understand that the GIMP developers consider XCF a "special" format 
> which deserves special treatment. Well, I don't, and I'm sure there
> are
> many, many users like me who don't either. This change is just
> sticking
> a thumb in all of our eyes.
>
> You could have done this the LibreOffice way... When you try to save
> an
> image loaded from a format with information loss, you get a pop-up 
> warning you and giving you the choice of whether to proceed or save as
> XCF (and also giving you the choice to make this warning go away in
> the
> future and just save like you told it to). This is what LibreOffice 
> does, e.g., when you load and then try to save a DOC file.
>
> Or you could have made this change at least a /little/ bit less
> onerous
> by making the save dialog /default/ to XCF but allowing the user to
> edit
> the extension to save to another format. But no, if you try to do
> that,
> it tells you, "Sorry, this dialog only saves in XCF format," and you 
> have to cancel out of it and export instead.
>
> In my opinion, this change is a huge, huge step backward in
> useability.
>
>   Jonathan Kamens

-- 
billn (via www.gimpusers.com/forums)