GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 628162
Allow 'scale layer' and 'set layer boundary size' to be performed interactively
Last modified: 2010-08-28 14:02:24 UTC
Currently, if one wishes to scale or change the size of a layer, the only way to do this is via a dialog where the 'x' and 'y' dimensions are typed in. It would be better if the layer boundary were also selectable with the mouse and could be interactively resized, much like a regular selection. However, unlike a selection, the grip targets would be on the outside corners of the layer so they (a) do not interfere with edits to the layer and (b) only appear if the layer is smaller than the image. Scaling (using the default algorithm) could be performed by holding the 'Shift' key while resizing.
You can already resize the boundries of a layer using the crop tool and checking the checkbox "Current layer only" (possibly also enabling "Allow growing") inside the tool-options dialog. Is this what you meant?
Not very intuitive, but with both of those options this does allow resizing a layer. Scaling doesn't seem to be an option. I was picturing something more like your typical window borders, but with accessibility-friendly grip targets similar to those the other tools (select, crop) use.
Even better is to have them automatically resized *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 93639 ***
Are you sure this is a dupe? I don't see anything in bug 93639 that talks about scaling a layer interactively. Also, I don't think I agree that layers should grow automatically so I do not think this is a dupe. It's easy enough to do 'layer to image size' if that's what you want; if you want to keep parts of a layer off-canvas, interactive scale or resize (this request) should suffice. For me, layer boundaries are helpful to ensure that I'm always working on the right one. If bug 93639 is implemented so that layer boundaries become intangible, I expect I'll spend a lot of time drawing on the wrong layer before realizing it.
If it's not a dupe to that, it's a dupe to the free transform tool, which is about on-canvas manipulation of layers Even if layer sizes will be automatically managed, they will still have a size, so you will still be able to show layer boundaries if you wish.
Would that be bug 138462 then? The second comment sounds like it may be similar to my request (better, actually), but the links in the original report have bitrotted so I can't be sure. The transformation tool page only talks about transforming selections, not layers. [ http://gui.gimp.org/index.php/Transformation_tool_specification ] If it works such that I can Ctrl+A to select the layer contents and then use the tool to scale/transform the contents with the layer changing size as well, that would work for me. However, showing layer boundaries doesn't mean much to me if clicking in the wrong spot simply changes the boundary when I expect it to prevent me from drawing on the wrong layer.
Yes that bug. Now that you mention it, the spec is a bit vague, but it will handle transforming normal layers too.