GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 91846
want all-edge-resizing in crop tool
Last modified: 2006-07-03 20:54:56 UTC
I really don't like the way the crop tool works. I never have, and after all this time, I don't show any signs of getting used to it. Instead of having four click targets, two for move and two for resize, I would rather it work the way window borders work in, e.g., Sawfish: CCCC VVVVVVVVV CCCC C C DDDDDDDDDDDDD H DDDDDDDDDDDDD H H DDDDDDDDDDDDD H H DDDDDDDDDDDDD H H DDDDDDDDDDDDD H DDDDDDDDDDDDD C C CCCC VVVVVVVVV CCCC Dragging on "C" drags that corner, no constraints. Dragging on "H" drags that edge (constrained to horizontal changes). Dragging on "V" drags that edge (constrained to vertical changes). Dragging on "D" moves the whole rectangle. For that matter, it would be nice if one could similarly adjust rectangular selections.
Currently, clicking in the rectangle activates the tool and crops the selected region. This feature would not be available in your proposal and the user would have to find the crop dialog and click the crop button. A double-click could work, but this would be unusual in the GIMP. Modifier keys are also an option (shift, alt or ctrl) but I am not sure that it would be much better. Your idea is interesting anyway. I think that it should be discussed on the gimp-developers list to get feedback from a wider audience. I assume that the edges of the region to be cropped would have to be more than 1 pixel wide in order to allow the user to easily click on them. Wider egdes would also make it easier to show where the corners end. Another option would be to keep the current way of drawing the rectangle (1 pixel lines, handles in the corners) and to allow clicks near the edges to be counted as click on the edges. But I don't think that the same idea could be applied to the rectangular selections because it would then be hard to make all selection tools behave in a consistent way. We should not use different interaction models for the rectangular selection and for the elliptical or free hand selections.
> Another option would be to keep the current way of drawing the > rectangle (1 pixel lines, handles in the corners) and to allow > clicks near the edges to be counted as click on the edges. That's what I was assuming: render the same, but have the clickable area (and the changed mouse cursor) be wider. > Currently, clicking in the rectangle activates the tool and crops > the selected region. Clicking *outside* the rectangle could be used to actually do the crop. That's analagous with "click outside to drop, click inside to move" in the paste/move tool. Using the middle button to move the rectangle would also seem somewhat natural to me. Or left button with a modifier, though I tend to dislike keyboard/mouse combos, and find them extremely non-discoverable. > We should not use different interaction models for the rectangular > selection and for the elliptical or free hand selections. Consistency is good, it's true. But I will point out that it would also be nice to be able to pick up and drag the edges of an elipse selection. I *never* get them right on the first try, since the spot where you click to begin the selection does not end up being an edge of the resultant selection! If I'm trying to select a circular region, I usually either have to try a bunch of times, or if my brain is engaged, put down guides first to determine where my first click should go.
> Clicking *outside* the rectangle could be used to actually do the > crop. That's analagous with "click outside to drop, click inside to > move" in the paste/move tool. Good point. I would buy that. > Using the middle button to move the rectangle would also seem > somewhat natural to me. Or left button with a modifier, though I > tend to dislike keyboard/mouse combos, and find them extremely > non-discoverable. The middle mouse button is already used for moving the whole image, so there would be a conflict. I am not too fond of modifier keys either (see bug #51108). But we would not need any of these if we choose the solution "click outside to crop". Your comments regarding the selection tools are interesting. Maybe something could be done for both the rectangle and ellipse tools (but I still don't know how this would co-exist with the free hand selection). Could you submit a separate enhancement proposal for this (maybe with a reference to this one) so that we can keep track of each issue separately?
Entered bug 91934 about selected rectangles/elipses
Changes at the request of Dave Neary on the developer mailing list. I am changing many of the bugzilla reports that have not specified a target milestone to Future milestone. Hope that is acceptable.
I'm for a change - the current behaviour is very cumbersome e.g. if you need to cut large images and want pixel-precision. It involves lots of scrolling and guessing (there's no way to shrink/extend the cropping area if you are at the lower left corner). The Windows-like approach makes sense to me: Allow horizontal/vertical only resize at the edges, allow both at the corners and use ALT+drag to drag the whole area.
Bumping a bunch of enhancement requests which will not be done by the feature freeze to Future. Dave.
*** Bug 132451 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
*** Bug 156857 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
When using the crop tool would it be possible to remove the dialog or make it optional in the config? I really don't need it. I like the photoshop way of drag a box and hit enter to apply the crop. Why the dialog box with the numbers?
If you hold down the Shift key when you first click on the image, the dialog will not appear. Even when it does appear, you can still apply the tool by dragging a bix and then hitting enter. Anyway, the Crop tool is due for a substantial makeover in the current development cycle, and part of this will probably involve putting a "Show dialog" checkbox in the tool options -- either that or putting all of the contents of the dialog into the tool options.
Having the options appear in the tool options like the other tools sounds like a good solution rather than an options setting
*** Bug 168596 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
The makeover has started in CVS, it looks like all requests were fulfilled : one can resize the crop area by dragging any corner or any edge, move the crop area by dragging it, crop by clicking outside or hitting Enter, and the options appear in the tool options (no popup dialog anymore). Closing as fixed, feel free to re-open if something is missing.
*** Bug 166933 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***