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Bug 749042 - "Align" tool ignores linked layers
"Align" tool ignores linked layers
Status: RESOLVED OBSOLETE
Product: GIMP
Classification: Other
Component: Tools
2.9.2
Other All
: Normal normal
: ---
Assigned To: GIMP Bugs
GIMP Bugs
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2015-05-06 21:26 UTC by hkrytvavtgvahilstyjm
Modified: 2018-05-24 15:14 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---



Description hkrytvavtgvahilstyjm 2015-05-06 21:26:41 UTC
By linking layers (using the chain button next to the layer visibility eye button), the normal behavior is that moving one of the linked layers also moves all other linked layers.
http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-image-combining.html#idp17339040

However, the "Align" tool completely ignores the link. This is very frustrating when working with a lot of chained layers that need to be properly aligned. I know that there is the "Align Visible Layers" tool, but it will not do exactly what I expect the "Align" tool to do with linked layers.

The "Align Visible Layers" tool, depending on the used settings, will do one of the following tasks:
A) exactly the same result that I'd get by aligning every layer manually
OR
B) exactly the same result that I'd get by merging all layers, aligning them and somehow undoing the merge.

The "Align" tool, when the layers are linked, *should* do the following, which is neither A) nor B):
C) Ignore all linked layers, *then* move all linked layers exactly in the same way, thus maintaining their relative position to the aligned layer!

At the moment, it behaves as if the link does not exist. If I desire the current behavior, I should need to un-link the layer before using the "Align" tool. Never should any tool *ignore* my links.


I hope that my knowledge of English is sufficient to explain the problem accurately; if not, I can also try to create screenshots to explain the issue graphically.

Here is what you can do to quickly reproduce the bug:

1. Start GIMP, create a new empty image.
2. Create a second, transparent layer that is smaller than the image. Using the text tool and entering "abc" is probably the fastest way to do so.
3. Create a third, transparent layer that is smaller than the image. Maybe use a text layer containing the characters "def".
4. Move both layers to different positions within the image, e.g. put them next to each other so that you can read "abcdef".
5. Link "abc" and "def" by clicking the chain icon next to them in the Layers dialog (http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-dialogs-structure.html#gimp-layer-dialog-using).
6. As you can try, moving one of both linked layers will also move the other linked layer. This is awesome and working just as intended.
7. Select the "Align" tool (http://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-tool-align.html), and click precisely on the text "abc", so that the "abc" layer is selected for aligning.
8. Align "abc" to the *right* side of the image. This makes the three different behaviors (A, B & C in the explanation above) most obvious.

The "Align Visible Layers" tool can behave in two ways in this situation:
A) You have "abcdef" at the right side of the image.
B) You have "abc" and "def" above each other at the same position at the right side of the image.

The "Align" tool *should* do the following after your 8th step in the list above:
C) You have "abc" at the right side inside the image, and "def" *outside* of the image, right next to "abc".

The "Align" tool *currently* behaves in this weird way:
D) "abc" is at the right side of the image, and "def" stays where it was, because the link is completely ignored. This is definitely not intended.

If you really want to achieve D), you *should* need to un-link the layers and then use the Align tool.

Currently, C) is not possible to achieve because of this bug.


Thank you very much for taking the time to read this report, and thank you in advance for the work needed to fix this bug. :)

Best regards,
Tobias Frei


(Note: #683713 seems to be a different problem; also, it has been "resolved fixed" which can not be true for this bug here)
Comment 1 hkrytvavtgvahilstyjm 2015-05-06 21:34:49 UTC
minor edit (isn't it possible to edit comments? :/) :

 "A)" and "B)" should be "B)" and "A)" below explanation point "8."

Also, it's more text than I expected when I wrote this; I won't mind people skipping 80% of the report because the problem is immediately obvious.^^
Comment 2 Michael Schumacher 2015-05-06 21:48:19 UTC
You shouldn't write that much text in a bug comment, this is what the gimp-developer list is for with a much bigger audience.
Comment 3 Joao S. O. Bueno 2015-05-07 12:52:54 UTC
It just did occur to me, as I'd suggest trying a layer group work around, that layer groups _will_ be completely ignored by the align tool, and unlike the linking resource, there is no easy fixing:

Layer groups have no "physical" existence: there is no way to pick a set of Layer Groups as a items for the align tool (and if one or more of the child layers are picked, there is no way to tell if the group they belong too should be moved).

Maybe as part of this bug fix, we should also include a toggle on the align tool to move  parent groups for any of the items that is in a group?
Comment 4 GNOME Infrastructure Team 2018-05-24 15:14:01 UTC
-- GitLab Migration Automatic Message --

This bug has been migrated to GNOME's GitLab instance and has been closed from further activity.

You can subscribe and participate further through the new bug through this link to our GitLab instance: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/issues/673.