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

[Jehan <jehan girinstud io>]

Hi,

On 2015-11-03 18:36, Elle Stone wrote:
> This is a change to the GIMP user interface that I've wanted for a
> long time. It probably would only benefit people who use the Color
> Picker a lot.

There are so many different type of users, I seriously doubt it is 
possible to select *one* tool as being the most common case. And if we 
were, the color picker would not be my choice. Users of paint tools 
would very often use ctrl-click in place of running the color picker, 
for instance.

Of course, as a choice (as you propose below), why not, of course.

> When you use a tool, say Curves, and the operation completes, and then
> you click on the canvas again, Curves pops up again, unless you
> remember to pick a different tool.

Doesn't it become an habit to switch tools without even thinking about 
it? Especially when you are a daily user, it seems strange reading that 
you forget to pick the tool.

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?

> Almost never do I actually want to use same tool that I just used,
> immediately again.

Well once again, that depends on users and even more on which tools. 
Paint tools are again a good case where people use them again and again 
in the row (unless your art is "calligraphy" maybe, you don't paint a 
full artworks in a single stroke).

Even other tools, like transformation tools, I have often seen users 
using them several times right after another, even though this is often 
not recommended, image-quality wise.

> Almost always the tool I really want to use next is the Color Picker.
>
> It would be nice to have the option in Preferences, maybe under the
> Tool Options,  to set a "default tool", such that regardless of what
> the last tool used happened to be, upon completing the algorithm, the
> selected tool would reset itself to the user's chosen default tool.
>
> This would eliminate the problem of having to continually reselect the
> Color Picker (if that's the tool the user chose as the default tool),
> and dismiss unwanted dialogs that pop up, and wait for unintended
> editing operations to complete before hitting the "undo" button.

Tools with long editing operations don't perform immediately (as you 
say, they usually first popup), so there should be already no wait.
Anyway I am personally trying to limit more and more options in the 
preferences which become so crowded that nearly nobody seem to know what 
is there. Yet I seem to be one of the only ones who seem to think so, so 
I don't really know.

Also I have a behavior/spec question for the feature. Let's take your 
"Curves" tool example.
Let's say I changed my mind after having run curves and I want to redo 
the curves processing differently. So I cancel (ctrl-z). When the user 
selected your "default tool" option (so now this default tool is the 
selected one), what should be the tool selected after canceling? Still 
the default tool, or should GIMP switch back to curves?

> Maybe there's already a way to do this in Preferences, and I just
> haven't found it?

I don't think so, but as I said, there are so many preferences that I 
forget them.

Jehan

> Elle
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