I started looking at the tool names and tooltips after seeing someone refer to the new "Rect Select" tool, and also when I noticed that there was a capital "R" in the tool tip... These are just some thoughts that came to mind after looking through them...

Some of the names for the tools are open for differences in reference and common conversation. For example: The "Rect Select" tool will probably be interepted, refered to, and written about in several different ways - The "Rect Select" tool, the "Rectangle Select" tool, the "Rectangle Selection" tool, the "Rectangular Select" or "Selection" tool, etc... 

If the wording for some of the tool names were changed a little it would provide for more consistancy in the way the community refers to the tools. If for example, the text for "Rect Select" was changed to "Rectangular Selection" it would effectively set only one way to refer to the tool. This would filter on down to the documentation team, tutorial writers, book authors, and everyday conversation.

You could also add the tool name in the tooltip for the tool in the toolbox. Basically the format could be Tool Name/Colon/Description... So for the "Rectangular Selection" tool, the tooltip could be "Rectangular Selection: Select rectangular regions" - This would really help those trying to learn the program and those writing/reading a tutorial or documentation... 

Another option is just to use the tool name in the tooltip with no description... Most of the tools can do more things and require more information than what a tooltip can provide anyway.

Anyway - just thought I'd throw it all out here...


The following is a list of possible changes to the tool names in the tools dialog and the matching tooltip for the toolbox. I left the word "tool" off of all names and descriptions. Depending on the tool, most people will add the word automatically when referring to them... 

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Rectangular Selection"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Rectangular Selection: Select rectangular regions"
* Note *: If you decide to keep the original - I would change the capitol "R" to lower-case...

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Elliptical Selection"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Elliptical Selection: Select elliptical regions"

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Free Selection"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Free Selection: Select hand-drawn regions"

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Fuzzy Selection"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Fuzzy Selection: Select contiguous regions"

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Color Selection"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Color Selection: Select regions by color"

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Scissors Selection"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Scissors Selection: Select regions defined by high-contrast edges"

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Foreground Selection"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Foreground Selection: Select regions by defining forground criteria"

Tools Dialog: "Paths"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Paths: Create and edit paths"

Tools Dialog: "Color Picker"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Color Picker: Set foreground color by selecting a color in the active image"

Tools Dialog: "Zoom"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Zoom: Adjust the zoom level in the active view"

Tools Dialog: "Measure"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Measure: Measure distances and angles"
* Note *: Could use "Measuring" instead of "Measure". Most people will probably say "Measuring Tool"

Tools Dialog: "Move"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Move: Move layers, selections, and other objects"

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Alignment"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Alignment: Align layers and other objects"

Tools Dialog: "Crop"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Crop: Discard areas of active image outside of a user defined region "

Tools Dialog: "Rotate"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Rotate: Rotate active layer or selection"

Tools Dialog: "Scale"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Scale: Scale active layer or selection"

Tools Dialog: "Shear"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Shear: Shear active layer or selection"

Tools Dialog: "Perspective"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Perspective: Change perspective of the active layer or selection"

Tools Dialog: "Flip"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Flip: Flip the active layer or selection"

Tools Dialog: "Text"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Text: Create a text layer"

Tools Dialog: "Bucket Fill"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Bucket Fill: Fill with color or a pattern"
* Note *: Could just use the word "Bucket" instead of "Bucket Fill"... 

Tools Dialog: "Blend"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Blend: Fill using active gradient"

Tools Dialog: "Pencil"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Pencil: Hard edge painting using active brush"

Tools Dialog: "Paintbrush"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Paintbrush: Smooth edge painting using active brush"

Tools Dialog: "Eraser"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Eraser: Erase to background or transparency using active brush"

Tools Dialog: "Airbrush"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Airbrush: Variable pressure painting using active brush"

Tools Dialog: "Ink"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Ink: Liquid style painting"

Tools Dialog: "Clone"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Clone: Paint with active brush using image regions or patterns as the source for color"

Suggested Tools Dialog: "Healing"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Healing: Repair image irregularities"

Tools Dialog: "Perspective Clone"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Perspective Clone: Change perspective of active layer or selection"
* Note *: If you decide to keep the original - check the upper-case/lower-case on the text...

Tools Dialog: "Convolve"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Convolve: Selective blurring or sharpening using the active brush"

Tools Dialog: "Smudge"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Smudge: Selective smearing/smudging using the active brush"

Tools Dialog: "Dodge-Burn"
Suggested Toolbox Hint: "Dodge-Burn: Selective dodging(lighten) or burning(darken) using the active brush"


* Just an "I wonder" question - Since the following are not visible by default. They don't seem to fall into the tools category. They're now in a separate menu. How would the community react if you removed them out of the tool dialogs and the toolbox... ?

Color Balance
Hue-Saturation
Colorize
Brightness-Contrast
Threshold
Levels
Curves
Posterize:


Other information: