some considerations on vector shapes

Issue #83 closed
agriggio repo owner created an issue

The new vector shape masks are really nice. After playing with them for a while, however, I noticed a few glitches that might be worth fixing. Here they are, in no particular order:

  • there is no visual on-canvas feedback when activating the vector shape drawing. It would be nice if the cursor shape changed to indicate that we are in “edit mode” (similarly to what happens for rectangle shapes)
  • having to click ctrl to append new points (as opposed to splitting existing segments) seems unnecessary to me. Why not just clicking?
  • if there is an active crop, trying to add a point close to the crop border will activate also the crop editing (that is also controlled by the ctrl modifier). [If this point is unclear, I can post a short video]
  • sometimes using the scroll wheel to change the roundness will result in a zoom in/out instead. It might be good to slightly enlarge the radius of the mouse over geometry to make this less likely
  • perhaps it’s just me, but I find the scrolling direction to control the roundness counterintuitive. Mentally, I keep scrolling down to make the corner less sharp, but instead you need to scroll up to make the corner more round 🙂

@Hombre , what do you think?

Comments (5)

  1. Hombre

    @agriggio

    having to click ctrl to append new points (as opposed to splitting existing segments) seems unnecessary to me. Why not just clicking?

    Because in most of the case (if not all), you’ll have to pan the view when creating the shape. If you enable the SPick status on button pressed, how will you be able to pan the view ? That’s also why I used Ctl to add healing Spots. The creation of Rectangle is different because you’re preparing the preview (pan & zoom) before drawing the rectangle with a diagonal. That’s a different process.

    there is no visual on-canvas feedback when activating the vector shape drawing

    Because of the previous point, you’re in a Hand state while being in Edit mode, unless you’re over a widget. I understand that there should be something visially different. I don’t mind changing the default arrow cursor by something else, but using the cross would be confusing, since nothing will happen until you press the Ctrl button. In fact, I think that the mouseOver method should be called even on simple key press, and change the cursor to a cross when pressing Ctrl.

    if there is an active crop, trying to add a point close to the crop border will activate also the crop editing

    Ah, I didn’t tested this case. What would you suggest ? I would disable crop editing when an OnPreview mode is active.

    sometimes using the scroll wheel to change the roundness will result in a zoom in/out instead. It might be good to slightly enlarge the radius of the mouse over geometry to make this less likely

    Yes, I can provide a patch, it’s may not be a simple change (I wouldn’t like to have bigger knots on screen, only in mouseOver).

    I keep scrolling down to make the corner less sharp, but instead you need to scroll up to make the corner more round

    I started with the opposite configuration, but it was really disturbing me 🙂 . When I scroll down, my finger moves toward me, and I mentally expect the curve to move back toward the knot. And vice versa. I know that we all have personal preference regarding the scroll wheel. If you want to change that, either add an option in Preference, or in the option file, or at least enable this kind of stuff at compile time, for those who can build.

  2. agriggio reporter

    thanks for the quick reply. Some comments:

    Because in most of the case (if not all), you’ll have to pan the view when creating the shape. If you enable the SPick status on button pressed, how will you be able to pan the view ?

    Well, for instance with alt+click. But I see your point,it's a matter of preferences.

    I understand that there should be something visially different.

    Yes, that was my point. If you can think of something, that would be a nice improvement IMHO

    What would you suggest ? I would disable crop editing when an OnPreview mode is active.

    Agreed.

    Yes, I can provide a patch,

    Great, thanks!

    I started with the opposite configuration, but it was really disturbing me 🙂

    Ok, it can stay as it is now then!

  3. Hombre

    I’ll provide a patch by the end of the week I think, I’d like to demonstrate the usefulness of per shape feathering and blurring first 😉 .

  4. agriggio reporter

    sure, whenever you want (and if you want).

    BTW, I never said per-shape feathering/blurring is not useful, only that it is already possible (although a bit inconvenient, as you have to put the shapes in different regions), and that global feathering/blurring is also useful and not easy to replace by local ones only. Anyway, I’m curious to see what you come up with!

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